HUSTLIN’ HAUD: Sheldon Haudenschild Bests Axsom for $25,000 Huset’s Hustle Victory

Haudenschild gets first win since early June and his eighth of 2024 at Huset’s

BRANDON, SD (August 30, 2024) - Sheldon Haudenschild was ready to win for so many reasons entering Friday night.

Firstly, he’s been wanting to get a victory for his longtime friend and World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car official Eloy Gutierrez, who passed away last week. Both nights in North Dakota led to podiums for Haudenschild, heightening the hunger to win even more.

He’d also been enduring a winless drought. After an incredible start to 2024 with seven victories in the first 27 races, the Stenhouse Jr.-Marshall Racing crew hadn’t been to Victory Lane in 21 straight events. Five times over that stretch he’d come home second.

No more motivation was necessary, and Haudenschild got the job done at Huset’s Speedway.

With $25,000 on the line at the Huset’s Hustle presented by Folkens Brothers Trucking, Haudenschild gave the fans a show. The NOS Energy Drink gasser outdueled Emerson Axsom in a back-and-forth battle. Haudenschild pulled ahead and held off a late charge from Michael “Buddy” Kofoid for his first win since Ogilvie in early June.

“This is big. I said we needed a win here,” Haudenschild said. “(Kyle) Ripper is focused right now, and he’s got it going on. He’s giving us fast race cars, and we’re qualifying well. If we can keep starting up front, I think we can keep clicking off wins all season. Hats off to Luke (Vaughn), Steve (Kinzer Dussel), and Ripper.

“We wanted to win in Jackson for Eloy. Good to get a win for Eloy and all of these Outlaw officials and everybody on the road that loved Eloy. This is what he lived for.”

Haudenschild’s eighth win of 2024 moves him within one of the most he’s collected in one season with The Greatest Show on Dirt. The 42nd of his career equals him with Andy Hillenburg and fellow full-timer Logan Schuchart for 18th on the all-time win list. His third Huset’s victory makes it the fifth track where he’s topped at least a trio of races.

Axsom and Haudenschild brought the field to green after drawing the front row in the Toyota Racing Redraw. Axsom used a strong launch off the bottom to grab the top spot and lead the first lap.

Haudenschild had no plans of letting him escape as he stalked the Klaasmeyer/Petry Motorsports No. 27. The gap between the two never grew north of one second as Haudenschild kept Axsom firmly within his sights. Axsom worked the bottom around the 1/3 mile while Haudenschild searched for speed on the top. 

Traffic allowed Haudenschild to close in and peek under Axsom at one point, but the Franklin, IN native closed the door on the Buckeye as the lively crowd cheered on the intensifying action.

The battle really got going on Lap 23 when Haudenschild built a run off Turn 2 and ducked to Axsom’s inside heading into the next set of corners. Haudenschild cleared him with a slider and led the lap, but Axsom fought back. As Haudenschild got slightly slowed on the cushion in Turns 1 and 2 Axsom rolled the bottom to perfection to slip back ahead. Haudenschild fired a slider back at him in Turn 3 but couldn’t quite clear it. Fast forward a lap, and Haudenschild fired it off under Axsom, but a yellow flag halted the action.

Axsom opted for the bottom groove on the restart, and that decision helped lift Haudenschild to the front. While Axsom rolled the low line, Haudenschild ripped the cushion and nosed ahead down the back straightaway. Axsom didn’t have positioning to move back in front, so Haudenschild secured the spot and quickly pulled away.

As the laps faded, Buddy Kofoid surged into contention as he drove around Axsom to take the second spot. Up ahead Haudenschild worked through traffic which allowed the Roth Motorsports No. 83 to cut into his lead. But ultimately Kofoid ran out of laps as Haudenschild secured a trip to Huset’s Victory Lane and $25,000.

“I feel like we got him (Axsom) in traffic and was probably a little nice, and he got back by us there,” Haudenschild said. “I didn’t really know what to expect on that restart. He was starting really slow and really soon. I just kind of figured I’d try to get down and follow him in there. I’m really surprised he didn’t rip the top and was just able to get around him.”

