Brad Sweet Wins The War

By Tony Veneziano

JACKSON, MN. – June 3, 2017 – Brad Sweet looked at the first two nights of the 39th annual AGCO Jackson Nationals for the World of Outlaws Craftsman® Sprint Car Series at Jackson Motorplex as battles that would ultimately put him in position to win the war. He did exactly that on Saturday night to the tune of $25,000, adding his name to the illustrious list of past winners of the tradition-laden event.

For Sweet, it was his third win of the season and second on a half-mile. Sweet now has 23 career World of Outlaws Feature wins, which ties him for 19th on the Series’ all-time win list with fellow competitors David Gravel and Shane Stewart, who also both finished in the top-five on Saturday night.

“It feels awesome to win the Jackson Nationals,” said Sweet. “We’re just ecstatic. I can’t thank Tod Quiring and all the guys enough for taking a chance and putting on a three-day show that pays big money like this. It’s a breath of fresh air and great to race for that kind of money. Hopefully the fans saw a good show.”

Sweet lined up second for the 30-lap main event and challenged pole sitter Kerry Madsen in the early going. Sweet hung with Madsen for a number of laps, especially in lapped traffic, mainly while working the bottom lane of the track.

Just before the halfway point of the race, Donny Schatz got by Sweet for second, with the latter getting back by a couple of laps later. Sweet took the lead from Kerry Madsen on the back straightaway on lap 18 and led the remainder of the race. He did have to withstand a pair of restarts with 11 laps remaining. The first was a double-file restart and the second single-file. Strong restarts each time propelled him to a solid lead over Madsen.

“I was in attack mode the whole time,” noted Sweet. “I was a little frustrated with myself. When I got behind Kerry (Madsen) I made a few mistakes and let Donny (Schatz) get by me. Usually you don’t get that back. Then I was able to get by both of them. Once I was able to get in control of the race, I knew I was in good shape and just tried not to screw it up. I almost messed up a few times and didn’t know how big of a lead we had, but I drove as hard I could those last 11 laps.”

Madsen, who finished no worse than second on any of the three nights of the 39th Annual AGCO Jackson Nationals led the first 17 laps from the pole. Lapped traffic ended up being his Achille’s heel, as Sweet got by him in traffic for the lead. Late in the race, Madsen was able to close back in on Sweet, using the top side of the half-mile.

“There were some classless people getting lapped and trying to take the leader out when they were getting lapped, but that’s no excuse,” said Madsen. “Brad (Sweet) probably deserved to win. We had a great car all weekend and to finish second, first and second is great. I’m really proud of the guys and the AGCO/Go Muddy car was a rocketship all week.”

David Gravel won a heat race on Saturday night to earn a spot in the Craftsman Club Dash, where he finished eighth. Lining up on the outside of the fourth row for the main event, Gravel steadily worked his way to the front. Gravel took third at one point from Donny Schatz, only to have the caution flag fly before that lap was completed. He would again get by the eight-time and defending series champion to come home on the podium.

“It was good to end the weekend on the right note,” said Gravel. “We kind of struggled all weekend and it took us a while to get the hang of it, but we got there. We’re happy to finish on the podium. You want to win this race, but we dug ourselves a bit of a hole there. Third was the best we could do. The track was really fast and we needed lapped traffic and was just about to get to it at the end. Good job to Brad (Sweet) and Kerry (Madsen). They had the fastest cars all weekend and deserved to be up here.”

Shane Stewart finished fourth, with Schatz in fifth and Joey Saldana crossing the line sixth. Daryn Pittman was seventh, followed by Mark Dobmeier in eighth, Ian Madsen in ninth and Logan Schuchart in 10th.

The World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series will next be in action on Friday, June 9 and Saturday, June 10 at Iowa’s famed Knoxville Raceway.

Feature (30 Laps) – 1. 49-Brad Sweet [2][$25,000]; 2. 2M-Kerry Madsen [1][$12,000]; 3. 5-David Gravel [8][$6,000]; 4. 2-Shane Stewart [6][$5,250]; 5. 15-Donny Schatz [3][$4,500]; 6. 17-Joey Saldana [5][$4,000]; 7. 9-Daryn Pittman [13][$3,500]; 8. 13JT-Mark Dobmeier [11][$3,000]; 9. 18-Ian Madsen [9][$2,750]; 10. 1S-Logan Schuchart [18][$2,500]; 11. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild [21][$2,300]; 12. 17B-Bill Balog [16][$2,250]; 13. 21-Brian Brown [17][$2,000]; 14. 7S-Jason Sides [4][$1,600]; 15. 3-Tim Kaeding [15][$1,500]; 16. 55-Brooke Tatnell [20][$1,300]; 17. O9-Matt Juhl [22][$1,250]; 18. 4-Paul McMahan [19][$1,050]; 19. 11K-Kraig Kinser [12][$1,050]; 20. 19-Brent Marks [24][$1,050]; 21. 82-Cap Henry [14][$1,000]; 22. 41-Jason Johnson [7][$1,000]; 23. 33-Danny Lasoski [10][$1,000]; 24. 12-Lynton Jeffrey [23][$1,000]. Lap Leaders: Kerry Madsen 1-17, Brad Sweet 18-30; KSE Hard Charger Award: 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[+10].

