There is a reason World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series drivers race in the offseason: momentum. It can be gained half a world away and the competition should be worried. Reigning Outlaws champion Donny Schatz is starting his year with a record of two wins and one second-place finish Down Under. Schatz capped off his Australian tour at Archerfield Speedway in Brisbane Saturday with his second win of 2018 in only three attempts with the World Series of Sprintcars (WSS).

Schatz lapped the majority of the field in the 50-lap race—leaving only eight cars on the lead lap. Kerry Madsen, who has had a stellar performance in the WSS crossed the line 11 seconds behind Schatz, which made him the closest competitor at the checkers. But Madsen ended up third on the rundown after he was penalized for a passing infraction.

That moved American Lucas Wolfe up to second-place.

Madsen led the opening lap over Schatz when the bottom line was more dominant at the start of the race. On lap two, Schatz found the low groove to take the top spot from Madsen. The race ran mostly caution free with only one slowdown on lap 10 for Bryan Mann’s spin in turn two.

All 20 cars entered in the feature finished the race.

While second and third were close at the finish, fourth-place was a full straightaway back as Jamie Veal rattled under the flag with Schatz visible in the rear view mirror.

The third American driver in the top five was California’s Carson Macedo, who briefly flirted with a podium finish before falling back on lap 28.

James McFadden capped off his WSS run with a sixth-place finish after starting third. Like Wolfe, McFadden benefitted from the officials. He crossed the line seventh but was bumped to sixth when Lachlan McHugh also received a post-race penalty. For the second straight race, the top of the order had a perfect balance of Australians and Americans.  

 Tope-10 Finishers
1. Donny Schatz
2. Lucas Wolfe
3. Kerry Madsen
4. Jamie Veal
5. Carson Macedo
6. James McFadden
7. Lachlan McHugh
8. Dave Murcott
9. Logan Schuchart
10. Luke Oldfield