By T.J. Buffenbarger
ROSSBURG, Ohio (July 18, 2019) —
After coming up on the short end of the feature on Wednesday night Brad Sweet bounced back to hold off Donny Schatz to win the “Jokers Wild” event at the Eldora Speedway as part of the 36th Annual Kings Royal weekend at Eldora Speedway with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series. The win was Sweet’s 10th World of Outlaws victory for native of Grass Valley, California, surpassing his career best feature win total from last year.
Afterwards Sweet was happy to win but still was focused on Saturday’s $175,000 to win finale and how to compete with Wednesday night feature winner Donny Schatz.
“I think tonight we had very equal cars,” said Sweet his car along with Schatz’s. “I still think there are some things I need to do better. I’ll go back and watch the replay, but (Schatz) was putting pressure on me at times throughout the race. Then I thought I did a decent job getting through lapped traffic. I’ll have to see what kind of lead I had there. The last 10 or 11 laps there I didn’t really know where I needed to be. I saw (Schatz’s) nose a couple of times there, but I knew it was going to be hard for him to good run unless I really messed up. I stuck with it and at the very end I pulled down and ran a little lower line and it felt good.”
Sweet and Schatz started on the front row for the 30-lap main event crossing lines before the opening corner with Sweet taking the lead using the top side of the track. Schatz was able to get a run on Sweet and briefly take the lead on lap two before Sweet took the spot back on the third circuit.
“I knew (Schatz) would be on a different line than me. Whatever way I went he would go another way and we could see who had a better car those first couple of laps,” Sweet said about the early exchange for the lead. “Watching the B (main) it looked like the top was kind of dominant, but you know (Schatz) can always run off the cushion. I think I tried to run off the cushion and spun my tires a little, so I kind of knew he was coming. Then he moved down and I was able to run the top and get a run on him. I wanted to get the lead. He makes it awful tough when he sets his pace and runs his lines. It makes it hard to pass so I wanted to get ahead, try set a pace, and keep him behind me. I think that gave me a better chance of winning the race. (Schatz) gets through lapped traffic so good.”
Sweet opened some breathing room between himself and Schatz as Logan Schuchart entered the picture in third position. That trio was able to pull away from the rest of the field until starting to catch the back of the field on lap eight.
Schuchart was able to take advantage of Schatz not getting by a slower car on lap 10 to take second position away only to have Schatz only to have the favor returned when Schuchart struggled to pass a lapped car on lap 12.
Sweet started to enter more traffic and allowed Schatz and Schuchart to close when the caution flag appeared on lap 19 for Joey Saldana slowing with engine problems while running in the top five. Saldana was unable to restart. That same caution flag also saw Brian Brown backwards in turn two with a flat right rear tire and other damage that forced him pit side of the remained of the event.
During the restart Schuchart did not take off with the rest of the field and lost several positions while Sweet and Schatz continued to dice for the lead. Schuchart recovered back to fourth position with David Gravel slipping holding down the third spot.
Schatz started to chip away at Sweet’s lead using the bottom of the track until slower traffic in the low line forced Schatz to change his line and allowed Sweet to open enough distance to take the victory.
“I think that’s why I stayed up there because I could see the lapped cars were not running the top,” Sweet said about holding his line through traffic. “I think if they were running the top I probably would have moved down. I kind of knew that if I was running the middle and I started following them it’s easy to get your tires spinning. “
Schatz, Gravel, Schuchart, and Carson Macedo rounded out the top five.
