CONCORD, N.C. (November 9, 2019) — On a drama filled evening David Gravel and Brad Sweet shared the spotlight on the final night of the 2019 World of Outlaws season. Gravel completed a clean sweep of the Can Am World Finals backing up his victory on Friday by dominating Saturday’s main event. Sweet finished in the runner up position and secured his first World of Outlaws championship over third place finishing Donny Schatz in the closest point race in series history with Sweet taking the championship by four points.
The win capped off a third place run for Gravel in the point standings with double digital feature wins driving for Jason Johnson Racing. After the race Gravel gave most of the credit to the Jason Johnson Racing team for the performance of his car.
“Last night okay but tonight it was frickin’ bad ass,” said Gravel in victory lane about his dominating performance. “I had the best race car tonight hands down. I could go anywhere. Top, bottom, and it showed. I felt I got through lapped traffic really good and my job was easy.”
For Sweet the runner up position was never more welcome than it was Saturday, hoping Gravel would continue to dominate to keep the extra points for winning the main event out of play for Schatz.
“David (Gravel) was super-fast and I was cheering him on telling him to go,” said Sweet. “I’ve never been so happy to run second in my entire life. Hats off to this entire NAPA Auto Parts team. It’s a long grind running 80 races all year. There’s a lot of ups and downs and to finish it off here it made me cry for sure.
The first attempt to star the feature was short lived when Carson Macedo spun in turn four and ended up with a flat right front tire. Macedo’s crew made repairs for him to restart. The second attempt ended up with a red for Spencer Bayston tumbling in turn two. Bayston emerged from the car under his own power.
The third attempt saw Allen lead Gravel and Sweet just as second red flag appeared for Paul McMahan upside down in turn two. Ian Madsen, Freddie Rahmer, Kerry Madsen were also caught in the incident. McMahan was able to walk away from the incident. Zeb Wise also went to the work area after the crash.
The fourth start had Allen pull away from Gravel and Sweet. Allen using the top of the racetrack with Gravel on the bottom early in the event. Schatz moved up to third spot on lap three just as Gravel started to pressure Allen for the lead.
On lap seven Gravel drove by Allen for the lead. Sweet then caught Allen for the second spot as Gravel drove away from the field. Allen then slipped in turn one on lap 10 and allowed Sweet to drive by in turn one for the runner up spot.
Midway through the race Schatz got under Sweet for position, but Sweet was able to counter and pass Schatz back.
“I was going as hard as I could and just slipped off of two,” said Sweet. “It did not surprise me to see (Schatz) drive by. Luckily, I got back up in the seat and was able to sneak back under him. I told myself to not do that again.
With 10 laps to go Schatz started to close in on Sweet for the second position as the caution appeared for Danny Dietrich spinning right in front of Sweet and Schatz to bring out the caution flag. Sweet had to take evasive action to avoid contact with Dietrich. Dietrich ended up having his car towed off the track following the incident.
The single file restart saw Gravel pull away from Sweet with Sweet driving away from Schatz. Schatz then found himself under pressure from Gio Scelzi for the third position on lap 22. This allowed Sweet to open some breathing distance between himself and Schatz.
Gravel entered slower traffic with five laps to go with a sizeable advantage over Sweet. Meanwhile Schatz was able to close back on Sweet for the second spot on the final lap but was unable to make the pass. Gravel went on to win while Sweet’s second place finish secured the championship by four points over third place finisher Schatz. Scelzi and Schuchart rounded out the top five.
It was far from easy for Sweet having to race for a championship among the early carnage and spinning car in front of him.
“I was just happy nothing stupid happened. I didn’t hit any white tires, I avoided the wrecks, I just wanted to get the race going. It’s been a nerve racking two days. I envisioned us winning by only having a two-point cushion I knew we were going to have to be extremely good tonight.”
