WEST LIBERTY, IA — June 23, 2017 — Bixby, OK-native Shane Stewart commanded the Larson Marks Racing No. 2 car for 25 laps through the checkers to win the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series debut at the 1/2-mile West Liberty Raceway. Behind him Kasey Kahne Racing driver Brad Sweet fought Jason Johnson for second to round out the podium.

Stewart started the day out strong, qualifying second, but a bit of luck also came into play later that night. At the start of the West Liberty Hawkeye 25 Feature, both Johnson and Sweet got past Stewart, but a caution before the lap was complete forced a reset, giving him a second chance.

“That was my race, honestly,” said Stewart. “I would’ve never passed those guys back if that caution hadn’t come out. I honestly don’t know what the heck happened. I just spun my tires really bad.”

This marks the third win of the season and the first this month for Stewart, who came to this event with a new crew chief, Lee Stauffer, at his side and now sits fourth in points standings, just four points past Daryn Pittman.

Behind the leader, Johnson and Sweet fell in line throughout the first half of the race. Ian Madsen made an early run on Pittman for fourth, but some Turn 4 trouble in Lap 12 resulted in a tow off the field and the end of the race for Madsen.

On the restart, Johnson just couldn’t steal the lead from Stewart, and Sweet took advantage of the fumble, charging past him for second. Despite additional restarts, the three crossed the checkers in just that order: Stewart, Sweet, Johnson.

The battle between Stewart and Johnson commenced earlier, in the Craftsman Club Dash, with Stewart successfully stealing the lead for the win — a lead which Johnson had already stolen from Jac “Wild Child” Haudenschild during the Dash Draw.

From the looks — and sound — of it, this was to be the Wild Child’s day. The twittersphere was ablaze all afternoon with news of his commanding the Stenhouse Jr./Wood Racing No. 17 car that night. And despite the many hard feelings aroused by Joey Saldana’s absence, fans rallied behind J. Haudenschild, who answered back with Quick Time in Qualifying, setting the track record with a 15.737.

J. Haudenschild went on to win Heat 1 and was looking pretty great for the Feature until the Dash Inversion came in with a six, for a full-field inversion that set him back to sixth. There would be no win for the No. 17 that night as the Wild Child came in at 16.

Meanwhile, the younger Haudenschild, who started the feature beside his dad, just one position behind, took over dad’s spot to come in sixth, and even held off Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing driver and eight-time Series Champion Donny Schatz for half the race.

As fans rushed to meet their favorite drivers in the Pit area after the race, though, a young boy ran in screaming: “Did you find the Wild Child yet? Did you?”

The World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series heads to Beaver Dam Raceway next for the Jim “JB” Boyd Memorial presented by Karavan Trailers on Saturday, June 24, 2017. Tickets can still be purchased online.

Traveling in for the show? World of Outlaws fans get 20% off accommodations at a nearby Extended Stay America.

WEST LIBERTY RACEWAY ABBREVIATED RESULTS:

Feature (25 Laps) – 1. 2-Shane Stewart [1][$10,000]; 2. 49-Brad Sweet [4][$5,500]; 3. 41-Jason Johnson [2][$3,200]; 4. 9-Daryn Pittman [3][$2,800]; 5. 15-Donny Schatz [8][$2,500]; 6. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild [9][$2,300]; 7. 21-Brian Brown [11][$2,200]; 8. 19-Brent Marks [15][$2,100]; 9. 4-Paul McMahan [10][$2,050]; 10. 5-David Gravel [14][$2,000]; 11. 1M-Danny Lasoski [12][$1,500]; 12. 7S-Jason Sides [13][$1,200]; 13. 11K-Kraig Kinser [16][$1,100]; 14. 24-Terry McCarl [21][$1,050]; 15. W20-Greg Wilson [20][$1,000]; 16. 17-Jac Haudenschild [6][$900]; 17. 71A-R.J. Johnson [22][$800]; 18. 5J-Jeremy Schultz [17][$800]; 19. 15M-Bobby Mincer [24][$800]; 20. 9X-Paul Nienhiser [19][$800]; 21. 13-Clyde Knipp [23][$800]; 22. 1S-Logan Schuchart [18][$800]; 23. 18-Ian Madsen [5][$800]; 24. 6-Carson McCarl [7][$800]; Lap Leaders: Shane Stewart 1-25; KSE Hard Charger Award: 19-Brent Marks[+7]

