Schatz Takes 50k In Scott Darley Classic

[ronmcc]

:: Tyrepower Parramatta City Raceway :: Sydney, AUS
Darley Classic
Posted Tuesday, 5 January 2010 by PCR Media
It is hard to find words to describe Dakota Donny Schatz in full cry when the money is on the table.

Tonight the four times WoO champion had to gouge, arm wrestle, fight and whatever else was needed to win the Coca Cola Scott Darley 40 lapper at Tyrepower Parramatta Raceway.

There was no easy ground to be found as Danny Smith took off at the start and opened a big gap on the field.

Skip Jackson scorched into second while Tony Stewart and Tim Shaffer attacked the traffic like they were going for 500 grand and not fifty.

Behind them Shatz, who started from position eight, was slowly wearing them down, but making up ground was easier said than done.

Stewart and Shaffer gave the Pick and Payless Team driver a wicked run as they came up through the field to displace Jackson and Smith.

Schatz finally worked over Smith on the back straight to grab the lead and once in front his hand sealed another 50 grand,

Shaffer was a real discovery in the Bill Roberts teamed Mini Pickers #71 and could run high or low from lap one.

Brooke Tatnell gathered him in a few laps from home, but a touch of wheels set the order for the finish with Schatz three car lengths clear of All Star champ Shaffer and Performance Wholesale World Series leader Tatnell.

Schatz summed it up perfectly.

"This is the hardest I've ever worked in Australia for a win and gee it feels nice," he said.

Shaffer was a little more circumspect and thanked his Brett Morris team, promising to be faster this Saturday night at Tyrepower Parramatta Raceway.

Tatnell said what the fans had seen proven yet again and why "Parramatta is one of the best sprintcar battlegrounds in the world."

And what of Tony Stewart who alternated between third and fourth all night.

A rear inside tyre popped which sent him to the pits, but for sheer driving brilliance there is not another big name to match him.

Anyone who has won two NASCAR, an IndyCar and three USAC national crowns in one season, is talented beyond comparison.

To see him rim riding in a sprintcar around Tyrepower Parramatta Raceway passing and re-passing the best drivers in the business was something few fans will ever forget.