SARVER, Penn. (July 20, 2021) — Gold is always the goal, but once a season with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series, silver is sweeter.
That one occasion came on Tuesday night when the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup XXX offered a $25,000 payday at Lernerville Speedway.
In the end, it was Brad Sweet piecing together a dominant 40-lap performance to take the check and walk away with his 14th win of the season. The Kasey Kahne Racing, NAPA Auto Parts #49 started third, took the lead on Lap 12, and crossed the stripe with a massive margin of victory at 5.381-seconds.
However, all night long, the story throughout the pits, in the nearly sold-out crowd, and on social media was Sye Lynch.
The 23-year-old Apollo, PA native entered the 40-lap Feature with a perfect night under his belt. He had set Slick Woody’s QuickTime, won his Team Drydene Heat Race, and dominated the DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash to put the #42 on the pole position.
To the Lernerville locals, it was beginning to feel all too similar to the 2002 Silver Cup which sent Sarver into pandemonium. On that July night 19 years ago, it was Sye’s father Ed Lynch Jr. defeating the Outlaws and earning his first career victory at their home track. On this night, it was about the next generation and Sye’s golden opportunity.
He commanded the opening lap of the Feature, but the crowd really came to life when Lynch fought Sweet for the top spot. The two-time and defending World of Outlaws champion tossed four different sliders at him, but Sye continued to rally back with his crossovers becoming savvier by the lap as the roars only echoed louder.
Eventually, Sweet made his turn one slide job stick on the 12th circuit as Lynch was unable to find the drive off turn two to counter him. From there, The Big Cat never saw another challenge.
The Grass Valley, CA native lapped his way up to 11th-place as he cruised away to a dominating victory worth $25,000. The win is Sweet’s third at Lernerville, but his first in the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup. He joins his brother-in-law Kyle Larson as the only two Californians to win the Sarver, PA special event.
It’s his 72nd career World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series triumph, tying him with “The Wild Child” Jac Haudenschild for 11th on the All-Time Wins List. He now is only 12 wins away from reaching the top-10.
“I about gave it away when I drove off the backstretch with five or so to go,” Sweet quickly said as the rain came down. “I had a really good car, we just got too free at the end. This NAPA Auto Parts car is fast right now. Excited for the rest of summer.”
Donny Schatz made a late charge to put the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing, Ford Performance, Carquest #15 in the runner-up position.
Aaron Reutzel ran second for most of the race but eventually slipped back to finish third aboard the Roth Motorsports #83. That’s nine podium results for the Clute, TX native, who is in the midst of a heated battle for The Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year Award.
After starting on the outside pole, David Gravel brought the Big Game Motorsports #2 home with a fourth-place finish. Rounding out the top-five was Alice Springs, NT, AUS native James McFadden with a fifth-place bid for the Kasey Kahne Racing, Karavan Trailers #9.
Closing out the top-1o on Tuesday night was Logan Schuchart in the Shark Racing #1S, Carson Macedo in the Jason Johnson Racing #41, Tim Shaffer in the Bryan Grove #28, Christopher Bell in the Swindell SpeedLab #39, and Sheldon Haudenschild in the Stenhouse Jr. Marshall Racing #17.
Citing the wrong setup decision, Lynch’s #42 faded in the late going and ultimately ended up 15th, but his remarkable run through the beginning of the night lost no luster.