Qualifying – 1. 17-Jac Haudenschild, 15.737; 2. 2-Shane Stewart, 15.848; 3. 49-Brad Sweet, 15.859; 4. 6-Carson McCarl, 15.861; 5. 18-Ian Madsen, 15.89; 6. 41-Jason Johnson, 15.947; 7. 9-Daryn Pittman, 15.951; 8. 21-Brian Brown, 16.001; 9. 1M-Danny Lasoski, 16.006; 10. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 16.029; 11. 15-Donny Schatz, 16.033; 12. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild, 16.043; 13. 4-Paul McMahan, 16.089; 14. 5-David Gravel, 16.09; 15. 19-Brent Marks, 16.096; 16. 7S-Jason Sides, 16.182; 17. 5J-Jeremy Schultz, 16.224; 18. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 16.229; 19. 24-Terry McCarl, 16.374; 20. 9X-Paul Nienhiser, 16.396; 21. 1A-Jacob Allen, 16.414; 22. W20-Greg Wilson, 16.634; 23. 71A-R.J. Johnson, 16.669; 24. 51B-Joe B, 16.861; 25. 15M-Bobby Mincer, 17.073; 26. 19W-Bobby Weuve, 17.137; 27. 13-Clyde Knipp, 17.501

Sweet charges from 10th for podium finish

SAUX RAPIDS, M.N. —June 20, 2017 — In what looked like it was Jason Johnson’s night at Granite City Speedway, Donny Schatz capitalized on a mid-race restart. Schatz drove under Johnson exiting Turn 4 to get by for the lead. Schatz had to hold off a determined Johnson and the KSE Hard Charger Brad Sweet to pick up his 11th victory of the World of Outlaws Craftsman® Sprint Car season. Looking for the clean sweep on the evening, Jason Johnson got the early jump on the 30-lap Feature at Granite City Speedway. Opening up a five-car length lead over the eight-time and defending World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series champion, Donny Schatz. Just shy of the halfway point of the 30-lap race, a yellow flag was displayed for a slowed Ian Madsen who had a flat tire.On the ensuing restart, Johnson looked like he was going to pick up where he left off, rocketing out to a quick lead over Schatz. As the field made their way down the backstretch, Johnson choose to enter Turn 3 on the top-side, leaving Schatz the bottom.

“[Schatz] just knew what he needed to do to get by me on that restart,” said Jason Johnson. “We had a car just as fast as his.”“Races aren’t won on the start, a lot of people never figure that out,” said Donny Schatz. “We just wait for an opportunity. We got a run on [Jason] on the start and we went down the back and he decided to go up top into three and I went where he didn’t and we were able to get by.”At the same time, Sweet wanted a piece of the action having got by Madsen on the restart for third place.“The car was really good in the beginning,” said Brad Sweet.

With Schatz out front, Johnson and Sweet were nipping at his heels.The top-three all within a half-second of each other had to contend with lap traffic the remain half of the race. That didn’t seem to slow them down as the three were trading positions looking to pick up their next win on the season.“I threw everything I knew I had at [Schatz] to try to get by him,” added Johnson. “We like to win for sure. Anytime you can race with Donny and battle with [Donny], it’s a lot of fun. [Schatz] is one of the cleaner racers out here.”The final five laps of the race it looked like it could have to gone to Schatz, Johnson or Sweet all trading positions back and forth. Schatz was just able to pick his line and get through heavy lap traffic first to power his way home for his 11th victory of the 2017 World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car season.

