Logan Schuchart Uses Last Lap Pass to Win Jackson Nationals Opener

Logan Schuchart. (Trent Gower photo)

From Brian Walker

JACKSON, Minn. (August 20, 2022) — Logan Schuchart and Shark Racing already knew that all eyes were pointed towards them entering the 44th annual AGCO Jackson Nationals, and they certainly gave the people something to watch in Saturday’s afternoon opener.

After leading the opening 16 laps, the Hanover, PA native all of a sudden saw the lead slip from his grasp when Carson Macedo snuck below him and took the top spot away with eight laps left. The DuraMAX Oil, Drydene Performance Products #1S quickly adapted from defense to offense and charged back at the Jason Johnson Racing #41 on the final restart.

It came down to the 25th and final circuit when Schuchart timed lap traffic perfectly and stormed around the outside of a boxed-in Macedo on the bottom. He made it stick for another two corners and beat the Lemoore, CA racer to the stripe by 0.435-seconds, earning his fourth-career win at Minnesota’s Jackson Motorplex.

His second World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series win of the season comes at a crucial time as Schuchart pursues a record-setting third consecutive title at the Jackson Nationals tonight on DIRTVision. He made it clear that the #1S is the car to beat with $25,000 on the line this evening.

“I’m just glad we were able to get that one back,” said a relieved Schuchart. “The #41 is one of the best cars out here, so it’s always rewarding to beat them heads up like that. These races are won in the garage, and it’s so much better when you show up at a place and can unload with so much confidence as we do here. I feel like we have the car to beat tonight, the driver just needs to do his job.”

Ahead of tonight’s main event, Schuchart capitalized on the opportunity to both protect and attack at the Jackson 3/8-mile surface.

“You just have no idea where to go when you’re leading like that,” he added. “I felt like I was a sitting duck and thought we were gonna lose another win while leading. It’s good to be running about fourth or fifth when the rubber comes into play. I just knew I needed to try something different so I started running it harder into turns one and two. Carson is too smart to mess up, so I knew I had to be extra aggressive if I wanted it.”

Earning the short end of the stick in the thrilling finish on Saturday afternoon was Carson Macedo, who saw his ninth World of Outlaws win of 2022 slip through his fingers on the final circuit. His 17th podium of the year aboard the Albaugh #41 did allow the 25-year-old to sneak back into title contention as he sits -96 points behind Brad Sweet.

It was a case of what goes around comes around for the Lemoore, CA native, who was on the opposing end of last-lap glory two weeks ago with his own late-race heroics at I-55.

“A lot of people on DIRTVision are probably wondering why I didn’t try to move up or block that lane with the lapper, but I just felt so locked down that I thought I was making good enough laps to hold on,” Macedo noted as explained his thought process. “If I would’ve moved up top and he drove by me in the rubber, then I would’ve been an idiot, too. It is what it is. We definitely had a car capable of winning and I was every bit as good as him, but he made the right move when it mattered most. We’ll give it another shot tonight.”

Scoring his fifth podium of the season and putting two Bobby Allen-owned entries inside the top-three was Jacob Allen aboard the Pells Tire Service, Low-E Insulation #1A. The Hanover, PA native fell from first to fourth by Lap 4 but rallied late in the running by sneaking around Donny Schatz to earn his 17th career podium with the World of Outlaws.

“You obviously want to win these, especially from the pole, but I’m glad it could be Logan if it wasn’t me,” Allen spoke on his teammate. “My car was great all day, but I just had a bad start and could never be conservative enough with my tires. I was definitely nervous because I felt like I found the rubber first and I was crossing my fingers a tire wouldn’t let go.”

Closing out the top-five at Jackson was Donny Schatz in fourth place aboard the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing, Ford Performance #15, and Sheldon Haudenschild in fifth place aboard the Stenhouse Jr. / Marshall Racing, NOS Energy Drink #17.

Rounding out the top-10 on Saturday afternoon was Fresno, CA’s Giovanni Scelzi in sixth, Watertown, CT’s David Gravel in seventh, Alice Springs, NT’s James McFadden in eighth, Dillsburg, PA’s Anthony Macri in ninth, and Higginsville, MO’s Brian Brown in tenth.

ACGO Jackson Nationals
Jackson Motorplex
Jackson, Minnesota
Saturday, August 20, 2022

Qualifying A (2 Laps)
1. 41-Carson Macedo, 12.572[16]
2. 18-Giovanni Scelzi, 12.720[4]
3. 10-Matt Juhl, 12.830[2]
4. 15-Donny Schatz, 12.858[14]
5. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 12.860[1]
6. 7-Justin Henderson, 12.876[3]
7. 49-Brad Sweet, 12.878[9]
8. 83-James McFadden, 12.907[11]
9. 24T-Christopher Thram, 12.936[17]
10. 7S-Robbie Price, 12.954[10]
11. 5F-Brady Forbrook, 12.961[12]
12. 16-Brooke Tatnell, 12.992[18]
13. 6-Bill Rose, 13.051[15]
14. 22K-Kaleb Johnson, 13.068[5]
15. 20G-Noah Gass, 13.128[13]
16. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 13.134[8]
17. 3-Tim Kaeding, 13.189[19]
18. 22-Riley Goodno, 13.250[7]
19. 25-JJ Hickle, 13.250[6]
20. 14-Jody Rosenboom, 13.250[20]

