World Series Sprintcars rolled into AusDeck Patios Archerfield Speedway last night for Round Six of World Series Sprintcars. Twenty-Five cars turned up ready to put on a show for race fans and see if anyone has what it takes to beat World Champion Donny Schatz. Several drivers gave it a good go, with Luke Oldfield leading the points chase going into the Shootout events and both Andrew Scheuerle and David Murcott also really putting the challenge to Schatz in the A-Main. But despite the best efforts of the Scheuerle, Murcott, Oldfield and the rest of the field, Donny Schatz went on to take the win, his fourth in as many nights of competition, with David Murcott in second and Brooke Tatnell rounding out the podium. Brent Aprile had a brilliant run in the NQ42 racer to finish fourth with Andrew Scheuerle, who early in the race really challenged Schatz for the lead, getting his nose in front several times as they raced wheel-to-wheel for the lead, completing the top five.

Donny Schatz dominated from the very beginning, setting quick time in qualifying with a quick 11.828 second lap. Brooke Tatnell and Luke Oldfield completed the fastest three, recording time of 11.992 and 11.999 respectively. Scahtz, Tatnell and Oldfield were the only cars to break into the 11-second bracket. David Murcott and American Davey Heskin completed the top five qualifiers, and while once again all the times were close, the entire field was separated by just 1.183 seconds. The top 22 cars were separated by less than one second, while Brent Kratzmann beat Bryan Mann by just three thousandths of a second, with Mann in turn beat Kyle Hirst by just one thousandth of a second.

Heat one started with Kevin Titman and Darryl Claydon from the front row. Brisbane local Kevin Titman got the jump on the start and quickly settled into the race lead with Clayden settling for second but staying with Titman for the first lap. Mid-field young Callum Zizek found himself under enormous pressure with both Kyle Hirst and Andrew Scheuerle two-wide right on his tail and David Murcott and Donny Schatz right behind them. Scheuerle ran the high line around Zizek as they exited turn two and headed down the back straight, while Donny Schatz and Kyle Hirst tried to go underneath Zizek through turns three and four. Schatz momentarily backed off, leaving Hirst and Zizek to argue over position. The pair drag raced wheel-to-wheel as they came out of turn four and headed down the main straight, with Hirst securing the advantage as they entered turn one. Behind them David Murcott ran around the outside of Schatz down the main straight before sliding under Zizek in turn one in a beautiful passing move. Schatz stepped the pressure up and began working his way towards the front of the field, running underneath Murcott through turn two as Hirst and Scheuerle fought over position. Scheuerle again managed to hang on and within just a few laps Schatz was all over the back of Hirst. Schatz had just managed to slip by Hirst when the race was brought under caution for David Murcott who had spun in turn four. Kevin Titman led the restart with Darryl Clayden right behind him, followed by Brent Kaeding, Andrew Scheuerle and Donny Schatz. Both Scheuerle and Kaeding are exceptionally talented and experienced racers but Schatz made it look easy as he swiftly raced around the outside of Scheuerle before getting by Kaeding on the low line a lap later. Schatz then slipped effortlessly underneath Clayden in turn four when Clayden ran a fraction too wide, with Brent Kaeding quick to follow and then challenge Schatz for position. Kaeding actually managed to slip in front of Schatz briefly, but Schatz was quick to steal his position back and set his sights on race leader Titman. Andrew Scheuerle, Darryl Clayden, Kyle Hirst and David Murcott were having a great battle mid-field but there was no stopping Kevin Titman out in front. Titman went on to take the win ahead of Donny Schatz, Brent Kaeding, Andrew Scheuerle, Darryl Clayden, Kyle Hirst, David Murcott, Callum Zizek and Andrew Liebke.