World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series
Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup
Lernerville Speedway
Sarver, Pennsylvania
Tuesday, July 20, 2021
Slick Woody’s Qualifying
1. 24-Rico Abreu, 14.229
2. 21-Brian Brown, 14.252
3. 83-Aaron Reutzel, 14.449
4. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 14.491
5. 7BC-Tyler Courtney, 14.572
6. 49D-Shawn Dancer, 14.868
7. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 14.985
8. 2-David Gravel, 15.014
9. 2C-Wayne Johnson, 15.036
10. 19M-Brent Marks, 15.115
11. 11-Spencer Bayston, 15.145
12. 49-Brad Sweet, 15.176
13. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 15.183
14. 9JR-Derek Hagar, 15.273
15. 15H-Sam Hafertepe, 15.299
16. 47N-Marcus Dumesny, 15.351
17. 15-Donny Schatz, 15.631
18. 41-Carson Macedo, 15.754
19. 97-Greg Wilson, 15.793
20. 28-Tim Shaffer, 15.887
21. 9-James McFadden, 15.916
22. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss, 16.184
23. 55V-CJ Leary, 16.211
24. 42-Sye Lynch, 16.214
25. 1A-Jacob Allen, 16.285
26. 39-Daryn Pittman, 16.386
27. 7S-Jason Sides, 16.685
28. 11N-Harli White, 16.768
29. 101-Lachlan McHugh, 17.024
30. 70-Carson Short, 17.86
DRYDENE Heat Race #1 (8 Laps):
1. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [2]
2. 1S-Logan Schuchart [3]
3. 24-Rico Abreu [1]
4. 11K-Kraig Kinser [5]
5. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [8]
6. 97-Greg Wilson [7]
7. 19M-Brent Marks [4]
8. 1A-Jacob Allen [9]
9. 47N-Marcus Dumesny [6]
10. 11N-Harli White [10]
DRYDENE Heat Race #2 (8 Laps):
1. 21-Brian Brown [1]
2. 11-Spencer Bayston [4]
3. 15-Donny Schatz [6]
4. 2-David Gravel [3]
5. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [2]
6. 55V-CJ Leary [8]
7. 9JR-Derek Hagar [5]
8. 101-Lachlan McHugh [10]
9. 39-Daryn Pittman [9]
10. 28-Tim Shaffer [7]
DRYDENE Heat Race #3 (8 Laps):
1. 41-Carson Macedo [6]
2. 83-Aaron Reutzel [1]
3. 49-Brad Sweet [4]
4. 9-James McFadden [7]
5. 49D-Shawn Dancer [2]
6. 2C-Wayne Johnson [3]
7. 15H-Sam Hafertepe [5]
8. 7S-Jason Sides [9]
9. 42-Sye Lynch [8]
10. 70-Carson Short [10]
DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash (6 Laps):
1. 21-Brian Brown [1]
2. 41-Carson Macedo [3]
3. 1S-Logan Schuchart [2]
4. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [5]
5. 11-Spencer Bayston [4]
6. 83-Aaron Reutzel [6]
Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown (12 Laps):
1. 19M-Brent Marks [1][-]
2. 15H-Sam Hafertepe [3][-]
3. 39-Daryn Pittman [8][-]
4. 101-Lachlan McHugh [5][-]
5. 28-Tim Shaffer [11][-]
6. 9JR-Derek Hagar [2][-]
7. 1A-Jacob Allen [4][$300]
8. 42-Sye Lynch [9][$250]
9. 47N-Marcus Dumesny [7][$225]
10. 7S-Jason Sides [6][$200]
11. 11N-Harli White [10][$200]
12. 70-Carson Short [12][$200]
NOS Energy Drink Feature (31 Laps due to green-white-checkered finish):
1. 41-Carson Macedo [2][$12,000]
2. 21-Brian Brown [1][$6,000]
3. 49-Brad Sweet [9][$3,500]
4. 11-Spencer Bayston [5][$2,800]
5. 15-Donny Schatz [8][$2,500]
6. 24-Rico Abreu [7][$2,300]
7. 2-David Gravel [11][$2,200]
8. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [13][$2,100]
9. 101-Lachlan McHugh [22][$2,050]
10. 2C-Wayne Johnson [18][$2,000]
11. 39-Daryn Pittman [21][$1,600]
12. 1S-Logan Schuchart [3][$1,400]
13. 9-James McFadden [12][$1,200]
14. 19M-Brent Marks [19][$1,100]
15. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [14][$1,050]
16. 83-Aaron Reutzel [6][$1,000]
17. 11K-Kraig Kinser [10][$1,000]
18. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [4][$1,000]
19. 55V-CJ Leary [17][$1,000]
20. 97-Greg Wilson [16][$1,000]
21. 49D-Shawn Dancer [15][$1,000]
22. 9JR-Derek Hagar [24][$1,000]
23. 15H-Sam Hafertepe [20][$1,000]
24. 28-Tim Shaffer [23][$1,000]
Lap Leaders Carson Macedo 1-12, 14-31; Brian Brown 13
KSE Hard Charger Award: 101-Lachlan McHugh[+13]