From Archerfield Speedway
Brisbane, AU — (December 26, 2014) — With much hype and media attention, Donny Schatz lived up to expectations at Ausdeck Patios Archerfield Speedway on Friday night (December 26), racing away to win the 35-lap round seven of the Supercheap Auto Track Championship in impressive fashion. Schatz spent the early laps sweeping the track in search of the fastest line as he chased fellow American Davey Heskin, who had downed Schatz earlier in the night to win the Lucas Oils Dash and secure pole position for the feature race.
Unfortunately for Heskin, his terrific run came to an end when he spun and stopped in turn four with seven laps remaining when a runner-up result seemed certain. However, he announced himself as a talented steerer, gained plenty of new fans and certainly deserved a better result for his efforts.
Following Heskin’s demise, Andrew Scheuerle advanced to second spot and, despite giving it a red hot go in what was perhaps his best drive of the season, he just couldn’t match the pace of the race leader. Having endured a topsy-turvy season thus far, Bryan Mann found himself on an upward spiral on this occasion and powered into third spot despite the very close attention of another American in veteran Brent Kaeding and the 14th-starting Mick Sauer in the closing stages. In fact, at one stage it looked as though Sauer might even climb onto the podium before a late-race restart intervened and allowed Kaeding to regain lost ground and eventually pip Sauer in the shadows of the chequer.
For Kaeding, a fourth-place finish was a great debut result for the Consol Racing team, the lanky Californian yo-yoing back and forwards through the field after starting from the second row and actually leading Schatz in pursuit of Heskin through the opening laps.
Brent Kratzmann was solid in sixth, with Dan Murray and Dan Moes filling the next two spots after advancing from the B Main; Murray scoring the Darra Mechanical Hard Charger Award for his efforts. Paul Morris and Mark Pholi rounded out the top ten, with Dave Fanning, Steven Johnson, Ben Hilder, Brock Dean and Dave Whell completing the finishers.
Heading infield after two spins, Luke Oldfield joined Heskin and Kevin Titman – who exited on lap two after falling victim to the typical turn two jostle for ascendancy.
Schatz wasted no time in asserting his authority, setting the KRE Engines Quick Time in qualifying before blasting through the field from the fourth row to win the opening heat ahead of Andrew Liebke, who looked on track to win the race until a late-race restart bunched the field, with Morris finishing third.
Heat two saw Oldfield outpace Brad Ayers and Brock Dean, with heat three falling to Kaeding in advance of Moes and Sauer. Heat four saw Whell put together his best 10 laps of the season to keep Schatz at bay, with Kratzmann annexing third.
Murray bounced back from an earlier upside down moment to win heat five, with Scheuerle storming home to snare second spot ahead of young Tasmanian Callum Zizek, while the final heat of the night went to Johnson over Mann and Moes.
The pre-race draw for grid positions for the Lucas Oils Dash saw top qualifier Schatz shuffled back to fifth as Heskin snared pole position and subsequently led every lap to lead home Schatz and Kaeding in an American trifecta, with Scheuerle the best of the locals in fourth.
The East Coast Logistics B Main went to Whell over a fast finishing Johnson, with Murray and Moes also making the transfer into the $5000-to-win main event in which Schatz went about consolidating his reputation as the best in the business.
In Formula 500 action, Billy Foyle was rewarded for making the long trek from Cairns to compete, leading throughout the feature event to defeat Ryan Skennar, Nathan Pronger, Kaydon Iverson and Kristin Brown.
The AMCA Nationals feature race saw long-time campaigner Steve Potts emerge triumphant, withstanding the best efforts of Jason Molle and Steve Price, both of whom are feature race winners this season.
In a race that failed to develop much momentum due to a vast array of restarts and interruptions, Luke Whitehill maintained his composure throughout to defeat Terry Leerentveld and Aaron Seton in the Modlite feature race. Australian champ Jamie McHugh finished fourth, having to work his way back to the front after a spin in the same spot that saw his son Lachlan and Midget ace Michael Kendall rotate themselves out of contention.
The action continues tonight at Ausdeck Patios Archerfield Speedway with round eight of the Supercheap Auto Sprintcar Track Championship along with the Polar Ice Midget Series, Lightning Sprints, Stockcars and Open Sedans.