Queenslander Brad Ayers shared the front row of the start of heat two with Andrew Wright with the pair drag-racing side-by-side into turn one when the lights went green. Ayers had his nose in front on the low line through turn one, but Wright had a beautiful line on the high side and managed to secure the lead by the time they exited turn two. Lee Nash and Paul Morris both had great runs on the low line on the opening lap, with Nash moving past both Darren Jensen and Brad Ayers and into second, while Morris slipped underneath Brent Kratzmann. Kratzmann fought back hard on the highline coming out of turn four, before slipping underneath Darren Jensen in turn two and then Brad Ayers in turn three. Kratzmann was in magnificent form as he set out after Lee Nash, leaving Paul Morris, Brad Ayers, Darren Jensen and Brooke Tatnell to argue over the mid-field positions. Nash and Kratzmann came together in turn two, losing ground but continued to race side-by-side as Paul Morris and Darren Jensen closed in. Andrew Wright had a huge lead and went on to take the win nearly half a lap ahead of second placed Lee Nash. Paul Morris managed to get through in an impressive drive to finish third and led Darren Jensen, Brent Kratzmann, Brooke Tatnell, Davey Heskin and Brad Ayers across the line.

Heat three started with David Whell and Brent Aprile from the front row with the leading pair again racing side-by-side into the first corner. Whell managed to pull in front entering turn one and had the lead, while Aprile switched to the low line coming out of turn two to have the perfect line the slip into the race in lead as they rounded turn three. Meanwhile Danny Holtgraver and Scott Reilly were having a great battle for second and Bryan Mann and Luke Oldfield were trying to work their way closer to the front after starting towards the back of the field. Oldfield and Mann were running the high line with Scott Reilly in front and Matt Egel coming on strong on the low line behind them. Egel slipped up the inside of Oldfield heading down the back straight to run two abreast with Mann through turn three but when Reilly in front of them made a small mistake in turn four, both Egel and Mann got caught behind him and Oldfield quickly switched the low side and slipped straight past all three. Oldfield closed in on Danny Holtgraver in fourth as race leader Aprile had a big moment in turn two, looping the NQ42 racer and not only managing to keep the car moving, but also keeping control of the race. Aprile did now have Whell, Hotlgraver and Oldfield right on his tail, but soon managed to open a small margin over Whell. Oldfield and Holtgraver put on a brilliant show for race fans as each held nothing back. Oldfield ran the bottom to race under Holtgraver as the headed down the main straight to steal third before setting out after Whell. It only took Oldfield a lap or two to close the gap and make his way in front of Whell before trying to close to gap to Aprile. Brent Aprile would go on to take the race win ahead of Luke Oldfield, David Whell, Danny Holtgraver, Bryan Mann, Matt Egel, Daniel Harding and Scott Reilly.

Andrew Wright and Kevin Titman lined up alongside each other for the start of heat four, and while both had won their previous heats, both were equally keen to make it two from two. Wright got a brilliant start with Titman settling into second ahead of Darren Jensen and Callum Zizek, while further back in the field Brent Kratzmann got the better of Kyle Hirst, with David Murcott charging hard on the low line. Kratzmann was a man on a mission and once ahead of Hirst his focus was on getting past Zizek. Half a lap later and Kratzmann slipped under Zizek and set out after Jensen, while Hirst, Tatnell and Murcott battled further back in the field. Kevin Titman had caught Andrew Wright and the pair raced wheel-to-wheel with Jensen quickly closing in. Titman managed to get in front briefly but Wright was not prepared to settle for second without a fight. Jensen waited patiently, watching for the right opportunity and then powered around the outside of Titman as they headed through turns one and two in a spectacular fashion before spending the next couple of laps working on Wright. Darren Jensen went on to take the win ahead of Andrew Wright and Kevin Titman, with Brent Kratzmann in fourth and leading Brooke Tatnell, David Murcott, Kyle Hirst, Callum Zizek and Andrew Liebke across the line.

