WORLD SERIES SPRINTCARS (WSS) CHAMPION BROOKE TATNELL RANKED NUMBER ONE IN MID-SEASON AUSSIE SPRINTCAR POLL

KNOXVILLE, IOWA (January 19, 2006) - Newly-crowned World Series Sprintcars (WSS) point champion Brooke Tatnell is the top-ranked driver in Australia thus far in the 2005/2006 season, as selected by the voting panel of the Australian Sprintcar Poll. The New South Welshman gathered fourteen (14) of the fifteen (16) first place votes cast by the select panel of Australian manufacturers, media members, promoters and sanctioning officials. If the Aussie World of Outlaws (WoO) star continues his charge through the next three weeks of the Outlaws Down Under at Parramatta City Raceway, Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic at Premier Speedway, and the Australian Sprintcar Championship at Brisbane International Speedway, Tatnell stands a good chance of repeating his Australian Sprintcar Poll “Driver of the Year” titles in 1994/1995 and 1999/2000.

The next two drivers on the mid-season podium are four-time Australian “Driver of the Year” titlist Max Dumesny and American WoO star Donny Schatz, respectively. Dumesny, a native Victorian, narrowly out-pointed North Dakotan Schatz, 595-583, yet Schatz earned the remaining two first place votes on the strength of his recent wins in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta, including the $50,000-to-win Sprintcar International there.

Ranked fourth and fifth, respectively, in the seasonal voting are Australian Robbie Farr of New South Wales, and American Jason Johnson of Louisiana. Rounding out the top ten drivers at the mid-way point in the Down Under season are Australian Troy Little of New South Wales, Australian Ryan Farrell of Western Australia, American Brian Brown of Missouri, Australian Kerry Madsen of New South Wales, and American Joey Saldana of Indiana, respectively.

The Outlaws Down Under III racing event is currently underway at the Parramatta City Raceway, with racing scheduled for Thursday-Friday-Saturday, January 19-20-21. Many ‘Yanks’ that are competing in the event will be regulars this coming American sprint car racing season with either the World of Outlaws (WoO) or the National Sprint Tour (NST). The Standard-sponsored Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic at Premier Speedway’s Sungold Stadium in Warrnambool, Victoria, will take place on Friday-Saturday, January 27-28. It will also feature nine Americans in competition as it is Australia’s Clean-O World Challenge qualifier for that international invitational to take place at the Knoxville Raceway in Iowa on Friday, August 11. Lastly, the Australian Sprintcar Championship in Brisbane, Queensland, on Thursday-Friday-Saturday, February 2-3-4, is only open to Australian competitors.

The Australian Sprintcar Poll is an official awards program of the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame and Museum Foundation of Knoxville, Iowa. The 2005/06 Australian Sprintcar Poll post-season awards will be presented on Friday, August 11, during the 46th annual Knoxville Nationals, presented by the Midwest Ford Dealers.

Mid-Season 2005/2006 Australian Sprintcar Poll
Rank, Driver (First Place Votes), State/Country, Points
1., Brooke Tatnell (14), New South Wales, AUS, 1400
2., Max Dumesny, Victoria, AUS, 595
3., Donny Schatz (2), North Dakota, USA, 583
4., Robbie Farr, New South Wales, AUS, 461
5., Jason Johnson, Louisiana, USA, 430
6., Troy Little, New South Wales, AUS, 208
7., Ryan Farrell, Western Australia, AUS, 129
8., Brian Brown, Missouri, USA, 116
9., Kerry Madsen, New South Wales, AUS, 112
10., Joey Saldana, Indiana, USA, 80
11., Luke Dillon, South Australia, AUS, 76
12., Dean Jacobs, Ohio, USA, 75
13., Trevor Green, South Australia, AUS, 59
14., Terry Bracken, Queensland, AUS, 57
15., David Murcott, Tasmania, AUS, 49
16., Daryn Pittman, Oklahoma, USA, 48
17., Mark Blyton, New South Wales, AUS, 36
18., Todd Wanless, Queensland, AUS, 34
19., Cameron Gessner, Queensland, AUS, 32
20., Adrian Maher, New South Wales, AUS, 30
21., Darrell Hodges, Queensland, AUS, 29
22., Garry Brazier, New South Wales, AUS, 28
23., Ken Sartori, Western Australia, AUS, 27
24., John Vogels, Victoria, AUS, 26
25., Ian “Fly” Lewis, Victoria, AUS, 24

Also receiving multiple votes: Ben Atkinson, Allan Barlee, Jason Dawkins, Carl Dowling, Mike Figliomeni, Kurt Luttrell, Jason Meyers, Luch Monte, Peter Murphy, Adrian Redpath, Matthew Reed, Travis Rilat, Andrew Scheuerle.