Sheldon Haudenschild Tops Night Two of Sage Fruit Skagit Nationals

Sheldon Haudenschild. (Trent Gower photo)

From Brian Walker

ALGER, Wash. (September 2, 2022) — Since winning an impressive eight times through the first 32 races, Sheldon Haudenschild experienced the opposite end of the spectrum as he was dealt a 21-race winless streak from late June into early September.

On Friday night, the Wooster, OH native compiled his Skagit Speedway expertise with a lightning-fast NOS Energy Drink #17 and a little bit of luck to finally end that drought and bring the Stenhouse Jr. / Marshall Racing team back to Victory Lane with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series.

Rolling from the pole position after winning the DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash, Haudenschild fell to second off the initial start of the 30-lapper as outside polesitter James McFadden busted out of the gates strong. It seemed as if the cards were in the favor of J-Mac, who last won 70 races ago on the 2021 Friday portion of the Sage Fruit Skagit Nationals.

However, heartbreak soon struck and brought nothing but agony to the Roth Motorsports #83 team. The Australian, who commanded the opening 16 laps, slowed to a stop as a mechanical issue derailed his pursuit of that elusive first World of Outlaws win of the season.

McFadden’s loss was Haudenschild’s gain as the 29-year-old restarted with the race lead, and never relinquished it. He drove off to a 0.799-second margin of victory to claim his second win at the Alger, WA facility and the 31st of his career with The Greatest Show on Dirt.

“I was having a bit of deja vu thinking about those races last year here against James in the #9,” Haudenschild said. “I saw that big puff of smoke come out and you could smell him rolling around, so I knew something was up. It just feels great to be back on top. It feels like haven’t won a race in such a long time. We made some great times from yesterday, and hopefully, we can find a little more to be better for tomorrow’s big one.”

Chasing his good friend to the finish line in Friday’s Feature was Jacob Allen, who earned a career-best second-place effort at Skagit Speedway. The Shark Racing, Pells Tire Service, Low-E Insulation #1A is up to seven-straight top-10 finishes with the World of Outlaws, another career-best mark for the Hanover, PA native.

“I really thought we had a legitimate shot to win rolling through lap traffic,” Allen noted, going for his fourth win of the year. “We just couldn’t get back to the field after James fell out, but I thought my car was really great. It’s always good to be on the podium with the World of Outlaws.”

Using a late surge to steal the third spot, Carson Macedo earned his Series-best 21st podium of the season in the Jason Johnson Racing, Albaugh #41. The Lemoore, CA native now turns his attention to Saturday’s showcase as the defending champion of the $26,000/Win Sage Fruit Skagit Nationals.

“It’s never easy with the Outlaws, especially when I force myself to go back and forth like that,” Macedo mentioned. “Logan [Schuchart] kind of showed me the bottom and once I found that, I could definitely make up some ground. We’ve got some work to do before the big one tomorrow night.”

One of the biggest stories of the night was Joel Myers Jr., of Sebastopol, CA, who finished fourth in his second-ever attempt with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series. The #46JR pilot joins Corey Day (Clovis, CA) and Ryan Timms (Oklahoma City, OK) as the third 16-year-old gasser to record a top-five finish with the Series this season.

Rounding out the top-five was championship leader Brad Sweet with his 10th consecutive top-five finish at Skagit Speedway. A fifth-place run for the Kasey Kahne Racing, NAPA Auto Parts #49 extended the title advantage to +80 points over David Gravel with 12 point races remaining until the season-ending World Finals on November 2-5.

Closing out the top-10 on Friday night was Pennsylvania’s Logan Schuchart in sixth, North Dakota’s Donny Schatz in seventh, Washington’s Trey Starks in eighth, Connecticut’s David Gravel in ninth, and California’s Dominic Scelzi in tenth.

