From Brendan Capria
PORT ROYAL, Penn. (October 15, 2016) — Unlike the others, Logan Schuchart did not scale his car right away in victory lane. Rather, the Hanover, Pa. native took the time to hug his family in front of a local crowd. Schuchart won his second World of Outlaws Craftsman® Sprint Car Series race of the season Saturday night at Port Royal Speedway – less than 100 miles from his hometown.
Thereon, Schuchart jumped on the back of his racecar and began to climb to the wing and the confetti waiting for him at the top. Schuchart slid down the front of the wing as hundreds of fans applauded his dominant performance in the 30-lap feature. He led 28 laps, starting the feature on the outside of the first row in second.
“It means a lot to win here,” Schuchart said. “Port Royal is where we started so to win here at home, we’re proud. We’re still from P.A. no matter what anybody says.”
The qualifying flights earlier in the night foreshadowed the battle between pole-sitter Lucas Wolfe and Schuchart. Wolfe recorded the night’s quick time with a 15.278; he established the track record for 410-sprints with 15.168 on July 5, 2014.Schuchart was second fastest in qualifying, just .02 seconds off his pace. Together, the feature showcased the two drivers’ quickness around the half-mile oval.
Schuchart wasted no time, challenging Wolfe in the opening lap of the race. Though Wolfe slammed the door on his attempts in turns two and four, a caution the following lap essentially gave Schuchart a do-over.
Schuchart took advantage of the early-caution, finally making the pass low in turn two. In the next four laps, Schuchart extended his lead to a 2.316-second margin. By this time, the front of the 25-car field reached lapped traffic. However, his buffer did not last long as the race’s second caution compromised his lead.
“It felt like the longest 30 laps ever,” Schuchart said. “We’ve had races where we’ve been out front and have slowed down in lapped traffic. I got a little nervous. But once I got the top rolling, I could kind of pull the wing back and get my speed back. It felt pretty good. We’re just really proud of this whole Shark Racing team.”
On the restart, Wolfe reclaimed the lead but only momentarily. Schuchart answered back, soon reestablishing a comfortable cushion between him and Wolfe. Wolfe did not get another chance to challenge him. Within the final 10 laps of the feature, Wolfe began to fade while Greg Hodnett and Donny Schatz took a similar route to the podium. Wolfe held onto fourth position.
“Donny showed me the bottom off two and four and we moved down,” said Hodnett, who finished second. “I got going on the bottom but Logan was gone. He was in another zip code. We were just lucky to be able to come up to second. It was a great field of cars and great fans.
Schuchart increased the spread to nearly four seconds in the closing laps of the race and ultimately won by a 4.705-second margin. Schuchart said the second half of the year is when the team really started to click. But, he owed his quick lap times and overall success to car owner Bobby Allen, who is also his grandfather. Allen was inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1998.
“He’s been doing it himself lately,” Allen said. “He has a different car a little bit – different motor that seemed to work pretty well. It’s great to get [a win] anywhere you can get them, but it was great to get it here. He had the car working good and was driving it very well.”
Schatz, rounding out the podium, recorded his 58th top five performance of 2016. With five races left in the season, Schatz is two top five finishes shy of tying his total from last season.
“Obviously you want to win when you come out. That’s how you get the ‘Champion’ status,” Schatz said. “When you don’t, you have to figure out why. So, we have a little work to do there. It was fun. [The track] did a great job giving us a great surface to race on top to bottom. You get to go to a lot of places in the country, and to see the pride that goes into what everyone has done here…it’s just crazy how much pride the fans take in it. A lot of racetracks in the country people take for granted, but it’s great to see [the pride] right here.”