Joker’s Wild
World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series
Eldora Speedway
Rossburg, OH
Thursday July 18, 2019
Qualifying Flight-A
1. 5-Shane Stewart, 13.02
2. 49-Brad Sweet, 13.077
3. 12N-Joey Saldana, 13.099
4. 83-Daryn Pittman, 13.108
5. 7S-Tim Kaeding, 13.14
6. 70-Brock Zearfoss, 13.17
7. 2-Carson Macedo, 13.222
8. 39-Sammy Swindell, 13.245
9. 26-Cory Eliason, 13.28
10. 41S-Giovanni Scelzi, 13.286
11. 17B-Bill Balog, 13.292
12. 1ST-Gary Taylor, 13.413
13. W20-Greg Wilson, 13.462
14. 18-Ian Madsen, 13.476
15. 18J-R.J. Jacobs, 13.516
16. 81-Lee Jacobs, 13.552
17. K4-Chad Kemenah, 13.56
18. 49D-Shawn Dancer, 13.591
19. G1-Hunter Schuerenberg, 13.654
20. 11N-Buddy Kofoid, 13.695
21. 14M-Marcus Dumesny, 13.727
22. 3C-Cale Conley, 13.73
23. 99-Skylar Gee, 13.787
24. 71M-Paul May, 13.89
25. 2L-Landon Lalonde, 13.91
26. 33W-Michael Walter, 14.097
27. 64-Scotty Thiel, 17.155
Qualifying Flight-B
1. 41-David Gravel, 13.215
2. 15-Donny Schatz, 13.241
3. 92-Sye Lynch, 13.279
4. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 13.31
5. 11-Dale Blaney, 13.336
6. 3-Jac Haudenschild, 13.349
7. 24-Rico Abreu, 13.374
8. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 13.39
9. 9-James McFadden, 13.438
10. 21-Brian Brown, 13.459
11. 13-Paul McMahan, 13.459
12. 71P-Parker Price-Miller, 13.461
13. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 13.462
14. 49X-Tim Shaffer, 13.463
15. 1A-Jacob Allen, 13.473
16. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 13.481
17. 91-Cale Thomas, 13.49
18. 19-Brent Marks, 13.512
19. 2M-Kerry Madsen, 13.585
20. 7-Jason Sides, 13.629
21. 98H-Dave Blaney, 13.643
22. 70X-Justin Peck, 13.69
23. 84-Tom Harris, 13.784
24. 71-Ayrton Olsen, 13.844
25. 85-Dustin Daggett, 13.968
26. 2AU-Andrew Scheuerle, 14.027
27. 4X-Bradley Ashford, 14.37
DRYDENE Heat #1
Flight (A) (8 Laps)
1. 5-Shane Stewart [1]
2. 2-Carson Macedo [3]
3. 83-Daryn Pittman [2]
4. 41S-Giovanni Scelzi [4]
5. G1-Hunter Schuerenberg [7]
6. W20-Greg Wilson [5]
7. 81-Lee Jacobs [6]
8. 3C-Cale Conley [8]
9. 2L-Landon Lalonde [9]
DRYDENE Heat #2
Flight (A) (8 Laps)
1. 49-Brad Sweet [1]
2. 39-Sammy Swindell [3]
3. 18-Ian Madsen [5]
4. 17B-Bill Balog [4]
5. 11N-Buddy Kofoid [7]
6. 99-Skylar Gee [8]
7. K4-Chad Kemenah [6]
8. 7S-Tim Kaeding [2]
9. 33W-Michael Walter [9]
DRYDENE Heat #3
Flight (A) (8 Laps)
1. 12N-Joey Saldana [1]
2. 70-Brock Zearfoss [2]
3. 26-Cory Eliason [3]
4. 1ST-Gary Taylor [4]
5. 49D-Shawn Dancer [6]
6. 71M-Paul May [8]
7. 14M-Marcus Dumesny [7]
8. 18J-R.J. Jacobs [5]
9. 64-Scotty Thiel [9]
DRYDENE Heat #4
Flight (B) (8 Laps)
1. 41-David Gravel [1]
2. 1S-Logan Schuchart [2]
3. 21-Brian Brown [4]
4. 24-Rico Abreu [3]
5. 87-Aaron Reutzel [5]
6. 11K-Kraig Kinser [6]
7. 70X-Justin Peck [8]
8. 2M-Kerry Madsen [7]
9. 85-Dustin Daggett [9]
DRYDENE Heat #5
Flight (B) (8 Laps)
1. 15-Donny Schatz [1]
2. 11-Dale Blaney [2]
3. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [3]