World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series
Sage Fruit Skagit Nationals
Skagit Speedway
Alger, Washington
Friday, September 2, 2022

Qualifying
1. 49-Brad Sweet, 11.651[10]
2. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 11.733[4]
3. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 11.757[1]
4. 55-Trey Starks, 11.872[8]
5. 83-James McFadden, 11.900[5]
6. 41-Carson Macedo, 11.928[16]
7. 46JR-Joel Myers Jr, 11.959[6]
8. 14-Corey Day, 11.961[7]
9. 2L-Logan Forler, 11.968[2]
10. 15-Donny Schatz, 11.975[17]
11. 21S-Jesse Schlotfeldt, 12.046[3]
12. 1A-Jacob Allen, 12.073[20]
13. 19-Colby Thornhill, 12.075[9]
14. 17S-JJ Hickle, 12.087[14]
15. 83JR-Kerry Madsen, 12.096[18]
16. 2-David Gravel, 12.140[23]
17. 7-Tyler Thompson, 12.155[11]
18. 14B-Bailey Jean, 12.213[15]
19. 7S-Robbie Price, 12.249[21]
20. 5-Spencer Bayston, 12.272[26]
21. 41S-Dominic Scelzi, 12.294[24]
22. 18-Jason Solwold, 12.304[19]
23. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss, 12.479[28]
24. 18T-Tanner Holmes, 12.501[22]
25. 21-Mitchell Faccinto, 12.525[30]
26. 96-Greg Hamilton, 12.575[29]
27. 5T-Ryan Timms, 12.635[13]
28. 53-Jessie Attard, 12.667[25]
29. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 12.696[31]
30. 20G-Noah Gass, 12.729[27]
31. 06T-Malachi Gemmer, 12.978[12]

Heat Race #1 (8 Laps)
1. 49-Brad Sweet[1]
2. 83-James McFadden[2]
3. 19-Colby Thornhill[4]
4. 41S-Dominic Scelzi[6]
5. 21-Mitchell Faccinto[7]
6. 11K-Kraig Kinser[8]
7. 7-Tyler Thompson[5]
8. 2L-Logan Forler[3]

Heat Race #2 (8 Laps)
1. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[1]
2. 41-Carson Macedo[2]
3. 15-Donny Schatz[3]
4. 17S-JJ Hickle[4]
5. 18-Jason Solwold[6]
6. 20G-Noah Gass[8]
7. 14B-Bailey Jean[5]
8. 96-Greg Hamilton[7]

Heat Race #3 (8 Laps)
1. 1S-Logan Schuchart[1]
2. 46JR-Joel Myers Jr[2]
3. 83JR-Kerry Madsen[4]
4. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[6]
5. 7S-Robbie Price[5]
6. 21S-Jesse Schlotfeldt[3]
7. 5T-Ryan Timms[7]
8. 06T-Malachi Gemmer[8]

Heat Race #4 (8 Laps)
1. 1A-Jacob Allen[3]
2. 14-Corey Day[2]
3. 55-Trey Starks[1]
4. 2-David Gravel[4]
5. 5-Spencer Bayston[5]
6. 18T-Tanner Holmes[6]
7. 53-Jessie Attard[7]

DIRTVision FAST PASS Dash (6 Laps)
1. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[1]
2. 83-James McFadden[2]
3. 1A-Jacob Allen[3]
4. 46JR-Joel Myers Jr[4]
5. 49-Brad Sweet[8]
6. 41-Carson Macedo[6]
7. 14-Corey Day[5]
8. 1S-Logan Schuchart[7]

Last Chance Showdown (12 Laps)
1. 21S-Jesse Schlotfeldt[1]
2. 11K-Kraig Kinser[3]
3. 20G-Noah Gass[4]
4. 7-Tyler Thompson[2]
5. 5T-Ryan Timms[7]
6. 18T-Tanner Holmes[5]
7. 53-Jessie Attard[8]
8. 96-Greg Hamilton[9]
9. 14B-Bailey Jean[6]
10. 06T-Malachi Gemmer[10]
11. 2L-Logan Forler[11]

