ROUND TWO REDEMPTION: Brad Sweet takes back-up car to Victory Lane at Cedar Lake Speedway
Sweet rebounds from early night woes to win the second round of the FVP Platinum Battery Showdown

The right rear tire of Brad Sweet’s NAPA Auto Parts No. 49 car sagged lower to the ground with every inch the car rolled into the infield.

Fortunate for Sweet, his infield trip was to Cedar Lake Speedway’s Victory Lane Saturday night. It was his ninth win of the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series season – tying his win total last year and his record for most wins in a season – and his 43rd career Series win overall.

The image of Sweet waving the checkered flag atop his car with a flat tire was symbolistic of his path to victory.

Rain forced the remaining 28 laps of Friday night’s FVP Platinum Battery Showdown Feature to be run Saturday evening – making Saturday a doubleheader event. Sweet restarted the race in fourth and kept pace with the leaders, eyeing his third win in-a-row and 14th top-five in a row.

But four laps into the race, Sweet slowed to a stop. A U-joint broke in the car, damaging it beyond a quick repair. Sweet was forced to take his first DNF of the season. His Kasey Kahne Racing team had to pull out the back-up car for the second Feature of the night.

“I was disappointed, but we win as a team, we lose as a team,” Sweet said. “Every now and then you have a mechanical failure. We’ll go back and look at it and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

After about an hour turnaround to get the back-up car ready, he Qualified eighth and then finished second in his Dryden Heat race behind Sheldon Haudenschild – who won the first Feature of the night. If there were still any concerns about how the back-up car would run, they were extinguished in the DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash.

Sweet ran second to Dominic Scelzi for the first half of the Dash, but found grip riding the bottom of the track and reeled Scelzi in lap by lap. On the final lap, the two California-natives charged down the front stretch side-by-side with Sweet edging out Scelzi for the win.

Now with the pole position for the Feature, Sweet was in prime position to rebound from his 23rd-place finish earlier in the night.

He launched to the lead on the initial start. Scelzi didn’t let Sweet get far, though. Five laps into the race, Scelzi snuck underneath Sweet in turns one and two. It wasn’t enough. Sweet charged off the top side of the track and maintained the lead. Scelzi wasn’t ready to give up. He charged back underneath Sweet, but, again, Sweet had the advantage on the high side. He shot to the lead and pulled away from Scelzi.

For the remaining 30 laps, Sweet held command of the race. Scelzi was left to fight for second-place, which he eventually lost to David Gravel. Carson Macedo wasn’t far behind, stealing third from Scelzi, as well.

Lap traffic became an obstacle at times for Sweet, but had little effect on slowing him down. He was denied a chance at a win earlier in the night. That was not going to happen again. He crossed the finish line with about a straightaway lead, ending the long day with a win.

“It was pretty cool that a car that just sits in our trailer we can bring out first night out and get it going that good,” Sweet said. “It’s been a long day, but it’s nice to celebrate another win. I want to keep it rolling. I have a great race car.”

In the first Feature of the night, 10-time Series champion Donny Schatz finished second – cutting Sweet’s points lead in half. However with Schatz finishing seventh in the second Feature of the night, Sweet was able to maintain a 50-point lead over the Fargo, N.D.-native.

Gravel has moved into third – 142 points behind Sweet.

“We’re happy with a second,” said Gravel, who went Quick Time for both Features at Cedar Lake Speedway. “We didn’t have a shot to win there. But happy with second. I think that was the best-case scenario for us. Brad got by a couple of lap cars and just wasn’t able to get back by the cars he did and kind of got stuck there.”

While Sweet dominated the race, leading all 35 laps, he said there is still room for improvement as his car lost grip throughout the run.

“If we keep fine tuning this thing, I think we can win a lot of races this year,” Sweet said.

With nine wins halfway through the season – seven of them in the last 10 races – Sweet is already on track to a career best year.

“We’ve got a good thing going and all we want to do is keep the throttle down,” Sweet said. “We just want to win as many of these races as we can. You don’t get these opportunities like we have very often.”

Sweet made the most of his latest opportunity with minutes to spare before his right rear tire gave out for the night in Victory Lane.

UP NEXT:

The World of Outlaws on Friday, July 12, will be at Hartford Speedway in Hartford, Mich. for the Battle of Michigan.

As always, you can catch all World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series action on DIRTVision.com.

For tickets and more information, go to www.WorldofOutlaws.com.