“I think everything raises the heartrate,” said Donny Schatz in Victory Lane. “There’s a lot of great racers out here right now and they’ve got their game on. These Arctic Cat guys are in the same boat. They work their tails off to be good. We were a lot better earlier in the night – that’s kind of odd, usually we get better as the night goes on. We got the job done and that’s about it.”Sweet who started on the outside of the fifth row of the Feature, charged his way forward and looked like he had something for both Schatz and Johnson picked up the KSE Hard Charger award.“Lap cars just didn’t play out or if we got [Johnson], [Johnson] got us back. This NAPA Auto Parts car has been really fast, we put ourselves a little behind tonight but it was nice to drive up in there. If we keep having cars like this, we’ll be able to win some more of these.”

The World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series heads to West Liberty Raceway on Friday, June 23 for the West Liberty Hawkeye 25. For tickets, visit WorldofOutlaws.com/Tickets.

GRANITE CITY RESULTS:Feature (30 Laps): 1. 15-Donny Schatz [2][$6,000]; 2. 41-Jason Johnson [1][$3,500]; 3. 49-Brad Sweet [10][$2,000]; 4. 2M-Kerry Madsen [5][$1,800]; 5. 5-David Gravel [11][$1,500]; 6. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild [9][$1,400]; 7. 7S-Jason Sides [6][$1,350]; 8. 2-Shane Stewart [15][$1,300]; 9. 1S-Logan Schuchart [7][$1,250]; 10. 17-Joey Saldana [3][$1,200]; 11. 4-Paul McMahan [17][$900]; 12. 9-Daryn Pittman [14][$800]; 13. W20-Greg Wilson [12][$700]; 14. 19-Brent Marks [20][$650]; 15. 11K-Kraig Kinser [8][$600]; 16. 18-Ian Madsen [4][$550]; 17. 3-Tim Kaeding [13][$500]; 18. 91A-Reed Allex [23][$500]; 19. 55-Brooke Tatnell [18][$500]; 20. 13-Clyde Knipp [21][$500]; 21. 19P-Paige Polyak [19][$500]; 22. 1A-Jacob Allen [16][$500]; 23. 9Z-Jared Goerges [22][$500]; Lap Leaders: Jason Johnson 1-13, Donny Schatz 14-30; KSE Hard Charger Award: 49-Brad Sweet[+7]

CLICK HERE TO SEE FULL RESULTSCLICK HERE TO SEE FULL RESULTS

Source: World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series – Schatz Picks Up Win 11 at Granite City Speedway

After Three-Hour Delay, Gravel Held off Madsen for Ninth Win of Season

GRAND FORKS, N.D. — June 17, 2017 — It was Jacob Allen who jumped out to an early lead during the initial start of the Gerdau Recycling Northern Tour. As Allen was coming to complete lap five of the 40-lap race, Allen jumped the cushion in Turn 4 went for a wild flip, bringing out the red flag. During the red-flag stoppage, a passing rain storm hit the Grand Forks, N.D.-area forcing a nearly three-hour stoppage. When the show got back under way, it was Gravel that withstood a couple charges from the No. 2M of Kerry Madsen en route to his ninth World of Outlaws Craftsman® Sprint Car Series win of the 2017 season.“There’s some crazy fans here,” said David Gravel. “They were standing in the bleachers that had no roof over them in the down-pouring rain. Those guys are diehard; I give them props for sure.”

With weather threatening the River Cities Speedway, the World of Outlaws Craftsman® Sprint Car Series was forced to go into hurry up mode in an effort to get night one of the Gerdau Recycling Northern Tour at River Cities Speedway in its entirety. After winning the Craftsman Club Dash, Jacob Allen secured the pole position for the Feature. Jumping out to an early lead over second-place David Gravel, Allen was quickly catching lap traffic early in the race.“I tried to go to the top because I saw that I was coming up on some lap cars,” said Jacob Allen. “I figured I needed to go up there and see how it was before I got up on [lap cars]. Unfortunately, it was slick up in Turn 4 and [the car] flew into the barrier. I probably should have stuck on the bottom; but I was able to lead my first Outlaws race.”After getting the track back in racing condition, the field was allotted a couple lap hot lap session.