Darryl Clayden and David Whell led the start of heat five but it took several attempts to get the event under way. Officials deemed Whell to have jumped the first start, Clayden the second and while the third start was much better for the leading pair, Clayden secured the lead as Whell and Brent Kaeding argued over second. Andrew Scheuerle and Matt Egel got great starts while Scott Reilly faded quickly. Donny Schatz brought the race under caution when he spun the U15 racer in turn one after slight contact with Reilly. Schatz suffered a flat left front tyre and a damaged front wing on the U15 racer, and while he restarted at the rear of the field, the front wing now stood on a ninety-degree angle and made it difficult for Schatz to keep the front wheels on the ground. It was a case of fourth time lucky for the start of heat five, with Clayden again securing the advantage when the lights went green once more. Brent Kaeding from position three was quick to move into second, slipping underneath Whell in turn one, with Andrew Scheuerle hot on his heels. Kaeding made his way into the race lead while Scheuerle put all kinds of pressure on Clayden before eventually sliding underneath the W45 racer in turn two. With just three laps left to run the race was brought under caution for the spun car of Scott Reilly in turn one. Brent Kaeding led the restart from Andrew Scheuerle and Darryl Clayden with Clayden immediately under fire from a very hard charging Matt Egel. Brent Kaeding went on to take the win with Andrew Scheuerle only half a second behind. Matt Egel crossed the line in third and led Darryl Clayden, David Whell, Daniel Harding, Donny Schatz and Scott Reilly home.

The sixth and final heat of the night saw Brent Aprile and Brad Ayers share the front row for the start, with Danny Holtgraver and Lee Nash in hot pursuit right behind them. Aprile got a brilliant start and quickly secured the lead while Holtgraver slipped underneath Ayers in turn one to steal second. Bryan Mann, from position five, slipped straight under Lee Nash and Brad Ayers, with Luke Oldfield following him a lap or two later. Paul Morris also made his way past both Nash and Ayers, who had a race long battle for position, exchanging track position several times over the course of the race. Brent Aprile was first past the chequered flag with Danny Holtgraver in second ahead of Bryan Mann, Luke Oldfield, Paul Morris, Davey Heskin, Lee Nash and Brad Ayers.

The top eight drivers after time trials and heat events, Donny Schatz, Luke Oldfield, Brooke Tatnell, Andrew Scheuerle, Darren Jensen, Brent Kaeding, Brent Kratzmann and Bryan Mann, contested three shootout events. Jensen, Kaeding, Kratzmann and Mann were first up to contest the Bronze Shootout, the four drivers getting three time-trial laps to record the best possible time, with just the quickest two cars to progress to the Silver Shootout. Darren Jensen was quickest in the Bronze Shootout, stopping the clock at 13.106 seconds with Brent Kaeding securing the final transfer with a 13.175 second lap. Brent Kratzmann and Bryan Mann would start the A-Main from positions seven and eight respectively.

Brooke Tatnell and Andrew Scheuerle joined Darren Jensen and Brent Kaeding on the track for the Silver Shootout, with Andrew Scheuerle this time securing the best time, a 13.402 second lap. Brent Kaeding was again second quickest, his 13.425 second lap enough to see him transfer with Scheuerle to Gold Shootout. Brooke Tatnell and Darren Jensen would start the A-Main event from positions five and six respectively.

For the Gold Shootout Andrew Scheuerle and Brent Kaeding were joined on track by Donny Schatz and Luke Oldfield. Schatz easily set the quickest time, his 13.023 lap almost half a second faster than the 13.456 second lap recorded by second placed Luke Oldfield. Andrew Scheuerle and Brent Kaeding were both less than half a second slower than Schatz but would start the A-main event from positions three and four respectively. Donny Schatz, given the choice of inside or outside row for the start of the A-Main chose to start from pole position, with Luke Oldfield on the outside.