RESULTS:

NOS Energy Drink Feature (35 Laps) - 1. 49-Brad Sweet [1][$10,000]; 2. 41-David Gravel [3][$5,000]; 3. 2-Carson Macedo [5][$3,000]; 4. 41S-Dominic Scelzi [2][$2,700]; 5. 18-Ian Madsen [7][$2,500]; 6. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [4][$2,200]; 7. 15-Donny Schatz [11][$2,000]; 8. 2M-Kerry Madsen [9][$1,800]; 9. 17B-Bill Balog [6][$1,600]; 10. 1A-Jacob Allen [10][$1,450]; 11. 5-Shane Stewart [15][$1,300]; 12. 83-Daryn Pittman [8][$1,200]; 13. 19-Brent Marks [19][$1,100]; 14. 1S-Logan Schuchart [14][$1,000]; 15. 21-Brian Brown [17][$950]; 16. 7S-Jason Sides [21][$900]; 17. 13-Mark Dobmeier [18][$850]; 18. 3-Jac Haudenschild [22][$750]; 19. 1AJ-Trevor Mell [24][$725]; 20. 49X-Tim Shaffer [12][$700]; 21. 9N-Wade Nygaard [16][$700]; 22. 19P-Paige Polyak [20][$700]; 23. 11K-Kraig Kinser [13][$700]; 24. 23-Russel Borland [23][$700]; Lap Leaders: Brad Sweet 1-35; KSE Hard Charger Award: 19-Brent Marks[+6]

Qualifying - 1. 41-David Gravel, 13.015; 2. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 13.032; 3. 2-Carson Macedo, 13.295; 4. 17B-Bill Balog, 13.32; 5. 83-Daryn Pittman, 13.48; 6. 41S-Dominic Scelzi, 13.501; 7. 18-Ian Madsen, 13.551; 8. 49-Brad Sweet, 13.553; 9. 2M-Kerry Madsen, 13.562; 10. 1A-Jacob Allen, 13.619; 11. 15-Donny Schatz, 13.657; 12. 49X-Tim Shaffer, 13.66; 13. 9N-Wade Nygaard, 13.779; 14. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 13.943; 15. 5-Shane Stewart, 13.958; 16. 19P-Paige Polyak, 13.985; 17. 21-Brian Brown, 14.003; 18. 3-Jac Haudenschild, 14.005; 19. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 14.382; 20. 7S-Jason Sides, 14.394; 21. 13-Mark Dobmeier, 14.398; 22. 19-Brent Marks, 14.511; 23. 1AJ-Trevor Mell, 15.319; 24. 29-Hunter Custer, 15.385; 25. 23-Russel Borland, 15.589

NERVES OF STEEL: Haudenschild holds off Donny Schatz to win at Cedar Lake Speedway
Haudenschild wins the rain delayed FVP Platinum Battery Showdown

Nerves set in for Sheldon Haudenschild in the closing laps of the early Saturday evening World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series FVP Platinum Battery Showdown at Cedar Lake Speedway.

While leading with less than 10 laps to go, he brushed the wall off turn four while trying to pass a lap car on one lap and jumped the cushion in turn one, upsetting his car, in another. With 10-time Series champion Donny Schatz lurking behind him – hungry to return to Victory Lane – Haudenschild knew errors were not an option.

“I made a couple of sloppy laps there honestly,” Haudenschild said.  “I was a little nervous. That’s usually when Donny capitalizes. I wasn’t very happy with myself making a few of those mistakes.”

Schatz closed, but after the couple errors, Haudenschild in his NOS Energy Drink No. 17 was flawless. Powering around the high side of the speedway, the Wooster, Ohio-native cruised to his first win of the season – 6th career win – and first win since August.

It wasn’t an easy drive though. Before having to hold off Schatz, he had to work his way from eighth-place past drivers like Brad Sweet, Shane Stewart, David Gravel and Schatz for the lead.

Rain was also a hinderance. Seven laps of the 35-lap Feature were completed Friday night before rain fell, postponing the race until Saturday evening – leaving 28 laps to go. Before the rain fell, Gravel had taken the lead and Haudenschild had moved his way to seventh.

“Starting seventh (when the race restarted) I wasn’t really sure what to expect,” Haudenschild said. “I had Brad, Donny, Gravel and the five-car up there. It definitely wasn’t easy pickings to get up there. Luckily, I made a couple of passes on the bottom in (turns) one and two while it was still good, and I think I moved up at the right time.