Kofoid brought the Roth No. 83 home second, marking his sixth podium in 11 Sprint Car races at Huset’s for the Penngrove, CA native. It marked a strong start on his path to redemption after his devastation last June at Huset’s when troubles ended a potential six-figure payday for him. 

“I got to third and then got back in line on the top,” Kofoid said. “I was able to chase people down in dirty air. I feel like every time we come here, we’re just exceptional and really good. We race good, and I feel like this thing doesn’t know what dirty air is at Huset’s. I feel like if you can play that into your favor, you’re going to be pretty good. I was able to run Sheldon down. I just feel like I kind of ran out of time.”

Completing the top three was early leader Emerson Axsom. 

“I think our speed was there, but I feel like on the restart I kind of like didn’t get in hard enough to kind of load the right rear and kind of like slid across the bottom,” Axsom explained. “That allowed Sheldon to just drive around us. I hate it for my guys to be in position and kind of give one away there. Obviously, these guys are really good, and it’s hard to out Haud Haud.”

Garet Williamson and Ryan Timms completed the top five.

A 20th to 10th drive in the Big Game Motorsports No. 2 earned David Gravel the KSE Racing Hard Charger.

Sheldon Haudenschild earned his seventh Simpson Quick Time of 2024 and the 36th of his career in Sea Foam Qualifying.

NOS Energy Drink Heats One, Three, and Four belonged to Logan Schuchart, Emerson Axsom, and Garet Williamson. Milton Hershey School Heat Two went to Kaleb Johnson.

Mark Dobmeier won the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown.

The Smith Titanium Brake Systems Break of the Race went to Logan Schuchart.

UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars begin the BillionAuto.com Huset’s High Bank Nationals presented by Menards with a $15,000-to-win prelim on Saturday, Aug. 31, setting the stage for Sunday’s $100,000-to-win finale. For tickets, CLICK HERE.

If you can’t make it to the track, catch every lap live on DIRTVision.

FEATURE RESULTS:

HOT HAND AT HUSET’S: Carson Macedo Tops Huset’s Thriller After Charge from Eighth

The Jason Johnson Racing pilot wins his fourth race in the last six and is the high point man for Sunday

BRANDON, SD (August 31, 2024) - There’s no driver hotter on the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car tour than Carson Macedo.

He and Jason Johnson Racing rolled into BillionAuto.com Huset’s High Bank Nationals presented by Menards weekend with three victories in the last four races. A seventh place run on Friday at Huset’s Speedway cooled them off slightly, but their fire reignited in a big way on Saturday night.

Macedo started eighth for the 35-lap NOS Energy Drink Feature and pieced together a fierce charge to the front. The Lemoore, CA native punctuated the drive with a slider on Chase Randall with only two laps remaining. Randall tried to return the favor as they wheeled toward the white flag, but Macedo kept his foot in the gas and narrowly drove around the slider to hold on and make his way to Victory Lane.

“Hats off to this race team – Philip Dietz, Adam Zimmerman, and Robby McQuinn – they’ve been working really hard,” Macedo said. “It feels good to have a lot of speed here. That was fun, hard racing late in the race. No points on the line, just good, hard, authentic racing. Hats off to this race team.

“It feels good to have speed here. When you start eighth and drive by everybody to get the win, it makes you have a lot of confidence going into a night like tomorrow where it pays a hundred grand.”

A fourth win in the last six races puts Macedo at 42 for his career and into a four-way tie for 18th all-time, and two of the others are a pair of current full-time World of Outlaws competitors. The trio tied with him is Andy Hillenburg, Logan Schuchart, and Sheldon Haudenschild. His seventh victory of 2024 already equals his 2023 total. It also set Macedo up as the high point man entering Sunday’s $100,000-to-win High Bank Nationals finale.

Randall led the field to green thanks to Hunter Schuerenberg giving him the one in the Toyota Racing Revenge Redraw. But it was Schuerenberg, who was handed the two in the Redraw, powering around Randall’s outside to lead the first lap. 

Schuerenberg paced the opening four circuits aboard the TKS Motorsports No. 2KS, and then a caution and the resulting restart shook things up at the front.