Drivers were turning laps in the nine-second bracket; close to a half-second quicker than lap times that were being turned earlier in the day. When it was time to go, David Gravel and Kerry Madsen led the field to the restart with four-laps complete.“It’s a bummer it rained,” said David Gravel. “Typically the track is three-grooves top-to-bottom. It was pretty narrow, you just had to try not to make any mistakes.”David Gravel and Kerry Madsen led the field back to the green. As the field was getting up to speed exiting Turn 4, the No. 41 of Jason Johnson slapped the outside wall with his right-rear tire, sending the field scrambling. Multiple cars, including the No. 4 of Paul McMahan and the No. 3 of Tim Kaeding went for a flip. Both drivers were able to get out under their own power, however, their night was done early.For the second attempt the field would line up single file. Gravel was able to get another solid jump on Kerry Madsen and put a five-car length gap between the two. That gap closed on lap nine when Madsen and Gravel banged wheels coming off Turn 2; both where able to keep going.“I drifted up and let Kerry [Madsen] get by me, but we were lucky enough to get right back by him.”Madsen pounced on lap 19 to get by Gravel on the backstretch, however, Gravel was able to work his way back by the No. 2M.“We had the car to beat,” said Kerry Madsen. “We got the lead there once, just couldn’t hang onto it good enough, it’s a great result for the team.”With five laps to go, the field was slowed when Clyde Knipp in the No. 13 slowed on the backstretch.Again with a single-file restart, Gravel was able to rocket out to a commanding lead and didn’t look back en route to his ninth win of the 2017 World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series season.

The Series returns to action on Saturday, June 17 at Red River Valley Speedway in West Fargo, N.D. Fans can purchase tickets by visit the ticket gate or by visiting slspromotions.ticketforce.com.

Source: World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series – Gravel Wins at River Cities Speedway

KNOXVILLE, IA — June 10, 2017 — Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing driver and eight-time World of Outlaws Craftsman® Sprint Car Series Champion Donny Schatz officially joined the ranks of the top-10 winningest drivers at Knoxville Raceway, leading all 25 laps of the Brownells Big Guns Bash night two Feature. The win marks his 25th career win at the 1/2-mile oval, tying him with two-time Track Champion Skip Jackson. It also marks the 10th win of the season for the No. 15 Arctic Cat car.

Much like the previous night, in which Brad Sweet led flag-to-flag, an exciting battle took place behind the leader, resulting in the same three Outlaws to the podium, only slightly rearranged this time with Schatz on top. And he was unusually happy about it.

“We haven’t been on pace the last couple months,” said Schatz. “You keep looking for little things that aren’t right. One thing here. But we found three things. And so, that’s why I’m smiling. I’m a happy guy. I got my feel back. I can feel all four corners again, and that’s important. These guys have put up with me through some not so good moods the last few months, but it feels good to be back in Victory Lane, especially here at Knoxville, and get that win.”

Behind Schatz, David Gravel, Brad Sweet and Ian Madsen fought a tough battled for second and third. A caution on Dakota Hendrickson four laps in gave Madsen the chance he needed to jump past Logan Schuchart, then Daryn Pittman. A second caution — from Jason Sides spinning into the wall in turn one — allowed Gravel to slide inside Sweet, leaving Sweet momentarily at Madsen’s mercy as the two exchanged positions a couple of times almost halfway through the Feature. But Sweet prevailed, and with only eight laps to go pressed on Gravel for second as he got caught in lap traffic.

“It hurt me there,” said Gravel. “I tried to go under Sides, and he slipped off and kind of caught me up a little bit. I thought that was my only chance to even get close to Donny, but I lost ten car lengths in that corner and never really had a shot at him. We’re really happy with how the car is. The track was super super fast tonight. That was a hell of a workout for 25 laps.”

