By Alex Nieten
CONCORD, NC (Nov. 1, 2023) – The on-track action of the World of Outlaws World Finals got rolling with Low-E Insulation Qualifying Night on Wednesday at The Dirt Track at Charlotte. All 53 World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car teams checked in took part in two split Qualifying sessions to set the lineups for Thursday and Friday Heat Races.
In the opening session for Thursday’s lineups, Sheldon Haudenschild led the way with a 13.694 in Flight A. The effort marked Haudenschild’s fourth Simpson Performance Products QuickTime of the year and the 29th of his career.
“That’s always the goal,” Haudenschild said of his QuickTime. “And it’s what we’ve been working on all year. We got some other pieces in place. We’ve been focusing on next year a lot and what we want to do, so this is steps in the right direction, and we’ll try to end this week on a high note.”
In the second Flight of the first session, Tyler Courtney laid down the fastest lap with a 13.843. “Sunshine’s” lap gave the team NOS Energy Drink cars a sweep of Thursday’s Qualifying.
Championship leaders Brad Sweet and David Gravel were right next to each other as Sweet set the third fastest lap with Gravel a spot ahead in second.
Cory Eliason, making his debut in the Ridge & Sons Racing #8, timed in fifth quick in Flight A. Also worth noting was Justin Henderson going eighth fastest in the same flight aboard the Kreitz Racing #69K.
The session to set Friday’s lineups belonged to the Pennsylvania Posse as Brent Marks put down a 14.149 in Flight B. With the lap, Marks nabbed his first Simpson Performance Products QuickTime of the year and the third of his career.
“We’re starting this week off a lot better than we did last year,” Marks said. “Really proud of this Murray-Marks Motorsports team for working hard and giving me a good car tonight to qualify with. Our engine ran really good. It’s very cold and really good air, so to get out there and rip around the top and feel comfortable that close to the wall and our engines running really good with everything tuned up, it just felt effortless for me.”
In Flight A of Friday’s session, Gravel topped the charts with a 14.163. He distanced himself a little from Sweet who’s 14.658 slotted him ninth fastest in Flight A.
Knoxville Raceway regulars – Brian Brown and Chase Randall – claimed the second and third spots in Flight A.
Over in Flight B, Courtney missed claiming both flights by one spot as he set the second fastest lap behind Marks with another Knoxville driver – Austin McCarl – in third.
UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series returns to The Dirt Track at Charlotte for night two of the World of Outlaws World Finals, and first night of Feature action, on Thursday, Nov. 2. For tickets, CLICK HERE.
If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch all the action live on DIRTVision.
Qualifying A – Thursday: 1. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 00:13.694[12]; 2. 24-Rico Abreu, 00:13.722[27]; 3. 41-Carson Macedo, 00:13.847[16]; 4. 19-Brent Marks, 00:13.888[24]; 5. 8-Cory Eliason, 00:13.956[3]; 6. 14-Cole Macedo, 00:13.987[15]; 7. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr, 00:14.003[4]; 8. 69K-Justin Henderson, 00:14.023[26]; 9. 26-Zeb Wise, 00:14.036[23]; 10. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg, 00:14.056[21]; 11. 20G-Noah Gass, 00:14.064[11]; 12. 9-Kasey Kahne, 00:14.066[22]; 13. 1A-Jacob Allen, 00:14.077[19]; 14. 9R-Chase Randall, 00:14.113[9]; 15. 12-Lance Dewease, 00:14.162[17]; 16. 88-Austin McCarl, 00:14.189[1]; 17. 83-James McFadden, 00:14.200[18]; 18. 5-Spencer Bayston, 00:14.245[20]; 19. 7S-Robbie Price, 00:14.315[10]; 20. 42-Sye Lynch, 00:14.369[7]; 21. 18R-Ryan Roberts, 00:14.401[25]; 22. 12S-Brent Shearer, 00:14.419[6]; 23. 47-Eric Riggins Jr, 00:14.502[8]; 24. 33-Derek Hauck, 00:14.516[2]; 25. 14T-Tim Estenson, 00:14.669[5]; 26. 77-Geoff Dodge, 00:14.701[13]; 27. 17H-Wout Hoffmans, 00:15.268[14]
