By Alex Nieten
KENNEDALE, TX (March 11, 2025) – The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars are ready to head to their home state.
The Greatest Show on Dirt was born on March 18, 1978 when Ted Johnson’s band of travelers competed at Devil’s Bowl Speedway, forever cementing Texas as the Series’ birthplace. Since then, the “Lone Star State” has been a staple of the schedule.
The nation’s top Sprint Car talent has the country’s second largest state in their sights. A two-week Texas trip begins this weekend with a doubleheader at Kennedale Speedway Park on March 14-15. The bullring welcomed the World of Outlaws for the first time last year, and Kennedale is set for a full weekend of action this time around.
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Let’s look at the Texas-sized storylines to watch:
ONE FOR ONE: Carson Macedo rolls into Kennedale Speedway Park with a perfect batting average. Last year, he led every lap of the Series debut at the bullring. It was the first of a dozen victories in 2024 in the Jason Johnson Racing No. 41.
The Lemoore, CA native heads to Kennedale this time around with a win already under his belt in 2025, but he’d love to add another one or two this weekend as he’s currently tied for second in points – 56 markers behind the top spot.
Aside from a 12th in the season’s second race, Macedo has been stout this year. He’s tallied five top fives and just collected his second podium of the campaign over the weekend at Magnolia Motor Speedway.
NOT SLOWING DOWN: The story to begin 2025 was David Gravel defending his first World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car championship. He came out of the gates swinging and hasn’t slowed down at all. Gravel and his team want to put together a special season, and that’s exactly what they’re laying the foundations of.
The Big Game Motorsports No. 2 hasn’t finished worse than fourth through eight races, and seven of those outings resulted in podiums including the last six. Gravel has won three of the last four and finished second in the one he didn’t. His average finish so far is 2.13. Gravel’s excellence begins in Qualifying, where he’s grabbed four consecutive Quick Times entering the weekend. The last person to grab five straight was Carson Macedo in 2023. Gravel has built a 56-point advantage atop the early standings.
Kennedale presents somewhat of a wildcard. Like his fellow full-timers, Gravel doesn’t have many laps at the Texas track. But he was impressive in his one appearance, driving from fourth to second and pressuring winner Macedo on the final lap.
BACK ON TRACK: Michael “Buddy” Kofoid entered 2025 with hopes to challenge for a title after a phenomenal stretch to close out 2024, but the year didn’t begin as planned.
Three consecutive results outside the top 10 kicked off the campaign for he and the Roth Motorsports crew, but the potent pairing is starting to resemble their form from late last season that brought high expectations.
Since those struggles, Kofoid is yet to miss the top 10. The Penngrove, CA native’s average finish over the last five races is a solid 7.4. His most recent night on track he posted his best result of the year with a fourth at Magnolia. Now it’s off to Kennedale, where Kofoid charged from 18th to eighth last season.
BLOOD IN THE WATER: The impressive start to 2025 keeps on rolling for Logan Schuchart and Shark Racing.
They wanted to prove their speed wouldn’t be limited to Volusia, where the No. 1S landed on the podium in half of the first six races to begin the year, and that’s exactly what they did. A third at Talladega gave Schuchart his fourth top three of the season, and he was battling for another at Magnolia before contact severed his nose wing. Even without it, Schuchart still managed to hold on for a top five.
Schuchart is currently tied with Macedo for second in the standings. The next test is two nights at Kennedale this weekend. Last year, Schuchart drove from 14th to seventh in his first try at the track.
FINDING THEIR FOOTING: The Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals dealt some struggles to many of the seven rookies taking on the World of Outlaws in 2025, but all of them rebounded with solid efforts last week.
Chris Windom and the Sides Motorsports team found another gear. After no finish better than 20th in the first four nights of the season, he gathered a trio of top 10s including a 22nd to 10th effort at Volusia.
Garet Williamson is yet to find the top 10 with Fischer Motorsports, but he was banging out the door throughout Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi with finishes of 13th twice and 12th twice. He’s currently sitting second in the Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year battle.
TwoC Racing’s Cole Macedo is the only rookie with a top five so far, and he’s got a pair thanks to a 19th to fifth charge at Volusia last week and a fourth at Talladega on a night he led laps.
Hunter Schuerenberg didn’t finish better than 17th in the year’s first five events, but in the three since he’s been seventh, ninth, and 16th in the Vermeer Motorsports No. 55.
Zach Hampton put his fellow rookies on notice with his most recent effort. The Hoosier wheeled Bill Rose No. 6 from 22nd to seventh for his first career World of Outlaws top 10.
Skylar Gee wanted to put all of Volusia behind him, and that’s exactly what he did in the “Dirty South.” The Leduc, AB, Canada driver scored his first top 10 of the season with Logan Fenton Racing at Talladega.
Conner Morrell struggled to make shows when the season began in Bill Rose’s second entry, but he’s since turned things around to the tune of five consecutive Feature appearance in the No. 28.
Of the group, only Williamson has previous Kennedale experience as he competed in the World of Outlaws debut last year.
TRUCKIN’ TO TEXAS: The cast of 15 full-time World of Outlaws competitors will be joined by many more in the Kennedale pit area this weekend. Many Texas locals and out-of-state invaders are expected to join the fun.
Emerson Axsom plans to continue his early season run with The Greatest Show on Dirt. The promising 20-year-old out of Franklin, IN has been at every World of Outlaws race so far this year in the Klaasmeyer Petry Motorsports No. 27, and he’s expected to make his Kennedale debut this weekend.
He may be part of the Pennsylvania Posse, but Anthony Macri has spent plenty of time outside of the “Keystone State” so far this year. The “Concrete Kid” will continue to do so as he’ll make his first Kennedale laps.
On the local side, Sam Hafertepe Jr. headlines the Texan contingent. The Sunnyvale, TX native won with the Elite Outlaw Sprint Cars at Kennedale last year before driving from 24th to 11th with the World of Outlaws the following week.
ARTICLE: https://worldofoutlaws.com/sprintcars/what-to-watch-for-texas-trip-begins-with-kennedale-doubleheader-for-world-of-outlaws/
EVENT INFO: https://worldofoutlaws.com/sprintcars/schedule/event-info/?event=4547714
TRACK INFO: https://worldofoutlaws.com/sprintcars/tracks/?track=Kennedale%2BSpeedway%2BPark
FAN 101: https://about.worldofoutlaws.com/
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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.