Qualifying (Combined Event Points) – 1. 2M-Kerry Madsen, 1094; 2. 49-Brad Sweet, 1082; 3. 15-Donny Schatz, 1065; 4. 7S-Jason Sides, 1041; 5. 5-David Gravel, 1035; 6. 17-Joey Saldana, 1002; 7. 41-Jason Johnson, 997; 8. 2-Shane Stewart, 994; 9. 18-Ian Madsen, 982; 10. 13JT-Mark Dobmeier, 978; 11. 33-Danny Lasoski, 977; 12. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 975; 13. 9-Daryn Pittman, 974; 14. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild, 973; 15. 82-Cap Henry, 943; 16. 12-Lynton Jeffrey, 910; 17. 3-Tim Kaeding, 909; 18. 17B-Bill Balog, 907; 19. 21-Brian Brown, 902; 20. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 898; 21. O9-Matt Juhl, 879; 22. 4-Paul McMahan, 871; 23. 1A-Jacob Allen, 856; 24. 55-Brooke Tatnell, 847; 25. 19-Brent Marks, 807; 26. 17X-Josh Baughman, 806; 27. 16-Travis Whitney, 797; 28. W20-Greg Wilson, 782; 29. 19P-Paige Polyak, 764; 30. 35-Skylar Prochaska, 740; 31. 23W-Scott Winters, 735; 32. 1B-Dustin Selvage, 729; 33. 13-Clyde Knipp, 724; 34. 7W-Tasker Phillips, 715; 35. 47-Brant O’Banion, 698; 36. 17H-Ryan Bickett, 686; 37. 4W-Matt Wasmund, 667

Heat #1 – (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer – 1. 5-David Gravel [1]; 2. 18-Ian Madsen [2]; 3. 3-Tim Kaeding [4]; 4. 9-Daryn Pittman [3]; 5. O9-Matt Juhl [5]; 6. 19-Brent Marks [6]; 7. 19P-Paige Polyak [7]; 8. 35-Skylar Prochaska [9]; 9. 7W-Tasker Phillips [8].

Heat #2 – (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer – 1. 17-Joey Saldana [1]; 2. 13JT-Mark Dobmeier [2]; 3. 4-Paul McMahan [5]; 4. 17B-Bill Balog [4]; 5. 17X-Josh Baughman [6]; 6. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild [3]; 7. 23W-Scott Winters [7]; 8. 47-Brant O’Banion [8].

Heat #3 – (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer – 1. 33-Danny Lasoski [2]; 2. 41-Jason Johnson [1]; 3. 82-Cap Henry [3]; 4. 21-Brian Brown [4]; 5. 16-Travis Whitney [6]; 6. 1A-Jacob Allen [5]; 7. 1B-Dustin Selvage [7]; 8. 17H-Ryan Bickett [8].

Heat #4 – (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer – 1. 2-Shane Stewart [1]; 2. 55-Brooke Tatnell [5]; 3. 1S-Logan Schuchart [4]; 4. 11K-Kraig Kinser [2]; 5. 12-Lynton Jeffrey [3]; 6. W20-Greg Wilson [6]; 7. 4W-Matt Wasmund [8]; 8. 13-Clyde Knipp [7].

Craftsman Club Dash (6 Laps) – 1. 2M-Kerry Madsen [1]; 2. 49-Brad Sweet [2]; 3. 15-Donny Schatz [3]; 4. 7S-Jason Sides [4]; 5. 17-Joey Saldana [6]; 6. 2-Shane Stewart [7]; 7. 41-Jason Johnson [8]; 8. 5-David Gravel [5]; 9. 18-Ian Madsen [9]; 10. 33-Danny Lasoski [10].

Last Chance Showdown (12 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer – 1. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild [1][]; 2. O9-Matt Juhl [3][]; 3. 12-Lynton Jeffrey [2][]; 4. 19-Brent Marks [6][]; 5. 17X-Josh Baughman [5][$300]; 6. 1A-Jacob Allen [4][$250]; 7. 23W-Scott Winters [11][$225]; 8. 35-Skylar Prochaska [10][$200]; 9. 19P-Paige Polyak [9][$200]; 10. 7W-Tasker Phillips [14][$200]; 11. 1B-Dustin Selvage [12][$200]; 12. W20-Greg Wilson [8][$200]; 13. 16-Travis Whitney [7][$200]; 14. 17H-Ryan Bickett [16][$200]; 15. 4W-Matt Wasmund [17][$200]; 16. 47-Brant O’Banion [15][$200]; 17. 13-Clyde Knipp [13][$200].

CONTINGENCY WINNERS: MSD Ignitions ($25 cash): Jason Johnson; MSD Ignitions ($50 cash): Brad Sweet; Penske Shocks ($50 cash): Donny Schatz; JE Pistons ($50 cash): Joey Saldana; VP Racing Fuels ($50 cash): Logan Schuchart; Edelbrock ($50 cash): Logan Schuchart; Comp Cams ($50 cash): Logan Schuchart; Extended Stay America ($50 cash): Sheldon Haudenschild; Cometic Gasket ($50 cash): Jason Sides; Super Flow ($50 cash): Jason Sides; Craftsman Club Fast Five ($100 cash): Brad Sweet, Jason Sides, Joey Saldana, Shane Stewart, Jason Johnson; Craftsman/Sears: Kerry Madsen; KSE Hard Charger: Sheldon Haudenschild; Comp Cams ($50 product certificate): Brad Sweet; JE Pistons (Set of Rings): Paul McMahan; JE Pistons (Set of Rings): Jason Johnson.