Eleven cars rolled onto the track for the start of the twelve-lap B-Main event, with just the top six finishers to transfer to the A-Main. Matt Egel and Andrew Wright shared the front row for the start of the event, with hard chargers Kyle Hirst and Kevin Titman close behind. Egel got the jump on the start and quickly settled into the race lead while Hirst managed to secure second ahead of Wright and Titman, while team-mates Lee Nash and Darryl Clayden argued over fifth and sixth. Nash secured the advantage over Clayden and began a thrilling battle with Titman, while David Whell managed to move into sixth. Andrew Liebke had struggled with track conditions all night after failing to make the transfer in time trials and started the B-Main from position eleven. Liebke prefers a slick track, and with the surface now much more to his liking, Liebke had a huge task ahead of him to pass enough cars to make the A-Main. First on his list was Callum Zizek and Scott Reilly, who were themselves having a great battle, and together with Liebke the three drivers really put on a brilliant show, exchanging positions several times before Liebke managed to emerge in front and set out after Brad Ayers and Darryl Clayden. Liebke slipped underneath Clayden in turn four and spent the next two laps chasing Ayers before slipping past him too. Ayers fought back hard but Liebke held on until the race was brought under caution for the spun car of Andrew Wright in turn four. Matt Egel led the restart from Kyle Hirst, Kevin Titman, David Whell and Lee Nash with Andrew Liebke in the sixth and final transfer position. Hirst really put the pressure on Egel but it was hard to not watch the two Brisbane locals, Liebke and Ayers, as they fought over the last transfer position to the A-Main event. Ayers attempted an inside passing move on Liebke through three that didn’t quite pay off, and contact between the two cars nearly ended in disaster for both. Fortunately both cars were able to untangle themselves and keep moving, but Scott Reilly had taken evasive action to try and avoid the pair and had come to a stop in turn four, bring the race under caution. Matt Egel led the restart with five laps left to run and Kyle Hirst still on his tail and Liebke and Ayers still fighting over the final transfer position. Darryl Clayden had a brilliant run on the high side through turn four to race around the outside of both Ayers and Liebke only for Liebke to steal his position back a lap later. Liebke set out after Lee Nash, managing to slip under the W46 racer in the final corner of the race. Matt Egel managed to hang on to take the win despite enormous pressure from Kyle Hirst, who was forced to settle for second. Kevin Titman ran a solid race to cross the line in third ahead of David Whell with Andrew Liebke and Lee Nash rounding out the top six and securing transfers to the A-Main event. Darryl Clayden crossed the line in seventh after an impressive run with Brad Ayers, Callum Zizek, Scott Reilly and Andrew Wright rounding out the field.

A huge field of 20 cars rolled out for the 30-lap A-Main event with Donny Schatz from pole position and Luke Oldfield alongside. Schatz got a brilliant start from pole position while Oldfield ran very high in turn four coming around for the start. Andrew Scheuerle and Brooke Tatnell from the second row were quick to make their move, with Scheuerle getting a great run on the bottom. Scheuerle ran wheel-to-wheel with Oldfield for a couple of laps as the pair argued over second, while Darren Jensen ran the high line, Brent Kratzmann, having qualified for his first Word Series Sprintcars A-main event, had a great run mid-field and David Murcott began working his way forward. Bryan Mann has been in remarkable form lately and last night was no exception, the Q16 racer making his way closer to the front of the field while back at the front of the field Scheuerle had not only managed to pull ahead of Oldfield but was putting up a seriously strong fight for the race lead. Schatz was on the high line with Scheuerle working the low line relentlessly, the pair side-by-side as Scheuerle held nothing back. It was a truly spectacular effort by the Queensland Champion, perhaps one of his best drives so far this season, and had the entire crowd enthralled. Scheuerle managed to get his nose just in front several times but there simply was no denying Schatz and each time Scheuerle came close to closing the deal, Schatz fired back to maintain the lead. At the other end of the field Andrew Liebke continued his great run from the B-main, slowly working his way past several cars, while a few cars ahead of him Matt Egel and Kevin Titman were separately working the highline trying to get ahead. Danny Holtgraver and Kyle Hirst had a great battle mid-field, while Brooke Tatnell and David Murcott thrilled the crowd with a close battle towards the front of the field. At the front of the field though Andrew Scheuerle was not done with Donny Schatz and while Schatz had opened a small lead Scheuerle worked tirelessly to close the gap and once they hit lapped traffic Scheuerle was again challenging for the lead. Scheuerle again managed to get his nose in front on the low line but Schatz was just too quick on the high side. The race was brought under caution with just nine laps completed when Matt Egel slowed to a stop high on the track in turn two. Unfortunately Egel was unable to restart the event.

