By Brian Walker
It took longer than expected, but Logan Schuchart finally made his way back to victory lane on Monday night.
He and the Shark Racing, Drydene Performance Products #1S dominated the 30-lap Feature at Grays Harbor Raceway, leading from flag to flag and securing their fourth World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series win of the season.
The long-awaited win snaps a 26-race drought for the Hanover, PA native, his longest dry spell in three years with The Greatest Show on Dirt. It’s a much-needed boost for Schuchart, who aims to make a bid for the top-five in championship points over the final 15 races.
Schuchart’s 27th career win ties him with modern-day stars Paul McMahan, Tim Shaffer, and Kerry Madsen for 21st on the All-Time Wins List. He’s now only three wins away from equalling his legendary grandfather and team owner Bobby Allen at 30 World of Outlaws wins.
“This year has been trying, but it’s not for a lack of effort I can guarantee that,” Schuchart said in victory lane. “I feel like we are one the top teams out here, and I think we have more than proven that. I have so much confidence in my guys, things just haven’t fallen our way this year. We’ve got about 15 races left, so we want to win as many of those as possible.”
The Shark Racing #1S is closing in on the top-five in championship points. [Trent Gower]
Earning the pole position after winning his Drydene Heat and the DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash, Schuchart brought the field to life and never looked back.
Donny Schatz, Brad Sweet, and Carson Macedo all ran second at one point in the race, but all failed to offer a serious challenge for the lead. Sweet and Macedo cut into the lead at different stages, but both stalled out as the battle began to brew.
Officially, the margin of victory was 1.831-seconds for Schuchart’s first win since his $50,000 Jackson Nationals title on June 27.
Carson Macedo followed his $25,000 Sage Fruit Skagit Nationals title on Sunday night with a runner-up effort on Monday at Grays Harbor. It’s the seventh second-place finish for the Lemoore, CA native this year as he heads back to his home state this weekend with the Jason Johnson Racing #41.
“This place is oddly shaped and it throws you for a curveball,” Macedo mentioned on the 3/10-mile track. “You get this huge run of steam into turn three, but slip off in turn four and lose speed down the front stretch. I thought I was catching Logan [Schuchart], but we got to traffic and I just stalled out. Excited with the momentum this team is building ahead of California, though.”
The pursuit for a third consecutive championship for Brad Sweet marched on Monday night as he recorded his 30th podium of the year. He’ll head to his home state of California this week with hopes of a 75th career World of Outlaws win, which would give him 17 this year and make 2021 the winningest season of his career.
“We had a really good in the beginning, but lacked the speed we needed at the end,” Sweet spoke on the NAPA Auto Parts #49. “Sometimes you’ll have that, though, it’s just about capitalizing and getting the best finish as possible. Logan [Schuchart] definitely had the best car and once Carson [Macedo] got by me I really didn’t know where to be on the track. We’ll try to get better and hopefully get us a Gold Cup win this weekend.”
The Greatest Show on Dirt now heads to California for the next two weeks. [Trent Gower]
Donny Schatz continued his incredible stretch since July, finishing inside the top-four for the 13th time in 18 races aboard the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing #15. Behind him in fifth was David Gravel, who established a new track record aboard the Big Game Motorsports #2 at 11.581 seconds in Slick Woody’s Qualifying.
Rounding out the top-10 at Grays Harbor was James McFadden with his 12th straight top-10, Kraig Kinser with his third top-10 of the last month, Brock Zearfoss with an eighth-place debut at the track, Washington’s Trey Starks with KSE Hard Charger honors, and Wayne Johnson with his eighth top-10 of the season.
UP NEXT (Fri-Sat): After two years away, the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series finally returns to California this week. A two-week swing in the Golden State begins on Friday & Saturday, September 10-11 with the Gold Cup Race of Champions at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, CA.
NOS Energy Drink Feature Results (30 Laps) – 1. 1S-Logan Schuchart [1][$10,000]; 2. 41-Carson Macedo [5][$6,000]; 3. 49-Brad Sweet [4][$3,500]; 4. 15-Donny Schatz [2][$2,800]; 5. 2-David Gravel [3][$2,500]; 6. 9-James McFadden [6][$2,300]; 7. 11K-Kraig Kinser [8][$2,200]; 8. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [14][$2,100]; 9. 55-Trey Starks [18][$2,050]; 10. 2C-Wayne Johnson [7][$2,000]; 11. 83-Kasey Kahne [15][$1,600]; 12. 7S-Jason Sides [16][$1,400]; 13. 44W-Austen Wheatley [12][$1,200]; 14. 18T-Tanner Holmes [10][$1,100]; 15. 99-Malachi Gemmer [17][$1,050]; 16. 7-Tyler Thompson [13][$1,000]; 17. 1A-Jacob Allen [11][$1,000]; 18. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [9][$1,000]; 19. 75-Brian Boswell [21][$1,000]; 20. 1J-Jack Eckard [19][$1,000]; 21. 2CX-Zach Patterson [20][$1,000]. Lap Leaders: Logan Schuchart 1-30. KSE Hard Charger Award: 55-Trey Starks[+9]
NEW Championship Standings (66/81 races): 1. Brad Sweet (8,720); 2. David Gravel (-128); 3. Carson Macedo (-166); 4. Donny Schatz (-232); 5. Sheldon Haudenschild (-284); 6. Logan Schuchart (-318); 7. James McFadden (-726); 8. Kraig Kinser (-1,018); 9. Brock Zearfoss (-1,258); 10. Jacob Allen (-1,542)
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