“We’ve had a little bit of a down period. So, to get a win for them (Stenhouse Jr.-Marshall Racing team), and myself is huge.”

When the Feature went back green early Saturday evening, Schatz launched by Gravel for the lead and never looked back. Pulling away from the field he looked poised to claim his fourth win of the season. However, a fast Haudenschild charged his way through the field and eventually worked his way around Schatz on the high side to steal the top spot and lead the final 19 laps.

While Schatz had to settle for second, he made a big gain in the points with Sweet breaking a part during the race and finishing 23rd.

“Wins is what keeps you a job and keep these teams going, keeps them motivated,” said Schatz, of Fargo, N.D.-native. “So, we wanted to win. Sheldon did a better job. When he got up on the top there in three and four, he’s good at that stuff.”

Rounding out the podium was Kerry Madsen, who used a few late race slide jobs to secure the position.

“Just didn’t get my rhythm until halfway,” Madsen said. “The car came alive and started attacking.”

With the new track conditions Saturday evening, versus Friday night, drivers were unsure what they would be faced with, but Haudenschild stayed confident throughout the delay. He knew he had a good car Friday night and knew he could keep his strong run going into Saturday.

With the sun’s evening rays bathing him, his NOS Energy Drink can newly awarded glimmering gold trophy in Victory Lane at Cedar Lake Speedway, Haudenschild’s nerves were gone, replaced by relief and joy.

UP NEXT:

The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series will complete the FVP Platinum Battery Showdown tonight at Cedar Lake Speedway.

As always, you can catch all World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series action on DIRTVision.com.

For tickets and more information, go to www.WorldofOutlaws.com.

RESULTS:

NOS Energy Drink Feature (35 Laps) - 1. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [8][$10,000]; 2. 15-Donny Schatz [1][$5,000]; 3. 2M-Kerry Madsen [5][$3,000]; 4. 19-Brent Marks [16][$2,700]; 5. 49X-Tim Shaffer [11][$2,500]; 6. 5-Shane Stewart [4][$2,200]; 7. 41-David Gravel [2][$2,000]; 8. 1S-Logan Schuchart [15][$1,800]; 9. 83-Daryn Pittman [14][$1,600]; 10. 7S-Jason Sides [6][$1,450]; 11. 11K-Kraig Kinser [20][$1,300]; 12. 41S-Dominic Scelzi [12][$1,200]; 13. 1A-Jacob Allen [3][$1,100]; 14. 3-Jac Haudenschild [19][$1,000]; 15. 9N-Wade Nygaard [23][$950]; 16. 2-Carson Macedo [10][$900]; 17. 23-Russel Borland [21][$850]; 18. 13-Mark Dobmeier [22][$750]; 19. 29-Hunter Custer [24][$725]; 20. 18-Ian Madsen [13][$700]; 21. 21-Brian Brown [17][$700]; 22. O5-Colin Smith [18][$700]; 23. 49-Brad Sweet [7][$700]; 24. 55-Brooke Tatnell [9][$700]; 25. 14K-Tori Knutson [25][$700]; Lap Leaders: David Gravel 1-7, Donny Schatz 1-16, Sheldon Haudenschild 17-35; KSE Hard Charger Award: 19-Brent Marks[+12]

Qualifying - 1. 41-David Gravel, 11.072; 2. 5-Shane Stewart, 11.079; 3. 3-Jac Haudenschild, 11.127; 4. 15-Donny Schatz, 11.129; 5. 1A-Jacob Allen, 11.136; 6. 7S-Jason Sides, 11.145; 7. 49-Brad Sweet, 11.169; 8. 49X-Tim Shaffer, 11.183; 9. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 11.21; 10. 2-Carson Macedo, 11.219; 11. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 11.231; 12. 2M-Kerry Madsen, 11.239; 13. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 11.258; 14. 21-Brian Brown, 11.275; 15. 55-Brooke Tatnell, 11.298; 16. 18-Ian Madsen, 11.304; 17. 83-Daryn Pittman, 11.309; 18. 41S-Dominic Scelzi, 11.332; 19. 19-Brent Marks, 11.367; 20. 23-Russel Borland, 11.412; 21. O5-Colin Smith, 11.429; 22. 13-Mark Dobmeier, 11.57; 23. 9N-Wade Nygaard, 11.658; 24. 29-Hunter Custer, 11.975; 25. 14K-Tori Knutson, 12.718; 26. 17B-Bill Balog, NT