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Kicking Up The Dirt
Joanne White posted Sunday January 10, 2010.
Night two of the 2010 Australian Sprintcar Open (doubling as a Performance Wholesale World Series Sprintcars Round) rolled into Brisbane International Speedway last night, and with $20,000 on the line for the winner, a swag of series points, and the chance to get their name in the record books, not one of the 36 drivers competing last night was going to go down without a fight. And what a fight it was! Donny Schatz, as always, was brilliant all night, taking the win, though Brooke Tatnell challenged hard in the final ten laps. Tatnell finished second ahead of Garry Brazier, who drove a truly magnificent race after qualifying through the B-Main and working his way into third in the A-Main. The ever-popular Max Dumesny finished fourth ahead of Danny Smith and David Murcott, with Cameron Gessner doing Queensland extremely proud, being the first Queenslander home in seventh after a drag race with Murcott as they exited turn four on the final lap.
With the first nine heats done and dusted on Friday night there was only three heats, two Dashes, C-Main, B-Main and 50 –lap finale left to run last night. Hot laps went off without a hitch and we got straight into the heat racing action.
The track was rather narrow early in the night, and every driver keen to just get through the heats with their car still straight. Jason Sides got the jump off the start in heat 10 and settled into the race lead, with fellow American Jesse Hockett in second. Late in the race Hockett stared putting the pressure on Sides, while trying to hold off the advances of a hard-charging Danny Reidy. Jason Sides went on to take the win from Jesse Hockett, Danny Reidy, David Murcott, Max Dumesny, Jason Johnson, Steve Caunt, Donny Schatz, Grant Anderson, Paul Morris and James Mc Fadden. Luke Rowell failed to finish the event.
Heat 11 started with a drag race into turn one, with both front row starters, Jason Kendrick and Ryan Farrell, desperate to get the advantage. It was Farrell who emerged in front, with Kendrick settling into second while Darrell Hodges was doing a magnificent job in third. Wayne Rowett, running in fourth, scraped the back straight wall, but barely slowed, while it was the battle between local star Richard Morgan and current Australian Champion Garry Brazier that captivated everyone’s attention. Morgan, who performed brilliantly all weekend, drove supremely well and, despite a late race charge by Garry Brazier, managed to hang on to his position. Ryan Farrell took the win from Jason Kendrick, Darrell Hodges and Wayne Rowett, while Richard Morgan and Garry Brazier having a thrilling drag race to the chequered flag that saw Morgan take fifth by a mere six tenths of a second. Brazier was seventh across the line, with Bud Kaeding, Danny Smith, Todd Wanless, Cameron Gessner, Dan Murray and Peter Lack rounding out the finishers.
The final heat of he night, heat 12, hit the track with David Muir and Andrew Wright sharing the front row of the starting grid. Muir got the jump on the start and totally ran away from the pack, opening a huge gap over the rest of the field. Wright settled into second place, he too opening a sizable lead over his fellow competitors. David Muir was the first to greet the chequered flag, with Andrew Wright in second ahead of Peter Thorley, Andrew Scheuerle, Ricky Maiolo, Robbie Farr, Brooke Tatnell, Brent Kaeding, Bryan Mann, Kerry Madsen, Ricky Mitchell and Matthew Butler.
Jason Kendrick and Andrew Wright led the field of eight around for the start of the 10-lap C-Main. Kendrick got away early, with Wright a little slow on the outside line. As the outside row bunched up behind Wright, Brisbane local Dan Murray had nowhere to go, ran into the back of Peter Lack, and inverted the #44 Comstar Internet Services racer as they crossed the white line. It was a low flip, a lot of contact with the ground, and included contact with Matthew Butler, who was desperately trying to avoid the incident and who was lucky not to roll himself. Dan emerge unscathed, the car too damaged to continue. But Murray was still upbeat, and, with a smile on his face, told the large crowd at Brisbane International Speedway that while it may not look like he’s had the best weekend of racing, he feels it was a good weekend, one that boosted his confidence a little and one in which he had a good time. When the C-Main was restarted, and Jason Kendrick was given a warning for going to early on the previous start, it was Andrew Wright who got the jump on the start, with Kendrick settling into second. The pair ran away from the field and while Peter Lack started to make ground on Kendrick in the later stages of the race, there was little he could do. Andrew Wright took the win, with Jason Kendrick securing second, and the final transfer to the B-Main. Peter Lack has had a week he’d probably rather forget, but still brought the Withcott Seedlings Q58 racer home in third ahead of Paul Morris, Ricky Mitchell, Matthew Butler and Luke Rowell. Dan Murray was the only non-finisher.
