Asian Motor Sports

All hail Donny Schatz: The entire fleet of Champion-stacked heavy-hitters within the Tyrepower PCR pit compound had one eye on Donny Schatz in the Pick ‘n Payless #2 J&J. Despite the world’s best throwing everything at the North Dakota resident, Schatz clean-swept the three-day Outlaws Downunder from a fighting Daryn Pittman in second, with Danny ‘The Dude’ Lasoski in third.

The drivers are the pinnacle of World Sprintcar racing. The forty-lap A-Main was all the better for it, as the entire field went the first twenty-seven laps caution-free until the Jason Sides Maxim ground to a halt.

Only one other caution flew as reds were thrown one lap later as a result of Garry Brazier tipping the Castrol Maxim upside-down after contact with Robbie Farr.

It may have taken Donny Schatz seventeen laps to wrestle the lead away from the dicing duo of Daryn Pittman and Joey Saldana, both of whom were leading the expression session upon the Tyrepower PCR highline, but once in the lead, Schatz led the field a merry dance the deeper into lapped traffic they went.

“This is a great feeling,” exuded Schatz, “to win two out of the three annual Outlaws Downunder events here, and winning all three nights. It’s been an awesome performance by this race team to produce this car, and even I did a few good things tonight.”

Schatz was coy about starting from position five, as opposed to a front row grid.

“I didn’t want to start off the front of the A-Main, because look at the two guys that started off the front - they didn’t know where to run and it bit them,” Schatz explained. “It was one of them tracks were you were better off coming from behind. Mind you I didn’t want to go as far back as five.”

With A-Main grids lined-up as per Dash results, Schatz ended up going backwards in the Dash.

“Starting five wasn’t the plan, but at least I didn’t have to build a race car. Joey and I came really close when he tried to get by me in the dash, and we nearly got wiped out.”

In free air, Saldana and Pittman led the way early, until the cushion that site perilously high on the slick Tyrepower PCR surface, until it all but disappeared.

“I could run the top, the middle or the bottom,” said Schatz. “It was only a matter of time in a forty-lap race before the kerb was going to be blown over the edge; it has been doing that night after night. We knew our race car was good through the middle, so we went back to what worked last night with a few adjustments.”

Starting from position three, it took nine laps for Pittman to run down early race leader Joey Saldana, only to have Schatz go by approaching half distance.

“We had a great weekend,” said Titan Garages & Carports pilot, Daryn Pittman, “we had a fifth, then a ninth and now a second. It’s hard to complain with results like that, it’s just tough to get to the lead and then lose it like that, but Donny has had the best car for a month here. He was always going to be tough to beat; he is a great competitor so he is a great guy to run second to.”

“He (Schatz) has had an advantage over everyone because he was never committed to any line. I was good on the top early but then they actually pushed the cushion over the crown of the racetrack, and its not as if I was bad when I wasn’t leaning against something, it’s just that Donny was just great!

“I could be at the top or right on the bottom, but Donny could put that car wherever he wanted. On an open track, I don’t think he (Schatz) was any better than us - but when we hit traffic, he just drove away.”

Pittman praised the entire efforts of the Titan team, knowing that car owner Reeve Kruck would have been proud of their efforts.

“It was a great effort from the entire Titan Team - Robbie (Farr) had a great run getting into the top ten, so credit to all the guys.”

The race for third was a true battle with Joey Saldana, Craig Dollansky, Steve Kinser and Danny Lasoski all having their crack at the podium.

Despite Dollansky coming on like gangbusters at the end, it was Lasoski that snared the final podium position in the Roth Motorsports Eagle.

“It looked like we were on about the same pace as Pittman, but not quick enough to catch that #2 car. Schatz did a great job, but we just had to get better. At the moment, Donny has all of us covered hand over fist,” said The Dude.

“I’d love to come over here and race for twelve nights, you are bound to find something. Nevertheless … we are pretty happy with our run. We got a second, then a third for the last two nights, so hopefully we can get back again here next year,” Lasoski continued.

“Had I had our time over again, I don’t know what else we could have done to the race car to make it better - we just plain and simple got beat!”

Fourth across the line, and within a sniff of Lasoski’s tail was Craig Dollansky in the Karavan Trailers J&J, followed by Jason Meyers in the Elite Racing Maxim who made the late run past both Kinser’s for fifth.

Steve Kinser crossed for sixth in the Quaker State Maxim, just ahead of son Kraig in the Delco Remy Maxim.

Brooke Tatnell had the Toyota Genuine Parts Cool there, or thereabouts for forty-laps in eight.

Whilst Robbie Farr brought home the Titan Garages & Carports Maxim home in ninth after a late dice with Joey Saldana, to make the Titan team the second two-car team in the top ten, behind the elite Kinser father-and son combo.

After leading the race early, Joey Saldana sealed over the right-rear on the Volcano Joes Coffee Maxim to round out the top ten.

Full credit is due to Ken Sartori for his noteworthy performance, Effectively, the first local home in eleventh, albeit a recently ‘borrowed’ local to Tyrepower PCR, whilst still residing in Perth, Western Australia, in the Highway Hauliers Cool after a magnificent weekend.

After a jaw-dropping eight victories from nine starts in Australia, Donny Schatz and the Garry Rush Pick ‘n Payless Racing Team, took home all the money (close on $AU140,000 over the four weeks), all the trophies and all the confidence leading into this season’s racing in the USA.

“(Brian) Healey put the money up there to be raced, but the money is irrelevant. On that thirty-ninth lap of Outlaws Downunder, when I hit a mountain of lapped traffic - I wasn’t thinking about the $US20,000 - all I was thinking about was getting the car to the line for the win,” said Schatz.

“It has been a lot of fun - winning eight out of nine nights, no matter who was here. The team has everything clicking right now, so hopefully I can take this form back to the USA,” he said.

“This is as good a run as I have ever had in my career. The way I look at it, I had that ninth race won and I got out of line in lapped traffic and kind of gave the race away. I was glad to see Pete (Murphy) win it, but I wish I had - that would have been something to hang my hat on - nine out of nine! Having said that, if you would have told us a month ago we were going to win eight, I wouldn’t have believed you.”

Schatz describes the feeling of driving for Garry Rush, himself a living-legend of Australian Sprintcar racing.

“A car owner is never really going to show he is happy, because they think the driver is going to get slack on them, but deep inside he’d be pretty happy right now,” noted Schatz. “Rushy expects a lot of me, and rightly so, he’s been a ten-time Australian Champion, and his trophy room is breath-taking with all the races he’s won. I have done a lot in my career, but I can’t compare it to the career of Garry Rush.”

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