Qualifying B – Thursday: 1. 7BC-Tyler Courtney, 00:13.843[5]; 2. 2-David Gravel, 00:13.903[3]; 3. 49-Brad Sweet, 00:13.986[4]; 4. 18-Giovanni Scelzi, 00:13.987[6]; 5. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 00:14.069[9]; 6. 21-Brian Brown, 00:14.105[16]; 7. 13-Justin Peck, 00:14.279[14]; 8. 39M-Anthony Macri, 00:14.279[26]; 9. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss, 00:14.283[1]; 10. 2MD-Cap Henry, 00:14.296[10]; 11. 23-Devon Borden, 00:14.319[19]; 12. 15-Donny Schatz, 00:14.356[24]; 13. 1T-Tanner Holmes, 00:14.505[21]; 14. 28M-Conner Morrell, 00:14.548[12]; 15. 6Z-Zane DeVault, 00:14.715[8]; 16. 99-Skylar Gee, 00:14.729[18]; 17. 71-Parker Price Miller, 00:14.762[17]; 18. 20-Tim Buckwalter, 00:14.899[13]; 19. 5D-Jacob Dykstra, 00:14.963[23]; 20. W20-Greg Wilson, 00:15.004[7]; 21. 22-Riley Goodno, 00:15.015[15]; 22. 40-George Hobaugh Jr, 00:15.163[22]; 23. 7NY-Matt Farnham, 00:15.354[25]; 24. 24D-Danny Sams III, 00:15.429[20]; 25. 23M-Lance Moss, 00:15.530[2]; 26. 7N-Darin Naida, 00:15.817[11]
Qualifying A – Friday: 1. 2-David Gravel, 00:14.163; 2. 21-Brian Brown, 00:14.175; 3. 9R-Chase Randall, 00:14.181; 4. 69K-Justin Henderson, 00:14.342; 5. 24-Rico Abreu, 00:14.427; 6. 18-Giovanni Scelzi, 00:14.457; 7. 41-Carson Macedo, 00:14.484; 8. 26-Zeb Wise, 00:14.527; 9. 49-Brad Sweet, 00:14.648; 10. 5-Spencer Bayston, 00:14.664; 11. 2MD-Cap Henry, 00:14.693; 12. 14-Cole Macedo, 00:14.743; 13. 23-Devon Borden, 00:14.747; 14. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss, 00:14.785; 15. 99-Skylar Gee, 00:14.820; 16. 1T-Tanner Holmes, 00:14.842; 17. 6Z-Zane DeVault, 00:14.852; 18. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr, 00:14.858; 19. 42-Sye Lynch, 00:14.876; 20. 20G-Noah Gass, 00:14.977; 21. 5D-Jacob Dykstra, 00:15.173; 22. 23M-Lance Moss, 00:15.205; 23. 47-Eric Riggins Jr, 00:15.260; 24. 17H-Wout Hoffmans, 00:15.473; 25. W20-Greg Wilson, 00:15.635; 26. 7NY-Matt Farnham, 00:15.804; 27. 7N-Darin Naida, 00:16.161
Qualifying B – Friday: 1. 19-Brent Marks, 00:14.149; 2. 7BC-Tyler Courtney, 00:14.259; 3. 88-Austin McCarl, 00:14.275; 4. 39M-Anthony Macri, 00:14.347; 5. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg, 00:14.402; 6. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 00:14.435; 7. 83-James McFadden, 00:14.445; 8. 13-Justin Peck, 00:14.531; 9. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 00:14.582; 10. 8-Cory Eliason, 00:14.603; 11. 9-Kasey Kahne, 00:14.607; 12. 15-Donny Schatz, 00:14.617; 13. 71-Parker Price Miller, 00:14.735; 14. 1A-Jacob Allen, 00:14.746; 15. 7S-Robbie Price, 00:14.858; 16. 12-Lance Dewease, 00:14.895; 17. 77-Geoff Dodge, 00:14.962; 18. 22-Riley Goodno, 00:15.091; 19. 14T-Tim Estenson, 00:15.156; 20. 24D-Danny Sams III, 00:15.279; 21. 12S-Brent Shearer, 00:15.565; 22. 28M-Conner Morrell, 00:15.571; 23. 18R-Ryan Roberts, 00:15.583; 24. 40-George Hobaugh Jr, 00:15.757; 25. 20-Tim Buckwalter, 00:15.818; 26. (DNS) 33-Derek Hauck, 00:15.818
The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink® Sprint Car Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including: NOS Energy Drink (Official Energy Product), CASE Construction Equipment (Official Construction Equipment), CASE No.1 Engine Oil™ (Official Oil and Lubricant), DIRTVision (Official Live Broadcast Partner), Hoosier Racing Tire (Official Tire), iRacing (Official Online Racing Game), Racing Electronics (Official Radio Supplier), Simpson Performance Products (Preferred Safety Gear Partner), SIS Insurance (Official Insurance Provider), Toyota (Official Vehicle), and VP Racing Fuels (Official Racing Fuel); contingency sponsors include ACME Trading, ARP (Automotive Racing Products), Cometic Gasket, COMP Cams, Federated Auto Parts, KSE Racing Products (Hard Charger Award), Lifeline USA, Low-E Insulation, Micro-Lite LLC, Milton Hershey School, MSD, Smith Titanium Brake Systems, and Whiskey Myers; manufacturer sponsors include, FIREBULL, Intercomp, and Sea Foam.
Founded in 1978, the World of Outlaws®, based in Concord, NC, is the premier national touring series for dirt track racing in North America, featuring the most powerful cars on dirt, the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series and the World of Outlaws Late Model Series. Annually, the two series race nearly 140 times at tracks across the United States and Canada. CBS Sports Network is the official broadcast partner of the World of Outlaws. DIRTVision® also broadcasts all World of Outlaws events over the Internet to fans around the world. Learn more about the World of Outlaws.