Both Dash events ran trouble-free with Queensland’s own Cameron Gessner getting the better of Donny Schatz, widely considered the best Sprintcar driver in the world today, in the A Dash. It was a big win for Gessner who conceded it was hard to have a definite plan for the A-Main 50-lap event when one is starting alongside the world’s best. Gessner won the A Dash from Donny Schatz, Max Dumesny, Brooke Tatnell, James McFadden and Danny Smith.
David Murcott and Kerry Madsen had a drag race into turn one on the start of the B Dash, with Murcott getting the advantage. Murcott eventually took out the B Dash ahead of Kerry Madsen, Jason Johnson, Andrew Scheuerle, Jason Sides and Todd Wanless.
As is somewhat usual at these type of events, it would be easy to forget that the B-Main was in fact a B-Main and not the grand final. The line up for last night’s last-chance race was impressive – Brent Kaeding, Ryan Farrell, Danny Reidy, Garry Brazier, Bud Kaeding, David Muir, Peter Thorley, Richard Morgan, Bryan Mann, Wayne Rowett, Darrell Hodges, Robbie Farr, Grant Anderson, Jesse Hockett, Ricky Maiolo, Steve Caunt, Andrew Wright and Jason Kendrick. That combination of drivers would make a very impressive A-Main race anywhere in the country, but last night that’s how they lined up for the 20-lap B-Main. Brent Kaeding got the jump on the start, with Ryan Farrell settling into second. Danny Reidy and Bud Kaeding were both making impressive progress through the field, while two locals, Peter Thorley and Bryan Mann, were embroiled in their own little battle. Ricky Maiolo pulled out of the race after only one lap, while Steve Caunt pulled out just past the half-way point in the race. Jesse Hockett was having a brilliant battle with Grant Anderson, towards the tail end of the field, when contact between the two saw Hockett collide with the turn four wall and exit the race. A lap into the restart David Muir pulled out of the race and one lap closer again the to the chequered flag, only two laps left to run, Bud Kaeding came into contact with the turn two wall and came to a stop. He was removed from the track with a forklift, thus elevating Peter Thorley to the final transfer position. Richard Morgan exited the race with two laps left to run, while Grant Anderson had made up some positions in the last half of the race. Brent Kaeding led the restart from Garry Brazier and Ryan Farrell, but it was the action between Peter Thorley, in sixth and holding the final transfer to the coveted A-Main event, and Grant Anderson, who was desperate to take Thorley’s transfer from him. White flag was in the air, there was half a lap to go, Anderson darted to the inside of Thorley through turn three, hoping to be able to pull off a last-minute pass to get himself into the A-Main. Unfortunately for both Thorley and Anderson, things didn’t work out for either of them. Anderson drifted high on the track in turn four, squeezing Thorley just a little too close to the wall, Thorley clipping the wall and inverting the #51 Tyrepower racer within sight of the chequered flag. It was a devastating blow for Thorley who was just one main straight away from his start 50-lap A-Main. Anderson was penalised for the incident, being relegated to the last running position on the current (lead) lap. This gave Darrell Hodges an unexpected transfer to the A-main event. Brent Kaeding took the win from Garry Brazier, Ryan Farrell, and Danny Reidy with Robbie Farr and Darrell Hodges snaring the final transfers to the A-Main. Bryan Mann was officially seventh, followed by Wayne Rowett, Grant Anderson, Andrew Wright and Jason Kendrick. Peter Thorley, Richard Morgan, Bud Kaeding, David Muir, Jesse Hockett, Steve Caunt and Ricky Maiolo did not finish the B-Main event.