Randall used a great start to throw a slider and clear Schuerenberg to take over the top spot. Schuerenberg stayed within striking distance as Randall quickly neared the tail of the field, but a yellow with 25 laps remaining just as traffic was getting thick served up some welcome clean air to Randall and the Krull Racing team.

As the second half of the 35-lapper unfolded, Randall pulled away and started to slice his way through traffic. The 19-year-old looked like a veteran as he continued to put more cars between himself and Schuerenberg. Even when Macedo took second on Lap 23, he couldn’t seem to cut much into the gap.

But then a yellow flag for a spinning Schuerenberg set up an eight-lap dash to the finish and put the hottest driver in the sport right on Randall’s tail as he pursued his first Series victory.

Randall wasn’t rattled when the green lights brought the action back to life as he powered ahead on the low side of Turn 4 as Macedo looked to get a launch on the top. Randall built a sizeable lead over Macedo on the first lap back under green.

But little by little Macedo cut into the margin. Randall struggled to pick his way through lappers as the race fell to five laps to go, and Macedo closed in on his tail tank on Lap 33. The door opened with two rotations remaining as Macedo launched a slide job in Turns 1 and 2 that cleared Randall. Down the back straightaway Randall looked to cross him over. He threw a slider of his own, but Macedo made a daring move to drive back by him on the cushion, narrowly slipping by.

It proved to be the winning move as he drove away comfortably on the final lap to claim another checkered flag.

“That caution helped a lot,” Macedo admitted. “I don’t think we would’ve ever got to him if we wouldn’t have had that restart there. I actually tried to fire off on the cushion there on the restart, and it was really bad, gave up a lot of time. He got a sizeable lead, and I thought, ‘Man, it’s going to be tough to get him.’

“And then we got to lap traffic really quick there. And then the lapped cars were kind of all over the place. I felt like I was in the cat-bird seat. When he (Randall) went the wrong way, I was there to see what the difference was. Sometimes it’s better to be running second in that situation. He was having a real hard time getting off (Turn) 4 even coming to the traffic. He really had a hard time there. One of the lappers kind of got beside him and took some of the air off his wing. He struggled off of (Turn) 4, and I was able to get just enough of a run and really didn’t know if I was going to clear him or not but kind of grabbed a little bit of that grip on the bottom, and it shot me across.”

While slightly disappointed to lose out on his first World of Outlaws win late, Randall kept his head high after the race with the runner-up finish. It was only his second night in the Krull No. 14, and he’s happy with the quick chemistry they’ve found especially with a six-figure payday on the line Sunday.

“I don’t know if I could’ve done a little too much,” Randall said about the closing laps. “I feel like anywhere I would’ve went he would’ve been the other way. It’s just how the cars fell tonight. I can’t say enough about this team. Just a short notice to come to this weekend. They’re great guys, awesome people and have my back 100-percent. We’re really excited with a good run. They deserve it.”

Rounding out the podium was Donny Schatz, completing a strong rebound after a crash on Friday night. The 10-time champion put together a complete event with the Tony Stewart/Curb Agajanian Racing No. 15 and slotted himself third in points for Sunday’s big finale.

“All in all the guys did a great job,” Schatz said. “A big positive over last night. The Carquest guys, everybody helped dig us out of a big hole to put us in a good spot for tomorrow. So, now we go back and discuss what we need to do for tomorrow and go from there.”

Michael “Buddy” Kofoid and Bill Balog completed the top five.

Kofoid got to fourth from 17th to earn the KSE Racing Hard Charger.

Emerson Axsom grabbed his first career Simpson Quick Time in Sea Foam Qualifying.

NOS Energy Drink Heats One, Three, and Four belonged to Donny Schatz, Chase Randall, and Scott Bogucki. Milton Hershey School Heat Two went to Kaleb Johnson.

Scott Winters won the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown.

The Smith Titanium Brake Systems Break of the Race went to Scott Bogucki.

UP NEXT: All the focus for the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars shifts to the $100,000-to-win finale of the BillionAuto.com Huset’s High Bank Nationals presented by Menards on Sunday, Sept. 1. For tickets, CLICK HERE.

If you can’t make it to the track, catch every lap live on DIRTVision.

FEATURE RESULTS: