BRISBANE, QLD – Donny Schatz closed out his annual Australian tour with another vintage performance at Supercheap Auto Archerfield Speedway in Brisbane, Queensland. The five-time World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series champion continued his dominance leading the final 23 laps of Saturday’s 50-lap 2014 Australian Open feature to capture his third consecutive ENZED World Series Sprintcars Championship round victory and fifth win in six starts.
“That was one tough race,” said Schatz, following his sixth career Australian Open triumph. “It was a lot of fun racing with (early leader) Dave (Murcott) or the first half of the race. It’s rare that you can run so close to someone without them getting into you or changing lines constantly. I felt very comfortable running with him like that. I really didn’t want to see the caution late in the race, but I knew I had to get up there and pound the top to get the job done.”
Schatz began the night with a pair of heat races and then finished third in the pole shuffle event. He chased Murcott for the first 20 laps before the two exchanged the lead between laps 23 and 26. Schatz regained the top spot on lap 27 and led the rest of the way to claim the victory.
“We’ve had a great time over here,” admitted the winner. “Everyone here treats me like family. They’ve been great to my wife and daughter and Eric, who’s been doing a great job working on the car. As good as we’re running, you hate to see my time here come to an end. Hopefully we can keep it going like this back home and have a great season, then come back here again next year. Thanks to John and Kathy Kelly here at the track and everyone that’s helped make this possible.”
Schatz will return to United States on Sunday and head directly to Tucson, Arizona, where he’ll jump into his Dirt Late Model at Tucson International Raceway. He’s planning on running his No. 15 Petro of Fargo/Fastlane Car Wash/Schatz Crossroads machine five times (Sunday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday) in the NDRL’s Winter Freeze event. He’ll begin pursuit of a sixth World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series championship on February 14 at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla.