MARATHON MAN: Logan Schuchart ends long night at Jackson Motorplex with big win
The Shark Racing driver maintains AGCO Jackson Nationals points lead going into final night

JACKSON, MN – June 26, 2020 – Aside from the medal around his neck and a few drops of sweat sliding down his face, you’d never be able to tell Logan Schuchart just endured a six-hour marathon.

The Hanover, PA driver not only survived a double World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series Feature night at the 4/10-mile Jackson Motorplex on Friday, he ended the night as the top driver.

After finishing fourth in round one of the 42nd Annual AGCO Jackson Nationals at the beginning of the night, Schuchart came back stronger in round two and won by close to five seconds. He now goes into Saturday’s AGCO Jackson Nationals $30,000-to-win finale with a 22-point lead over Daryn Pittman for the title.

“It feels good,” said Schuchart about his point lead in the crown jewel event. “With the different format you never know if you should sandbag or try to start on the pole. That’s a tough equation to figure that out. You see some cars miss it when they try and do that. We tried to go as fast as we could every time we hit the racetrack. It’s paid off for us. We’re going to be up front in this thing.”

He picked up valuable points throughout the night with runner-up finishes in his Drydene Heat Race and the DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash – placing him on the outside pole for the Feature.

When the green flag waved to start the 25-lap event, Schuchart got a bad start, allowing polesitter Jason Sides to pull away and Daryn Pittman to sneak underneath him. He saw an opening to charge back around both of them off Turn 2, though. While riding the high side of the track, Schuchart ran both of them down by the center of the corner. However, the opening he saw closed when Sides slid up the track and blocked his lane. Sides’ mistake allowed Pittman to dart out front.

Schuchart made his way by Sides shortly after and began to hunt Pittman down. He could inch closer to the Roth Enterprises #83 car every lap, but never enough to the point where he could make a run at Pittman. The two cars were about equal in speed.

That changed on Lap 9 when Pittman slid off Turn 2 while trying to pass a slower car and allowed Schuchart bolt by him for the lead. From then on, there was nothing Pittman could do. The Drydene #1S quickly put about a straightaway distance between them and continued to grow it every lap.

Pittman and third-place Brad Sweet, who won round one early in the day, were left to try and maintain their podium positions.

When Schuchart crossed the finish line, he had a 4.7 sec. lead over Pittman.

“I was a little worried at the beginning because Daryn is always fast here with the 83 team, where it here at Jackson or a big track or a little track. They’re always fast,” Schuchart said. “But we were able to get by there in lap traffic. It just seemed like lap cars, when I get up to them, it seemed like they were racing with each other and I was able to get by them at the right time.”

For Pittman, the runner-up finish is a welcomed solid run for he and his Roth Motorsports team, who are building momentum with a top-five at Tri-State Speedway last weekend and now a top-10 and runner-up finish at Jackson Motorplex.

“We just keep working on our car,” Pittman said. “I’m happy with the direction we’re going. Brent, Tony, Steven, they’ve been working their butts off. Not a lot of good results to show for it. Hopefully we’re turning the corner, getting a little bit better and continue to finish up front.”

Schuchart’s Shark Racing teammate Jacob Allen and 10-time Series champion Donny Schatz also had needed runs. Allen won the Last Chance Showdown and then charged from 21st to ninth. Schatz and his Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing team finished fifth – their first top-five and top-10 in four races.

While the first two legs of the AGCO Jackson Nationals championship marathon is over and Schuchart has a sizable lead, he knows completing the final leg on Saturday and winning his first Nationals title won’t be an easy task with Pittman 22 points back in second and reigning Jackson Nationals champion Sweet 32 points back in third.

“The 49 car (of reigning champion Sweet) is going to be fast tomorrow. Daryn is going to be fast,” Schuchart said. “But I think we have a fast Drydene Performance Products race car.”

(AGCO Jackson Nationals points after rounds one and two)

UP NEXT

The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series returns to Jackson Motorplex for the conclusion of the 42nd Annual AGCO Jackson Nationals Saturday night with $30,000-to-win on the line.

You can watch all of the action live on DIRTVision.

RESULTS

NOS Energy Drink Feature (25 Laps) – 1. 1S-Logan Schuchart [2][$10,000]; 2. 83-Daryn Pittman [3][$5,000]; 3. 49-Brad Sweet [4][$3,000]; 4. 14-Parker Price-Miller [5][$2,700]; 5. 15-Donny Schatz [12][$2,500]; 6. 18-Ian Madsen [7][$2,200]; 7. 41-David Gravel [10][$2,000]; 8. 7S-Jason Sides [1][$1,800]; 9. 1A-Jacob Allen [21][$1,600]; 10. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [18][$1,450]; 11. 9-Kasey Kahne [8][$1,300]; 12. 21-Brian Brown [11][$1,200]; 13. 3-Tim Kaeding [17][$1,100]; 14. 49X-Tim Shaffer [15][$1,000]; 15. O9-Matt Juhl [9][$950]; 16. 44S-Trey Starks [6][$900]; 17. 2-Carson Macedo [19][$850]; 18. 11K-Kraig Kinser [13][$750]; 19. 2M-Kerry Madsen [16][$725]; 20. 13-Mark Dobmeier [24][$700]; 21. 17B-Bill Balog [14][$700]; 22. 16-Brooke Tatnell [23][$700]; 23. 7-Justin Henderson [22][$700]; 24. 14X-Jody Rosenboom [20][$700]; Lap Leaders: Daryn Pittman 1-9, Logan Schuchart 10-25; KSE Hard Charger Award: 1A-Jacob Allen[+12]

Qualifying – 1. 1A-Jacob Allen, 12.705; 2. 41-David Gravel, 13.002; 3. 2-Carson Macedo, 13.064; 4. 2M-Kerry Madsen, 13.072; 5. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 13.097; 6. 49-Brad Sweet, 13.102; 7. 83-Daryn Pittman, 13.124; 8. 15-Donny Schatz, 13.142; 9. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 13.144; 10. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 13.197; 11. 18-Ian Madsen, 13.228; 12. 16-Brooke Tatnell, 13.257; 13. 7-Justin Henderson, 13.277; 14. 17A-Austin McCarl, 13.316; 15. 21-Brian Brown, 13.353; 16. 7S-Jason Sides, 13.355; 17. 9-Kasey Kahne, 13.361; 18. 17B-Bill Balog, 13.369; 19. 33M-Mason Daniel, 13.404; 20. 44S-Trey Starks, 13.411; 21. O9-Matt Juhl, 13.436; 22. 14-Parker Price-Miller, 13.473; 23. 49X-Tim Shaffer, 13.489; 24. 14X-Jody Rosenboom, 13.499; 25. 41S-Dominic Scelzi, 13.315; 26. 83R-Lynton Jeffrey, 13.505; 27. 13-Mark Dobmeier, 13.526; 28. 6-Bill Rose, 13.549; 29. 64-Scotty Thiel, 13.585; 30. 2C-Wayne Johnson, 13.601; 31. 55-Hunter Schuerenburg, 13.603; 32. 4-Terry McCarl, 13.625; 33. 27-Tucker Klaasmeyer, 13.656; 34. 35-Skylar Prochaska, 13.825; 35. 3P-Sawyer Phillips, 13.939; 36. 97-Alan Gilbertson, 14.041; 37. 4X-Cody Hansen, 14.049; 38. O5-Colin Smith, 14.115; 39. 2K-Kevin Ingle, 14.178; 40. 33-James Broty, 14.249; 41. 3-Tim Kaeding, 14.352; 42. 14K-Tori Knutson, 14.475; 43. 6X-Frank Rodgers, 14.655

ROUND ONE KNOCKOUT: Brad Sweet wins first round of AGCO Jackson Nationals
Kasey Kahne Racing gets early win, but Logan Schuchart takes Jackson Nationals points lead

JACKSON, MN – June 26, 2020 – After losing a win by inches last week, reigning champion Brad Sweet dominates the first of two Features Friday night for the 42 Annual AGCO Jackson Nationals.

Sweet, the two-time and defending AGCO Jackson Nationals champion, won his fourth World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series Feature at the 4/10-mile Jackson Motorplex before having to turn around and run another Feature later in the night.

“We were slow in qualifying and had to make up for it," said Sweet, of Grass Valley CA. "Luckily we got the win."

Thursday night’s program was halted by rain and pushed to Friday evening before the official second night of the AGCO Jackson Nationals kicked off.

Sweet had made his way into the DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash with a second-place run in his Drydene Heat Race. He then went on to secure another runner-up finish behind winner Austin McCarl in the DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash – placing him on the outside pole for the 25-lap Feature.

When Feature went green, after a red flag on the initial start for Mark Dobmeier flipping in Turn 2, Sweet snuck to the outside of Austin McCarl and drove around him in Turns 3 and 4 to claim the lead on the first lap. From then on, it was “The Big Cat’s” show.

Sweet pulled away to about a straightaway lead over McCarl by the second lap of the race. He hit lap traffic on Lap 6, but the slower cars didn’t faze him. While McCarl was able to knock off a tenth of a second here and there when lap cars blocked the track in front of Sweet, the NAPA Auto Parts #49 gained those tenths back and more once he found clean air.

"I've felt comfortable here," said Sweet, who's won the last three 410 Sprint Car events at the track. "We have a good package here. Hats of to my guys."

Shane Stewart had an impressive run going in his Feature debut in Guy Forbrook’s #5 car, running third for most of the race. But on Lap 13 he had an issue and had to pull off track. It was a big enough issue to end his entire night. That moved Matt Juhl, who won at Jackson Motorplex in a 360-c.i. Sprint Car the week before, into third.

Neither Juhl or McCarl had anything for Sweet in the closing laps. He pulled his Kasey Kasey Racing car into Victory Lane for the fifth time this year with the World of Outlaws.

"Hopefully we can have a good night overall and it will put us in a good spot on Saturday (for the Jackson Nationals championship $30,000-to-win finale)," Sweet said.

McCarl finished second and Juhl rounded out the podium – career best World of Outlaws runs for the two drivers.

"He (Sweet) got a good run there on the top and got by me," McCarl said. "That's why he's a World of Outlaws champion. One of the best in the world right now."

While Sweet takes home the trophy, Logan Schuchart has the early points lead for the Jackson Nationals with his fourth-place finish in the Feature and other strong performances throughout the format, such as his runner-up qualifying run. Parker Price-Miller is second and Sheldon Haudenschild is third. Sweet is currently 12th in points. He qualified 25th in round one, which put him behind in points.

(RELATED: 2020 AGCO Jackson Nationals format)