Schatz Chasing Another Open Crown Current and 6-time World of Outlaws Sprintcar champion Donny Schatz faces the toughest challenge of his 2014/2015 Australian tour when he contests the Crimsafe Australian Open at Ausdeck Patios Archerfield Speedway this weekend. The two-night event on Friday and Saturday evenings will see Schatz face off against a star-studded field of Australian and international drivers in pursuit of the $20 000 first prize on offer in Saturday’s 50-lap main event which doubles as round seven of the 2014/2015 World Series Sprintcar Championship. Whilst Schatz is thus far undefeated from four events at Archerfield this season, the Australian Open has attracted the toughest field – both in quality and quantity – that he has faced, with no less than six fellow Americans in the line-up, along with Australia’s very best drivers and all the local stars. The American stars joining Schatz in the field this weekend include Jason Sides, Brent Kaeding, Tim Kaeding, Kyle Hirst, Davey Heskin and Danny Holtgraver. All of these drivers have raced against Schatz both here and in America and they know that it will take a faultless performance to upstage their celebrated countryman. Sides and Brent Kaeding are perhaps the most experienced at the elite level, with both drivers having accumulated a plethora of feature race wins. Sides is a former World of Outlaws Rookie of the Year who has twice finished inside the top five in the elite series, which comprises more than 90 events at over 55 different tracks. Kaeding, meanwhile, is California’s most successful racer ever, having won the King of California Series on 13 occasions and accumulated in the vicinity of 400 feature race wins in a stellar career. However, the 2014 California series saw Kaeding finish in third spot behind Kyle Hirst, who is also competing at Archerfield this weekend for the West Australia-based Monte Motorsport team. Whilst Kaeding, like Schatz, has been based at Archerfield this season, Hirst is chasing the World Series title and will be desperate to leave Brisbane with a win in the biggest race on the WSS championship tour. Tim Kaeding is a regular race winner on the World of Outlaws tour back home and has finished inside the top 20 in the championship standings for three consecutive seasons while last year saw him win the Grand Annual Classic at Warrnambool in Victoria, Australia’s most prestigious Sprintcar race. Heskin and Holtgraver are both undertaking their first tour down under and both are racing for Brisbane-based team owners. Heskin has impressed in his Archerfield appearances thus far, leading Schatz for much of the feature event in his first outing, while Holtgraver scored a top ten finish in his Archerfield debut on Sunday night. Whilst they lack the profile and experience of their compatriots, both Heskin and Holgraver are more than capable of featuring at the front of the field in Sunday night’s finale. Whilst the American contingent is strong, the event has also attracted the who’s who of Australian Sprintcar racing, including no less than five Australian Championship winners. Fresh from his rousing runner-up result behind Schatz on Sunday night, current national champion David Murcott leads the Aussie contingent into battle, joined by former titleholders in Brooke Tatnell (2005, 2006, 2007, 2011, 2012), Kerry Madsen (2003), Robbie Farr (2004) and James McFadden (2010, 2013). Tatnell, who along with Madsen and McFadden, competes in America for much of each year, finished third here on Sunday and currently sits second overall behind Murcott in the World Series standings. It may well be Madsen though who, having created history last year when he secured the best ever result for a non-American competitor in the World of Outlaws Championship with a 4th-place finish in the series standings, brings the necessary form to upstage the overseas stars. Of course, McFadden and Farr are regular feature race winners at Archerfield and elsewhere around the country, so they must be considered a genuine threat. Not content with allowing his older brother to hog the limelight, Ian Madsen created his own piece of history in America last season when he won the Knoxville Raceway Track Championship. He has continued his winning form since arriving home and returns to Archerfield following a win in Sydney on Monday night. Also representing NSW will be WSS Rookie of the Year contender Andrew Wright, a former Australian Lightning Sprint champion. Other interstate drivers taking part in the two nights of racing include a posse from Western Australia comprising Daryl Clayden, Lee Nash, Scott Reilly, Trent Pigdon and Daniel Harding. Defending WSS champion Steven Lines will be joined by Matt Egel in representing South Australia, while Callum Zizek is the sole representative from Tasmania. Of the local contingent, Bryan Mann and Andrew Scheuerle have been the standouts since Schatz’s arrival. Mann has featured on the podium alongside Schatz on three occasions, with Scheuerle having finished second in two events. Despite the quality of the field, both drivers have the form on the board to suggest that they will be contenders in Sunday night’s 50-lapper, with Luke Oldfield and North Queensland’s Brent Aprile also worth watching. Oldfield has shown plenty of speed at every show – qualifying alongside Schatz on the front row in the WSS feature on Sunday night - but has yet to translate that into the results he produced earlier in the season which included a feature race win; while Aprile finished fourth on Sunday after a great surge through the field after starting 14th. There are 35 drivers nominated for the event, which kicks off on Friday night with time trials, qualifying heats and a preliminary feature race, while Saturday night will comprise additional heat races, a pole shoot-out, C Main, B Main and 50-lap feature event. Schatz is the defending Australian Open champion and has won the event on seven occasions, including his remarkable 2009 performance that saw him lap the entire field. The North Dakota native has a record of success and an affinity with the Archerfield track that ensures he is the firmest of favourites, despite the strength of his opposition this weekend. It is going to be one hell of a show as Schatz takes on the very best drivers in his final appearance in Australia this summer. Friday night will also feature a round of the Polar Ice Midget Series, with 19 drivers from three states nominated. Brett Thomas returns from representing Australia in New Zealand to take on defending series champion and current points leader Michael Kendall, with Michael Harders, Brock Dean, Anthony Chaffey, Troy Ware and Matt Hefford, who finished runner-up behind Kendall in the previous round, amongst the challengers. Modlites will feature on both nights, with Wingless Sprints also hitting the track on Sunday evening. Gates open at 4:00pm on both nights, with the on-track action scheduled to get underway at 5:00pm. Tickets can be purchased online via the track website - brisbanespeedway.au – with online purchasers securing early entry to the grounds.
Posted on: Wed, 07 Jan 2015 09:36:15 +0000
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