Despite the heat and strong winds, the track was in great condition on night two and did not rubber up at all like the previous night.

“Last night the race track was a little bit different,” said Schatz. “It got abrasive. It was really slick early. It was hard to get a hold of, so yeah, you try things. You don’t get too far away from baseline, but these guys did an incredible job with the race track today. It’s miserable and hard to do this in the heat and the wind, and they did an incredible job, got us two grooves, so hats off to the Duncans for that and just a great night.”

Unfortunately, Sweet was unable to comment after his win, as the heat and the tough workout left him dehydrated and worn out enough to warrant medical attention.

The World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series returns to action on Tuesday for the Eagle Nationals in Eagle, NE. Tickets are available online. The Series will then continue to Schatz’s home state of North Dakota on Friday and Saturday.

Feature (25 Laps) – 1. 15-Donny Schatz [2][$10,000]; 2. 5-David Gravel [4][$5,000]; 3. 49-Brad Sweet [1][$3,000]; 4. 18-Ian Madsen [5][$2,700]; 5. 21-Brian Brown [10][$2,500]; 6. 2-Shane Stewart [16][$2,200]; 7. 1S-Logan Schuchart [6][$2,000]; 8. 9-Daryn Pittman [3][$1,800]; 9. 1M-Danny Lasoski [13][$1,600]; 10. 41-Jason Johnson [11][$1,450]; 11. 17-Joey Saldana [9][$1,300]; 12. 55-Brooke Tatnell [21][$1,200]; 13. 56N-David Heskin [19][$1,100]; 14. 4-Paul McMahan [12][$1,000]; 15. 11K-Kraig Kinser [18][$950]; 16. 19-Brent Marks [24][$900]; 17. 2KS-Austin McCarl [15][$850]; 18. 22-Rager Phillips [17][$750]; 19. 12-Lynton Jeffrey [8][$725]; 20. 49J-Josh Schneiderman [22][$700]; 21. 7S-Jason Sides [7][$700]; 22. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild [25][$]; 23. O9-Matt Juhl [23][$700]; 24. 4X-Dakota Hendrickson [14][$700]; 25. 24-Terry McCarl [20][$700]; Lap Leader: Donny Schatz 1-25; KSE Hard Charger Award: 2-Shane Stewart[+10]

Qualifying Flight-A – 1. 5-David Gravel, 15.281; 2. 12-Lynton Jeffrey, 15.359; 3. 18-Ian Madsen, 15.363; 4. 9-Daryn Pittman, 15.365; 5. 17-Joey Saldana, 15.558; 6. 56N-David Heskin, 15.573; 7. 22-Rager Phillips, 15.586; 8. 41-Jason Johnson, 15.615; 9. 1M-Danny Lasoski, 15.681; 10. 20-A.J. Moeller, 15.695; 11. O9-Matt Juhl, 15.723; 12. 2KS-Austin McCarl, 15.77; 13. 49J-Josh Schneiderman, 15.78; 14. 19-Brent Marks, 15.841; 15. 41S-Dominic Scelzi, 15.928; 16. 7W-Tasker Phillips, 15.953; 17. 71A-R.J. Johnson, 15.997; 18. 9Z-Jared Goerges, 16.292; 19. 13-Clyde Knipp, 16.683; 20. 19W-Bobby Weuve, 16.702

Qualifying Flight-B – 1. 15-Donny Schatz, 15.379; 2. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 15.491; 3. 4X-Dakota Hendrickson, 15.575; 4. 49-Brad Sweet, 15.577; 5. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 15.584; 6. 4-Paul McMahan, 15.66; 7. 7S-Jason Sides, 15.678; 8. 24-Terry McCarl, 15.684; 9. 55-Brooke Tatnell, 15.687; 10. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild, 15.694; 11. 21-Brian Brown, 15.742; 12. 1A-Jacob Allen, 15.789; 13. 1B-Dustin Selvage, 15.813; 14. 2-Shane Stewart, 15.817; 15. 82-Cap Henry, 15.943; 16. W20-Greg Wilson, 15.962; 17. 19P-Paige Polyak, 16.03; 18. 3-Tim Kaeding, 16.099; 19. 15X-Bobby Mincer, 16.392; 20. 2M-Kerry Madsen, NT