World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series
Port Royal Speedway
Port Royal, PA
Saturday October 15, 2016
Qualifying Flight A:
1. 1S – Logan Schuchart, 15.278
2. 15 – Donny Schatz, 15.285
3. 5C – Dylan Cisney, 15.358
4. 49 – Brad Sweet, 15.390
5. 1A – Jacob Allen, 15.430
6. 17W – Kerry Madsen, 15.436
7. 70 – Danny Holtgraver, 15.443
8. 83 – Joey Saldana, 15.447
9. 51S – Stevie Smith, 15.468
10. 2 – Shane Stewart, 15.509
11. 7 – Paul McMahan, 15.592
12. 71M – Dave Blaney, 15.604
13. O7 – Doug Esh, 15.630
14. 13 – Clyde Knipp, 15.641
15. 7W – Logan Wagner, 15.652
16. 19M – Brent Marks, 15.662
17. 20 – Ryan Taylor, 15.678
18. 48 – Danny Dietrich, 15.691
19. 19 – Paige Polyak, 15.778
20. 33 – Curt Stroup, 15.804
21. 47K – Kody Lehman, 15.874
22. 71A – R.J. Johnson, 15.968
23. 24B – Dustin Baney, 16.028
Qualifying Flight B:
1. 1 – Lucas Wolfe, 15.258
2. 9 – Daryn Pittman, 15.308
3. 27 – Greg Hodnett, 15.340
4. 5 – David Gravel, 15.385
5. 21 – Brian Brown, 15.413
6. 1B – Dale Blaney, 15.420
7. 7S – Jason Sides, 15.457
8. 69K – Lance Dewease, 15.487
9. 17B – Bill Balog, 15.496
10. 41 – Jason Johnson, 15.527
11. 88 – T.J. Stutts, 15.527
12. 747 – Davey Sammons, 15.558
13. 94 – Ryan Smith, 15.577
14. 17BX – Steve Buckwalter, 15.589
15. W20 – Greg Wilson, 15.607
16. M1 – Mark Smith, 15.651
17. 8S – Trenton Sheaffer, 15.660
18. 25 – Aaron Ott, 15.689
19. 3Z – Brock Zearfoss, 15.814
20. 55 – Mike Wagner, 15.827
21. 49X – Craig Dollansky, 15.844
22. 44 – Joey Hershey, 15.864
23. 13X – Tim Shaffer, 15.888
Heat Race #1:
1. 1S – Logan Schuchart
2. 70 – Danny Holtgraver
3. 5C – Dylan Cisney
4. 51S – Stevie Smith
5. 7 – Paul McMahan
6. 7W – Logan Wagner
7. O7 – Doug Esh
8. 47K – Kody Lehman
9. 24B – Dustin Baney
10. 1A – Jacob Allen
11. 20 – Ryan Taylor
12. 19 – Paige Polyak
Heat Race #2:
1. 15 – Donny Schatz
2. 49 – Brad Sweet
3. 83 – Joey Saldana
4. 19M – Brent Marks
5. 2 – Shane Stewart
6. 17W – Kerry Madsen
7. 71M – Dave Blaney
8. 13 – Clyde Knipp
9. 33 – Curt Stroup
10. 71A – R.J. Johnson
11. 48 – Danny Dietrich
Heat Race #3:
1. 1 – Lucas Wolfe
2. 27 – Greg Hodnett
3. 21 – Brian Brown
4. 7S – Jason Sides
5. 88 – T.J. Stutts
6. 17B – Bill Balog
7. 3Z – Brock Zearfoss
8. W20 – Greg Wilson
9. 94 – Ryan Smith
10. 13X – Tim Shaffer
11. 8S – Trenton Sheaffer
12. 49X – Craig Dollansky
Heat Race #4:
1. 9 – Daryn Pittman
2. 5 – David Gravel
3. 69K – Lance Dewease
4. 1B – Dale Blaney
5. 41 – Jason Johnson
6. 747 – Davey Sammons
7. 17BX – Steve Buckwalter
8. M1 – Mark Smith
9. 55 – Mike Wagner
10. 44 – Joey Hershey
11. 25 – Aaron Ott
Dash:
1. 1 – Lucas Wolfe
2. 1S – Logan Schuchart
3. 15 – Donny Schatz
4. 27 – Greg Hodnett
5. 9 – Daryn Pittman
6. 5 – David Gravel
7. 49 – Brad Sweet
8. 70 – Danny Holtgraver
C-Main:
1. 3Z – Brock Zearfoss
2. 55 – Mike Wagner
3. 33 – Curt Stroup
4. 49X – Craig Dollansky
5. 47K – Kody Lehman
6. 71A – R.J. Johnson
7. 24B – Dustin Baney
8. 44 – Joey Hershey
9. 48 – Danny Dietrich
10. 19 – Paige Polyak
11. 13X – Tim Shaffer
12. 25 – Aaron Ott
B-Main:
1. 1A – Jacob Allen
2. 17B – Bill Balog
3. 17W – Kerry Madsen
4. 17BX – Steve Buckwalter
5. O7 – Doug Esh
6. 94 – Ryan Smith
7. 7W – Logan Wagner
8. 747 – Davey Sammons
9. 55 – Mike Wagner
10. 3Z – Brock Zearfoss
11. W20 – Greg Wilson
12. 13 – Clyde Knipp
13. 8S – Trenton Sheaffer
Feature:
1. 1S – Logan Schuchart
2. 27 – Greg Hodnett
3. 15 – Donny Schatz
4. 1 – Lucas Wolfe
5. 69K – Lance Dewease
6. 21 – Brian Brown
7. 5 – David Gravel
8. 9 – Daryn Pittman
9. 49 – Brad Sweet
10. 83 – Joey Saldana
11. 51S – Stevie Smith
12. 19M – Brent Marks
13. 2 – Shane Stewart
14. 17W – Kerry Madsen
15. 70 – Danny Holtgraver
16. 1B – Dale Blaney
17. 41 – Jason Johnson
18. 5C – Dylan Cisney
19. 7 – Paul McMahan
20. 7S – Jason Sides
21. 88 – T.J. Stutts
22. 1A – Jacob Allen
23. 17BX – Steve Buckwalter
24. 17B – Bill Balog
25. 3Z – Brock Zearfoss