From J&J
McKENZIE, TN (Feb. 22) – Sprint car racing continued both in North America and Australia last week and teams using Sprint cars from J&J Auto Racing continued winning. Four-time World of Outlaws (WoO) champion Donny Schatz won a World of Outlaws feature event at the season-opening UNOH DIRTcar Nationals in Florida, while Jamie Veal and Cameron Gessner were victorious in Australia.
WORLD OF OUTLAWS
Donny Schatz scored three top-four finishes in the World of Outlaws season-opening DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla. Schatz raced the Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) No. 15 STP/Armor All/Chevrolet J&J from 15th to fourth in Saturday night’s opening feature event. On Sunday afternoon, he led every lap of his heat, the dash and 20-lap A-Feature en route to picking up his first A-Feature of 2012 and 114th career WoO A-Feature victory. He closed the weekend by finishing second in the 25-lap finale and left Florida as the leader in the 2012 WoO standings.
“This was a team win today,” said Schatz following his 10th victory at Volusia Speedway Park. “We spent the early part of the week working on some things and this was the result. The track conditions were tough on everyone and we were fortunate to start both the heat and dash up front. We took advantage of the situation and got that first victory of the season out of the way. Winning races is what matters most.”
Other solid finishes: David Gravel earned a pair of top-four finishes during last week’s UNOH DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park. Gravel raced the No. 89g DDR Motorsports J&J to a fourth-place finish in Wednesday night’s All-Star Circuit of Champions (ASCoC) feature event. The Connecticut driver also earned a podium finish in Sunday night’s World of Outlaws finale by racing to third. He exchanged second with fellow J&J racer, Donny Schatz, late in the race before finishing third….Defending ASCoC champion Tim Shaffer finished third in Wednesday’s race driving the CH Motorsports No. 83 Kistler-powered J&J. Aaron Ott turned a seventh-place run in Saturday night’s WoO main event in the No. 77 Ott-powered J&J.
AUSTRALIA – WORLD SERIES SPRINT CARS
Cameron Gessner picked up a popular victory last Friday night in the Hi-Tec Oils World Series Sprintcars race at Perth Motorplex. Gessner drove the NRW No. 68 J&J to victory ahead of fellow J&J racer, Steve Lines, who piloted the Monster Energy sponsored No. 7 J&J from the fourth row and finished second. Gessner was thrilled following the win.
“This is really home for me now,” Gessner said following the victory. “It’s good to get a win at this place, and it’s an amazing track to race at. It was fast tonight but it was also rough in places so you had to be right on your game. I’m really pleased for Nathan MacDonald and Peter Green for giving me a great car tonight. I can’t thank them enough.”
AUSTRALIA – EUREKA GARAGES AND SHEDS SPRINTCAR SERIES
Jamie Veal was the first to the finish line in round eleven of the Eureka Garages and Sheds Sprintcar Series at Western Speedway Hamilton. It was a thrilling race and Veal aboard the No. 35 J&J raced to the victory and by doing so reclaimed the lead in the championship series standings.
”It is good to get another win and be leading the points again,” said the winner. “Thanks to everyone and my team. It was a tough night, but a great result. The car was just fantastic, and the team always give me a good car which makes my job easier.”