Qualifying B (2 Laps)
1. 21-Brian Brown, 12.681[3]
2. 1A-Jacob Allen, 12.853[11]
3. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 12.861[2]
4. 5-Spencer Bayston, 12.917[10]
5. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss, 12.959[8]
6. 24-Rico Abreu, 12.960[19]
7. 2-David Gravel, 12.984[17]
8. 9-Kasey Kahne, 13.008[15]
9. 83JR-Kerry Madsen, 13.091[14]
10. 17X-Kevin Thomas Jr, 13.119[1]
11. 2KS-Ian Madsen, 13.123[12]
12. 1AU-Marcus Dumesny, 13.132[18]
13. 39M-Anthony Macri, 13.133[6]
14. 44-Chris Martin, 13.202[9]
15. 83T-Tanner Carrick, 13.477[13]
16. 4W-Matt Wasmund, 13.527[5]
17. 97-Alan Gilbertson, 13.731[7]
18. 2K-Kevin Ingle, 13.875[4]
19. 91-Andrew Sullivan, 14.318[16]
20. 37-Sye Anderson, 15.196[20]

Heat Race #1 (8 Laps)
1. 41-Carson Macedo[1]
2. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[3]
3. 49-Brad Sweet[4]
4. 5F-Brady Forbrook[6]
5. 10-Matt Juhl[2]
6. 20G-Noah Gass[8]
7. 3-Tim Kaeding[9]
8. 6-Bill Rose[7]
9. 24T-Christopher Thram[5]
DNS: 25-JJ Hickle

Heat Race #2 (8 Laps)
1. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[1]
2. 15-Donny Schatz[2]
3. 83-James McFadden[4]
4. 7-Justin Henderson[3]
5. 7S-Robbie Price[5]
6. 16-Brooke Tatnell[6]
7. 22K-Kaleb Johnson[7]
8. 22-Riley Goodno[9]
9. 11K-Kraig Kinser[8]
10. 14-Jody Rosenboom[10]

Heat Race #3 (8 Laps)
1. 1S-Logan Schuchart[2]
2. 21-Brian Brown[1]
3. 2-David Gravel[4]
4. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[3]
5. 39M-Anthony Macri[7]
6. 2KS-Ian Madsen[6]
7. 83JR-Kerry Madsen[5]
8. 83T-Tanner Carrick[8]
9. 91-Andrew Sullivan[10]
10. 97-Alan Gilbertson[9]

Heat Race #4 (8 Laps)
1. 1A-Jacob Allen[1]
2. 9-Kasey Kahne[4]
3. 17X-Kevin Thomas Jr[5]
4. 1AU-Marcus Dumesny[6]
5. 24-Rico Abreu[3]
6. 44-Chris Martin[7]
7. 5-Spencer Bayston[2]
8. 4W-Matt Wasmund[8]
9. 2K-Kevin Ingle[9]
DNS: 37-Sye Anderson

DIRTVision FAST PASS Dash (6 Laps)
1. 1A-Jacob Allen[1]
2. 1S-Logan Schuchart[3]
3. 15-Donny Schatz[4]
4. 41-Carson Macedo[6]
5. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[5]
6. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[8]
7. 21-Brian Brown[2]
8. 9-Kasey Kahne[7]

Last Chance Showdown (12 Laps)
1. 5-Spencer Bayston[2]
2. 24T-Christopher Thram[1]
3. 20G-Noah Gass[3]
4. 3-Tim Kaeding[7]
5. 83JR-Kerry Madsen[8]
6. 2KS-Ian Madsen[4]
7. 16-Brooke Tatnell[5]
8. 44-Chris Martin[6]
9. 22K-Kaleb Johnson[9]
10. 83T-Tanner Carrick[10]
11. 6-Bill Rose[11]
12. 22-Riley Goodno[13]
13. 97-Alan Gilbertson[18]
14. 14-Jody Rosenboom[19]
15. 2K-Kevin Ingle[16]
16. 11K-Kraig Kinser[15]
17. 91-Andrew Sullivan[14]
18. 37-Sye Anderson[20]
19. 4W-Matt Wasmund[12]
20. 25-JJ Hickle[17]

A-Main (25 Laps)
1. 1S-Logan Schuchart[2]
2. 41-Carson Macedo[4]
3. 1A-Jacob Allen[1]
4. 15-Donny Schatz[3]
5. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[5]
6. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[6]
7. 2-David Gravel[10]
8. 83-James McFadden[11]
9. 39M-Anthony Macri[18]
10. 21-Brian Brown[7]
11. 49-Brad Sweet[9]
12. 3-Tim Kaeding[24]
13. 7S-Robbie Price[19]
14. 9-Kasey Kahne[8]
15. 24-Rico Abreu[20]
16. 7-Justin Henderson[15]
17. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[14]
18. 20G-Noah Gass[23]
19. 5F-Brady Forbrook[13]
20. 24T-Christopher Thram[22]
21. 1AU-Marcus Dumesny[16]
22. 17X-Kevin Thomas Jr[12]
23. 5-Spencer Bayston[21]
24. 10-Matt Juhl[17]