NOS Energy Drink Feature (30 Laps)
1. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[1]
2. 1A-Jacob Allen[3]
3. 41-Carson Macedo[6]
4. 46JR-Joel Myers Jr[4]
5. 49-Brad Sweet[5]
6. 1S-Logan Schuchart[8]
7. 15-Donny Schatz[10]
8. 55-Trey Starks[12]
9. 2-David Gravel[16]
10. 41S-Dominic Scelzi[13]
11. 21-Mitchell Faccinto[17]
12. 7S-Robbie Price[19]
13. 83JR-Kerry Madsen[11]
14. 21S-Jesse Schlotfeldt[21]
15. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[15]
16. 7-Tyler Thompson[24]
17. 11K-Kraig Kinser[22]
18. 20G-Noah Gass[23]
19. 5-Spencer Bayston[20]
20. 14-Corey Day[7]
21. 19-Colby Thornhill[9]
22. 83-James McFadden[2]
23. 17S-JJ Hickle[14]
24. 18-Jason Solwold[18]

Northwest Focus Midget Car Series

Heat Race #1
1. 32-Jared Peterson[1]
2. 95-Jesse Munn[2]
3. 76-Tyler Ketchum[3]
4. 9S-Sawyer Lind[5]
5. 41-Ashley Thompson[8]
6. 19C-Dalton Christmas[4]
7. 5C-Chris Foster[9]
8. 3B-Brian Hayes[7]

Heat Race #2
1. 71-Travis Jacobson[2]
2. 21H-Todd Hartmann[1]
3. 7S-Shane Smith[4]
4. 24-Nick Evans[3]
5. 35G-Chuck Pierce[6]
6. 9-Bert Johnson[5]
7. 23-Randy Schaaf[9]
8. 11T-Mark Adams[8]
9. 48T-Tanner Holm[7]

Heat Race #3
1. 3H-Hannah Lindquist[2]
2. 09-Levi Harliss[1]
3. 17-Kyle Hanson[3]
4. 48-Stewart Lee[7]
5. 30-Matt Loving[8]
6. 21T-Jan Evans[4]
7. 90C-Stuart Milner[9]
8. 06-Ben Beck[6]
9. 21C-dale creager[5]

Heat Race #4
1. 4-Michael Vollbrecht[2]
2. 13A-Alex Peck[4]
3. 66-Jeff Westergard[8]
4. 51-Michael Knutson[1]
5. 90H-Brian Holmkvist[5]
6. 67-Colby Swanberg[6]
7. 18-Ayuka Carlson[3]
8. 3-Jesse Geddes[7]

B-Main
1. 24-Nick Evans[1]
2. 90H-Brian Holmkvist[4]
3. 51-Michael Knutson[3]
4. 9-Bert Johnson[8]
5. 35G-Chuck Pierce[2]
6. 90C-Stuart Milner[6]
7. 67-Colby Swanberg[7]
8. 19C-Dalton Christmas[10]
9. 23-Randy Schaaf[5]
10. 11T-Mark Adams[13]
11. 5C-Chris Foster[9]
12. 18-Ayuka Carlson[12]
13. 06-Ben Beck[15]
14. 3-Jesse Geddes[14]
15. 21T-Jan Evans[11]
16. 3B-Brian Hayes[16]
17. 21C-dale creager[18]

A-Main (25 Laps)
1. 32-Jared Peterson[1]
2. 48-Stewart Lee[5]
3. 95-Jesse Munn[2]
4. 71-Travis Jacobson[3]
5. 3H-Hannah Lindquist[7]
6. 7S-Shane Smith[11]
7. 66-Jeff Westergard[6]
8. 4-Michael Vollbrecht[4]
9. 13A-Alex Peck[8]
10. 21H-Todd Hartmann[9]
11. 09-Levi Harliss[10]
12. 30-Matt Loving[12]
13. 9S-Sawyer Lind[15]
14. 41-Ashley Thompson[16]
15. 24-Nick Evans[17]
16. 90H-Brian Holmkvist[18]
17. 17-Kyle Hanson[14]
18. 76-Tyler Ketchum[13]
19. 51-Michael Knutson[19]
20. 9-Bert Johnson[20]