'Down Under' Parramatta first prelim report

Madsen wins World of Outlaws 'Down Under' opener

GRANVILLE, NSW, AU (January 8) -- Kerry Madsen ran the race of his life to beat O'Reilly World of Outlaws champions Steve Kinser and Sammy Swindell under the checkered flag in the Preliminary Feature at Parramatta City Raceway Thursday on opening night of the historic Outlaws 'Down Under' event.

Madsen, who ranked second in the Knoxville Raceway point standings last season, passed pole-sitter Donny Schatz for the lead and held off the sprint car racing legends for the $5,000 first prize.

"This win is as special as anything I have ever done," the emotional Madsen yelled to the partisan crowd from victory lane. "To join these two guys (Kinser and Swindell) on the podium as a winner is something I will cherish forever."

Madsen paced the qualifying session of the second preliminary program at the 43rd Annual Knoxville Nationals last August, won the "B" Feature and raced past 14 cars to finish seventh in the evening's main event.

Kinser, who claimed his 18th O'Reilly World of Outlaws Series championship two months ago, had nothing but praise for "Mad Man" Madsen.

"I have said it before about Kerry; he is a fine talent and he did a great job tonight," Kinser said. "I was not completely happy with the car, but there are still two days of racing to go and that was a nice start. Full credit to Kerry and we will keep working at it from here."

Swindell, who secured third place with a daring move past Schatz, Daryn Pittman and Troy Little through the first and second corners late in the race, was happy with his opening-night performance.

"We had a bit of clay in the left rear and the right rear tire was going flat, too, but I'm happy with this racecar and this is a good start to the next couple of days," the three-time O'Reilly World of Outlaws Series champion said. "It was hard with some heavy lapped traffic on the bottom but we got through better toward the end."

Madsen also drove the #A1 Bikebiz Yamaha Cool to victory from outside the second row in the First Heat Race. Schatz, Craig Dollansky and Joey Saldana won the other Heat Races.

Schatz and Saldana, who finished 1-2 in last week's $50,000-to-win International Event at Parramatta City Raceway, won Thursday's Dash Races for the right to start the Preliminary Feature on the front row. Schatz, who won the First Dash Race from outside the third row, held off Saldana during the race's early stages. Saldana spun late and eventually finished 15th.

Schatz finished the Preliminary Feature in fourth place, ahead of Pittman, Little, Trevor Green, Jason Sides, Dennis Moore, Jr., and 15th-starting Adrian Maher. Jason Meyers raced past 13 cars to finish 11th.

Jason Sides paced the qualifying session with a lap of 135.36 kilometers per hour.

-WoO