Can Am World Finals
World of Outlaws NOS Enegry Drink Sprint Car Series
the Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway
Concord, NC
Saturday November 9, 2019
Qualifying Flight-A
1. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 12.737
2. 11-Zeb Wise, 12.827
3. 1A-Jacob Allen, 12.846
4. 49-Brad Sweet, 12.88
5. 2-Carson Macedo, 12.894
6. 39-Spencer Bayston, 12.931
7. 48-Danny Dietrich, 12.938
8. 51-Freddie Rahmer, 12.957
9. 5-Shane Stewart, 12.975
10. 19P-Paige Polyak, 12.975
11. 17B-Bill Balog, 12.983
12. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 12.985
13. 15H-Sam Hafertepe, 13.014
14. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss, 13.028
15. 83R-Lynton Jeffrey, 13.054
16. 41S-Dominic Scelzi, 13.057
17. 19-Brent Marks, 13.078
18. 71M-Paul May, 13.106
19. 91-Tony Fiore, 13.106
20. 21X-Parker Price-Miller, 13.177
21. 5B-Justin Barger, 13.216
22. 4-Terry McCarl, 13.246
23. 3C-Cale Conley, 13.267
24. 44-Trey Starks, 13.347
25. 40-George Hobaugh, 13.4
26. J4-John Garvin, 13.401
27. 91W-Davey Walsh, 14.46
Qualifying Flight-B
1. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 12.785
2. 41-David Gravel, 12.835
3. 71-Giovanni Scelzi, 12.842
4. 2M-Kerry Madsen, 12.852
5. 21-Brian Brown, 12.924
6. 15-Donny Schatz, 12.951
7. 98H-Dave Blaney, 12.956
8. 18-Ian Madsen, 12.969
9. 39M-Anthony Macri, 12.97
10. 83-Daryn Pittman, 12.993
11. 13-Paul McMahan, 13.023
12. 7S-Tim Shaffer, 13.033
13. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 13.057
14. 2C-Wayne Johnson, 13.141
15. 7-Jason Sides, 13.154
16. 99-Skylar Gee, 13.211
17. 1-Sammy Swindell, 13.225
18. 49D-Shawn Dancer, 13.234
19. K4-Chad Kemenah, 13.291
20. 9X-Paul Nienhiser, 13.293
21. W20-Greg Wilson, 13.371
22. 2S-Nathan Skaggs, 13.388
23. 11B-Carl Bowser, 13.442
24. 29-Steve Butler, 14.088
25. 27G-Jay Galloway, 14.367
26. 49H-Bradley Howard, NT
DRYDENE Heat #1
Flight (A) (8 Laps)
1. 49-Brad Sweet [2]
2. 19P-Paige Polyak [4]
3. 87-Aaron Reutzel [1]
4. 48-Danny Dietrich [3]
5. 41S-Dominic Scelzi [6]
6. 15H-Sam Hafertepe [5]
7. 91-Tony Fiore [7]
8. 44-Trey Starks [8]
9. 91W-Davey Walsh [9]
DRYDENE Heat #2
Flight (A) (8 Laps)
1. 2-Carson Macedo [2]
2. 11-Zeb Wise [1]
3. 17B-Bill Balog [4]
4. 19-Brent Marks [6]
5. 51-Freddie Rahmer [3]
6. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [5]
7. 4-Terry McCarl [7]
8. 40-George Hobaugh [8]
DRYDENE Heat #3
Flight (A) (8 Laps)
1. 39-Spencer Bayston [2]
2. 1A-Jacob Allen [1]
3. 11K-Kraig Kinser [4]
4. 5-Shane Stewart [3]
5. 83R-Lynton Jeffrey [5]
6. 71M-Paul May [6]
7. 3C-Cale Conley [7]
8. J4-John Garvin [8]
DRYDENE Heat #4
Flight (B) (8 Laps)
1. 1S-Logan Schuchart [1]
2. 83-Daryn Pittman [4]
3. 2M-Kerry Madsen [2]
4. 98H-Dave Blaney [3]
5. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [5]
6. K4-Chad Kemenah [7]
7. 99-Skylar Gee [6]
8. 2S-Nathan Skaggs [8]
9. 49H-Bradley Howard [9]
DRYDENE Heat #5
Flight (B) (8 Laps)
1. 21-Brian Brown [2]
2. 41-David Gravel [1]
3. 13-Paul McMahan [4]
4. 18-Ian Madsen [3]