4. 13-Paul McMahan [4]
5. 49X-Tim Shaffer [5]
6. 91-Cale Thomas [6]
7. 7-Jason Sides [7]
8. 84-Tom Harris [8]
9. 2AU-Andrew Scheuerle [9]
DRYDENE Heat #6
Flight (B) (8 Laps)
1. 3-Jac Haudenschild [2]
2. 92-Sye Lynch [1]
3. 19-Brent Marks [6]
4. 9-James McFadden [3]
5. 71P-Parker Price-Miller [4]
6. 98H-Dave Blaney [7]
7. 71-Ayrton Olsen [8]
8. 1A-Jacob Allen [5]
9. 4X-Bradley Ashford [9]
DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash (6 Laps)
1. 49-Brad Sweet [2]
2. 12N-Joey Saldana [3]
3. 2-Carson Macedo [4]
4. 70-Brock Zearfoss [5]
5. 5-Shane Stewart [6]
6. 39-Sammy Swindell [1]
DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash (6 Laps)
1. 15-Donny Schatz [1]
2. 1S-Logan Schuchart [2]
3. 3-Jac Haudenschild [4]
4. 11-Dale Blaney [6]
5. 41-David Gravel [5]
6. 92-Sye Lynch [3]
D-main (8 Laps)
1. 70X-Justin Peck [2][-]
2. 3C-Cale Conley [1][-]
3. 99-Skylar Gee [3][$125]
4. 85-Dustin Daggett [8][$125]
5. 71M-Paul May [5][$125]
6. 2AU-Andrew Scheuerle [10][$125]
7. 71-Ayrton Olsen [6][$125]
8. 2L-Landon Lalonde [7][$125]
9. 4X-Bradley Ashford [12][$125]
10. 84-Tom Harris [4][$125]
11. 64-Scotty Thiel [11][$125]
12. 33W-Michael Walter [9][$125]
C-Main (10 Laps)
1. K4-Chad Kemenah [3][-]
2. 2M-Kerry Madsen [8][-]
3. 70X-Justin Peck [13][$150]
4. 11K-Kraig Kinser [4][$150]
5. 91-Cale Thomas [6][$150]
6. 11N-Buddy Kofoid [9][$125]
7. 49D-Shawn Dancer [5][$125]
8. 14M-Marcus Dumesny [11][$125]
9. 3C-Cale Conley [14][$125]
10. 81-Lee Jacobs [1][$125]
11. 98H-Dave Blaney [12][$125]
12. 1A-Jacob Allen [2][$125]
13. G1-Hunter Schuerenberg [7][$125]
14. 7-Jason Sides [10][$125]
Last Chance Showdown (12 Laps)
1. 7S-Tim Kaeding [1][-]
2. 24-Rico Abreu [2][-]
3. 9-James McFadden [4][-]
4. 13-Paul McMahan [6][-]
5. 41S-Giovanni Scelzi [3][-]
6. 87-Aaron Reutzel [10][-]
7. 71P-Parker Price-Miller [8][$300]
8. 17B-Bill Balog [5][$250]
9. W20-Greg Wilson [9][$225]
10. 49X-Tim Shaffer [12][$200]
11. 2M-Kerry Madsen [14][$200]
12. K4-Chad Kemenah [13][$200]
13. 1ST-Gary Taylor [7][$200]
14. 18J-R.J. Jacobs [11][$200]
NOS Energy Drink Feature (30 Laps)
1. 49-Brad Sweet [1][$10,000]
2. 15-Donny Schatz [2][$5,500]
3. 41-David Gravel [10][$3,200]
4. 1S-Logan Schuchart [4][$2,800]
5. 2-Carson Macedo [5][$2,500]
6. 3-Jac Haudenschild [6][$2,300]
7. 83-Daryn Pittman [13][$2,200]
8. 5-Shane Stewart [9][$2,100]
9. 11K-Kraig Kinser [25][$2,050]
10. 18-Ian Madsen [15][$2,000]
11. 11-Dale Blaney [8][$1,500]
12. 70-Brock Zearfoss [7][$1,200]
13. 19-Brent Marks [18][$1,100]
14. 87-Aaron Reutzel [24][$1,050]
15. 24-Rico Abreu [20][$1,000]
16. 26-Cory Eliason [17][$900]
17. 9-James McFadden [21][$800]
18. 39-Sammy Swindell [11][$800]
19. 92-Sye Lynch [12][$800]
20. 7S-Tim Kaeding [19][$800]
21. 12N-Joey Saldana [3][$800]
22. 21-Brian Brown [14][$800]
23. 41S-Giovanni Scelzi [23][$800]
24. 13-Paul McMahan [22][$800]
25. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [16][$800]