GREENWOOD, Neb. — This weekend, the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series will take The Greatest Show on Dirt to the Midwest for the final time this year.
I-80 Speedway will host the penultimate race in track history on Friday, Oct. 14, while Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City, Kan., welcomes the series back for the 20th appearance on Saturday, Oct. 15.
All eyes down the stretch are glued on Brad Sweet and David Gravel, as they are locked in a two-horse race for the $200,000 championship for the second year in a row. With six races remaining, Gravel has cut down the championship deficit to a mere 66-points as his hopes of a first-career title remain alive while Sweet continues to pursue his fourth consecutive crown.
Gravel Chips Away At Sweet’s Lead
Last weekend’s Port Royal (Pa.) Speedway doubleheader brought wholesale change to the championship chase as Gravel chopped a whole 28 points out of Sweet’s advantage — taking his deficit from 94 to 66 points with six races remaining.
The Big Game Motorsports No. 2 made it happen with runs of fifth and third, while the Kasey Kahne Racing No. 49 struggled in 13th and ninth. While he’s much closer than he was, Gravel’s path to a first-career title is still within the hands of Sweet, who controls his own destiny in this season-long war.
If Gravel were to win every remaining race, he would still need Sweet to finish sixth or worse each time to make up the gap and dethrone “The Big Cat.”
A DNF is what could offer a massive shake-up, being that the difference from winning to last place is 48-points.
However, there’s one problem with that, Brad Sweet doesn’t know how to DNF anymore. The three-time and reigning World of Outlaws champion currently owns an absurd streak of completing 164 straight races and 5,401 consecutive laps dating back to 2020.Â
EXPERIENCE MATTERS For Schatz And Sweet
When it comes to I-80 and Lakeside, Donny Schatz and Brad Sweet — the only two active champions — are the only two active drivers with a World of Outlaws win at either track.
Sweet, who first experienced these tracks with the Tour ‘n Topless Series in the mid-2000s, has thrived since running with a wing on top. He’s finished in the top-10 of all five I-80 visits (5.6 avg.) with a win in 2020, and he’s finished in the top-10 of all nine Lakeside trips (5.5 avg.) with a win in 2015.
Schatz rides an impressive streak as well with eight-straight top-10s at I-80 and seven-straight top-10s at Lakeside for the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing No. 15. The 10-time series champion topped Lakeside in 2015 and 2019, but amazingly enough, his triumph last August at I-80 was his first in his 28th try.
STOPPING THE DROUGHT
A return to the East Coast has spurred some winless spells for the full-time World of Outlaws teams that they hope to snap this weekend.
Carson Macedo (11), Sheldon Haudenschild (9) and David Gravel (6), the three-winningest drivers on tour this year have not won since the opening weekend of September in Washington.Â
The Shark Racing duo of Logan Schuchart (4) and Jacob Allen (4) have struggled since leaving the West Coast, where they last went back-to-back with a $25,000 Gold Cup triumph for the No. 1A and a $21,000 Tom Tarlton Classic win for the No. 1S.
Other dry spells include Donny Schatz chasing his first win since his 11th Knoxville Nationals title in August, Brock Zearfoss going for his second win of the season since his first in July and Spencer Bayston eyeing his third of his rookie campaign and his first since June.
James McFadden — who is currently seventh in points with 10 podiums, 20 top-fives and 36 top-10s — is still looking for his first win of the year and first since joining the Roth Motorsports No. 83 team.
ONE LAST DANCE For I-80 Speedway
Friday’s trip to I-80 Speedway will mark the final World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series race in history at the beloved Greenwood, Neb. half-mile.
It will serve as the opening act to the last weekend of racing at the track with a Saturday show set to end it all.
From 1995 to 2022, the series hosted 33 features at I-80 with Mark Kinser (10), Danny Lasoski (5), Sammy Swindell (4), Steve Kinser (3), Stevie Smith (2), Jac Haudenschild (2) and Joey Saldana (2) winning the most.
TOMAHAWK CHOPÂ
While Lakeside Speedway resides across the border in Kansas, many Missourians will be looking to defend what they consider home turf on Saturday in Kansas City.
Brian Brown is trading in his Patrick Mahomes jersey for the FVP Parts, Caseys General Stores No. 21, a driver and car that has previously beaten the World of Outlaws at Lakeside in 2017.
Ayrton Gennetten will contest his final weekend of 2022 in the family-owned No. 3 this weekend. Last year, he saved his best for last when he led 20-plus laps and nearly won his first-career World of Outlaws feature at a different half-mile — Devil’s Bowl.
Hunter Schuerenberg and his brother-in-law Clinton Boyles will make it a family affair with both expecting to sit behind the wheel at Lakeside — a track where both have shined in non-wing competition.
POTENTIAL HISTORY
The World of Outlaws now sits at 13 multi-time winners this year with Carson Macedo (11), Sheldon Haudenschild (9), David Gravel (6), Brent Marks (5), Brad Sweet (5), Kyle Larson (4), Jacob Allen (4), Logan Schuchart (4), Donny Schatz (3), Giovanni Scelzi (2), Spencer Bayston (2), Lance Dewease (2) and Anthony Macri (2).
It’s the second-most in series history, trailing only 2002’s group of 14 multi-time winners which included Steve Kinser (23), Danny Lasoski (17), Mark Kinser (8), Joey Saldana (8), Daryn Pittman (6), Brad Furr (4), Jac Haudenschild (3), Craig Dollansky (3), Tim Shaffer (3), Greg Hodnett (3), Tyler Walker (3), Donny Schatz (2), Stevie Smith (2) and P.J. Chesson (2).
Currently, Brian Brown, Buddy Kofoid, Brock Zearfoss and Rico Abreu are the one-time winners closest to becoming the 14th multi-time victor.