5. 1-Sammy Swindell [6]
6. 9X-Paul Nienhiser [7]
7. 11B-Carl Bowser [8]
8. 2C-Wayne Johnson [5]
DRYDENE Heat #6
Flight (B) (8 Laps)
1. 15-Donny Schatz [2]
2. 71-Giovanni Scelzi [1]
3. 39M-Anthony Macri [3]
4. 7S-Tim Shaffer [4]
5. 49D-Shawn Dancer [6]
6. W20-Greg Wilson [7]
7. 27G-Jay Galloway [8]
8. 7-Jason Sides [5]
DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash (6 Laps)
1. 1A-Jacob Allen [1]
2. 49-Brad Sweet [2]
3. 2-Carson Macedo [4]
4. 19P-Paige Polyak [3]
5. 39-Spencer Bayston [6]
6. 11-Zeb Wise [5]
DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash (6 Laps)
1. 41-David Gravel [1]
2. 1S-Logan Schuchart [2]
3. 83-Daryn Pittman [4]
4. 15-Donny Schatz [6]
5. 71-Giovanni Scelzi [3]
6. 21-Brian Brown [5]
C-Main (10 Laps)
1. 71M-Paul May [1][]
2. K4-Chad Kemenah [4][]
3. 49D-Shawn Dancer [2][$150]
4. 44-Trey Starks [9][$150]
5. 91-Tony Fiore [3][$150]
6. W20-Greg Wilson [8][$125]
7. 11B-Carl Bowser [12][$125]
8. 40-George Hobaugh [11][$125]
9. 2S-Nathan Skaggs [10][$125]
10. 27G-Jay Galloway [14][$125]
11. 91W-Davey Walsh [15][$125]
12. 9X-Paul Nienhiser [6][$125]
13. J4-John Garvin [13][$125]
14. 49H-Bradley Howard [16][$125]
15. 4-Terry McCarl [5][$125]
16. 3C-Cale Conley [7][$125]
17. 21X-Parker Price-Miller [17][$125]
18. 5B-Justin Barger [18][$125]
19. 29-Steve Butler [19][$125]
Last Chance Showdown (12 Laps)
1. 48-Danny Dietrich [1][]
2. 98H-Dave Blaney [2][]
3. 51-Freddie Rahmer [3][]
4. 18-Ian Madsen [4][]
5. 99-Skylar Gee [14][]
6. 5-Shane Stewart [5][]
7. 7S-Tim Shaffer [6][$300]
8. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [9][$250]
9. 19-Brent Marks [15][$225]
10. 41S-Dominic Scelzi [13][$200]
11. 1-Sammy Swindell [16][$200]
12. 83R-Lynton Jeffrey [11][$200]
13. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [8][$200]
14. K4-Chad Kemenah [18][$200]
15. 71M-Paul May [17][$200]
16. 15H-Sam Hafertepe [7][$200]
17. 2C-Wayne Johnson [10][$200]
18. 7-Jason Sides [12][$200]
NOS Energy Drink Feature (30 Laps)
1. 41-David Gravel [2][$12,000]
2. 49-Brad Sweet [3][$5,500]
3. 15-Donny Schatz [8][$3,200]
4. 71-Giovanni Scelzi [10][$2,800]
5. 1S-Logan Schuchart [4][$2,500]
6. 11K-Kraig Kinser [17][$2,300]
7. 83-Daryn Pittman [6][$2,200]
8. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [25][$1,100]
9. 5-Shane Stewart [24][$2,050]
10. 1A-Jacob Allen [1][$2,000]
11. 87-Aaron Reutzel [13][$1,500]
12. 21-Brian Brown [12][$1,200]
13. 19-Brent Marks [26][$100]
14. 17B-Bill Balog [15][$1,050]
15. 19P-Paige Polyak [7][$1,000]
16. 2-Carson Macedo [5][$1,000]
17. 39M-Anthony Macri [18][$1,000]
18. 18-Ian Madsen [22][$1,000]
19. 99-Skylar Gee [23][$1,000]
20. 48-Danny Dietrich [19][$1,000]
21. 2M-Kerry Madsen [14][$1,000]
22. 98H-Dave Blaney [20][$1,000]
23. 7S-Tim Shaffer [27][$]
24. 51-Freddie Rahmer [21][$1,000]
25. 39-Spencer Bayston [9][$1,000]
26. 11-Zeb Wise [11][$1,000]
27. 13-Paul McMahan [16][$1,000]
Lap Leaders: Jacob Allen 1-5, David Gravel 6-30
KSE Hard Charger Award: 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[+17]