By Tony Veneziano

JACKSON, MN. – June 3, 2017 – Brad Sweet looked at the first two nights of the 39th annual AGCO Jackson Nationals for the World of Outlaws Craftsman® Sprint Car Series at Jackson Motorplex as battles that would ultimately put him in position to win the war. He did exactly that on Saturday night to the tune of $25,000, adding his name to the illustrious list of past winners of the tradition-laden event.

For Sweet, it was his third win of the season and second on a half-mile. Sweet now has 23 career World of Outlaws Feature wins, which ties him for 19th on the Series’ all-time win list with fellow competitors David Gravel and Shane Stewart, who also both finished in the top-five on Saturday night.

“It feels awesome to win the Jackson Nationals,” said Sweet. “We’re just ecstatic. I can’t thank Tod Quiring and all the guys enough for taking a chance and putting on a three-day show that pays big money like this. It’s a breath of fresh air and great to race for that kind of money. Hopefully the fans saw a good show.”

Sweet lined up second for the 30-lap main event and challenged pole sitter Kerry Madsen in the early going. Sweet hung with Madsen for a number of laps, especially in lapped traffic, mainly while working the bottom lane of the track.

Just before the halfway point of the race, Donny Schatz got by Sweet for second, with the latter getting back by a couple of laps later. Sweet took the lead from Kerry Madsen on the back straightaway on lap 18 and led the remainder of the race. He did have to withstand a pair of restarts with 11 laps remaining. The first was a double-file restart and the second single-file. Strong restarts each time propelled him to a solid lead over Madsen.

“I was in attack mode the whole time,” noted Sweet. “I was a little frustrated with myself. When I got behind Kerry (Madsen) I made a few mistakes and let Donny (Schatz) get by me. Usually you don’t get that back. Then I was able to get by both of them. Once I was able to get in control of the race, I knew I was in good shape and just tried not to screw it up. I almost messed up a few times and didn’t know how big of a lead we had, but I drove as hard I could those last 11 laps.” (more…)

JACKSON, Minn. — June 2, 2017 — Kerry Madsen was part of a historic finish on the opening night of the 39^th Annual AGCO Jackson Nationals for the World of Outlaws Craftsman® Sprint Car Series at Jackson Motorplex, finishing second to his brother Ian, which made them the first-ever Australian-born brothers to finish 1-2 in an Outlaws race. K. Madsen felt as if he didn’t get the job done, though on Thursday night. He made up for the near-miss on Friday night, leading flag-to-flag in the 25-lap main event to earn his first World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series win of the season and the 20^th of his career.

Madsen withstood a trio of yellow flags and one red flag period en route to the win. For the native of St. Marys, NSW, Australia, who now calls Knoxville, Iowa home, it was his second win of the season at Jackson Motorplex, which is owned by his car owner, Tod Quiring.

“The car was working everywhere until we lost the front wing, then we lost our front downforce,” said Madsen. “I had to run not as hard as I wanted to going into (turn) one and gave up a lot of speed there. I just kept watching the front wing and it was still on so, I kept trying harder. I saw Kraig and thought, ‘Oh no,’ but I saw the lapped traffic and knew if I could get to the outside of the lapped traffic it would block the lane and I would be okay. I was just hanging on at the end and it was a handful in (turn) one and two. It was great to get the job done tonight.”

Madsen, who entered the night as the overall event point leader, put himself in a very solid position to go for a repeat in the AGCO Jackson Nationals, which he won for the first time last season.

“This track is all about being in the right place and being in the right line,” explained Madsen. “You can’t just stick to a line. You have to constantly search and keeping your eye out. It’s going to take 30 good laps to be in contention again tomorrow.” (more…)