The star-studded A-main event, to be held over 50-laps, with 18 of the best cars and drivers within Australia on the night, was going to have a hard time living up to the standards set last year. Last year’s race ran 50 laps, non-stop, with seventeen cars finishing the race and winner Donny Schatz lapping up to and including second place. This year’s race however, while it may not have been incident free, and Schatz may not have lapped the entire field, was full of fine racing by the best in the business. Queenslander Cameron Gessner would have his work cut out for him, starting alongside Donny Schatz, but the tall Queenslander had the entire BIS crowd behind him, cheering him on. Despite relatively limited seat time of late, when compared to this field of competitors, Gessner gave it his all, driving a brilliant race, but it was Schatz who got the jump on the start. There was little anyone could do after that, although the Aussies gave it their best go. After barely a lap Darrell Hodges brought about the first caution of the race when he became stranded on the low line in turn two. The next 38 laps ran without incident, though everywhere you looked there was a race within the race. Brent Kaeding and Jason Sides were having an intense battle in the back half of the field. Kaeding got too sideways in turn two, leaving Sides nowhere to go, the pair coming together, with Sides left stalled on the edge of the track. Kaeding was able to keep going, but nearly ran over a cameraman trying to escape the incident. That cameraman got some thrilling, albeit terrifying, footage, and may just have needed to change his pants. Only a lap or two into the restart and Todd Wanless found himself in the turn three wall, the front end knocked out of his #2 racer and he out of the race with 11 laps left to run. Kerry Madsen and Brent Kaeding both pulled out of the race before the chequered flag was in the air. Meanwhile, at the front of the field, Gessner had faded a little, to about fourth, while Max Dumesny and Brooke Tatnell had an exhilarating battle for second place. Kerry Madsen moved past Cameron Gessner before pulling out with a flat right rear. With four laps left the race was brought under caution so officials could remove Kerry Madsen’s muffler from the back straight, with Schatz leading them away for the final four laps. Brooke Tatnell, now up to second, charged hard through turns one and two, twice, once after the stoppage for Wanless and once with four laps to run, trying to work his way in front of Schatz. But once Schatz cleared the turns, he opened a small but comfortable margin over Tatnell and that was it, there was nothing more anyone could do but battle for the minors. Right throughout the 50-lap event Garry Brazier proved why is currently one of the very best drivers in Australia at the moment. After transferring through the 20-lap B-Main, he patiently worked his way through a very tough field of competitors, and as the 50-laps wore on, and began the single digit count-down to the chequered flag, Brazier turned the pressure up a notch and slipped past most of those in front of him. With four laps to go he was up to fifth, behind Gessner and with Danny Smith breathing down his neck. He worked his way past Gessner and set about finding a way past Max Dumesny. By the time the chequered flag flew, Brazier had slipped into third position, a sterling, but somewhat exhausting, effort after starting from fourth in the B-Main event. Donny Schatz once again took the win, and the $20,000 first place prize money cheque for car owner Garry Rush, with Brooke Tatnell in second and Garry Brazier filling the final podium in third position. Max Dumesny finished fourth ahead of Danny Smith in fifth, while Cameron Gessner and David Murcott raced side-by-side out of turn four and past the chequered flag with Murcott getting sixth by a mere four hundredths of a second. Cameron Gessner finished a very respectable seventh and was the first Queensland car-driver combination to cross the line. James McFadden was eighth across the line, ahead of Andrew Scheuerle, Robbie Farr, Ryan Farrell, Danny Reidy, Jason Sides and Jason Johnson. Brent Kaeding, Kerry Madsen, Todd Wanless and Darrell Hodges did not finish the 50-lap journey.
Performance Wholesale World Series Sprintcars, Sprintcars Queensland, and our American guests (minus Donny Schatz) head to Toowoomba’s Charlton raceway tonight, for another night of thrilling Sprintcar racing action. With the final round of PW WSS now within sight, you wont want to miss the racing action at Charlton tonight.
Sprintcars Queensland return to Brisbane International Speedway in a fortnight’s time, for Round 6 of the Queensland Speedway Spares Sprintcar Series on Saturday 23 January 2010. See you trackside!
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