Donny Schatz led the restart from Andrew Scheuerle, Luke Oldfield, Bryan Mann and David Murcott, with Brent Kaeding close behind too. When the lights went green Murcott immediately took to the highline to run around the outside of Mann coming out of turn two before trying to slip underneath Oldfield in turn three. Danny Holtgraver had a brilliant run in the Titan Garages Q36 racer to get past Kevin Titman, Paul Morris and Davey Heskin, while Andrew Liebke, Paul Morris and David Whell battled at the rear of the field. Kevin Titman spun the Q59 racer in turn four and brought the race under caution once more, before restarting at the rear of the field.

Donny Schatz again led the restart from Andrew Scheuerle, with Luke Oldfield in third ahead of David Murcott, Bryan Mann, Brooke Tatnell and Brent Kaeding. Murcott again took the high line and ran around the outside of Oldfield, leaving Oldfield to battle with a hard charging Bryan Mann. Further back in the field Davey Heskin managed to stay ahead of the close battle unfolding between Paul Morris, Andrew Liebke, and David Whell, with the trio going three-wide through turn four only just ahead of Kevin Titman and Lee Nash. The battle between Oldfield and Mann was really starting to heat up but contact between the pair in turn three brought the race to a stop. Oldfield ended up facing the wrong direction in the middle of the turn while Mann got significant air underneath the Q16 racer as he bounced through the turn. Mann somehow managed to keep the car from rolling but as the field behind them took evasive action Brent Kaeding ended up too close to the wall, clipping the concrete and inverting the U69 racer. All drivers walked away from the incident but none were able to restart the event.

Donny Schatz led the restart with sixteen laps left to run and David Murcott in second ahead of Andrew Scheuerle and Brooke Tatnell. Darren Jensen had a brilliant run on the high line on the first lap after the restart, running around Brent Kratzmann and challenging Brent Aprile for position, before Kratzmann fought back hard on the low line. Tatnell and Aprile were right on the tail of Scheuerle, while Holtgraver and Hirst battled mid-field and Liebke and Whell raced wheel-to-wheel towards the back of the field. Schatz may have dominated the race but with such a strong field of contenders there was plenty of racing action right through the field to keep everyone entertained. Each and every driver in the race had to work exceptionally hard for every position and the Sprintcars Queensland drivers certainly proved they can compete with some of the best in the business. Donny Schatz went on to take the win with David Murcott in second and Brooke Tatnell officially third. Brent Aprile crossed the line in fourth with the ever-consistent Andrew Scheuerle the first of the regular Brisbane contenders across the line in fifth. Daniel Harding finished sixth and led Kyle Hirst, Brent Kratzmann, Darren Jensen, Danny Holtgraver, David Whell, Davey Heskin, Kevin Titman, Andrew Liebke, Paul Morris and Lee Nash across the line. Luke Oldfield, Bryan Mann, Brent Kaeding and Matt Egel all failed to finish the event.

Sprintcars Queensland, along with our American guests and World Series Sprintcars competitors will now take a short break to prepare for the huge weekend ahead when World Series Sprintcars returns to AusDeck Patios Archerfield Speedway on Friday night, 09 January 2015 for the first of two massive nights of racing. It will be Round Seven of World Series Sprintcars, combined with the 2015 running of the Australian Sprintcar Open, culminating in a marathon 50-lap A-Main event on Saturday night. Donny Schatz has dominated this event completely in recent years and will most certainly be out to take the win again, but with a large and talented field all eager to be the one to beat Schatz to the chequered flag, can Schatz do it again? Or can one of the Queensland locals like Andrew Scheuerle, Luke Oldfield or Bryan Mann beat him to the line. It is set to be a massive weekend of racing with any one of at least a dozen drivers capable of standing atop the podium at the end of the weekend. Come along on Friday and Saturday nights to AusDeck Patios Archerfield Speedway and cheer on your favourite. And don’t forget to pop down to the pits after the racing is finished and grab an autograph, a photo or some merchandise from your favourite stars. See you all Friday night!