PAIGE, Texas — The World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series’ Lonestar Sooner Stampede rolls into Cotton Bowl Speedway this weekend (March 15-16) for two nights of Texas-sized action.
The Paige, Texas, facility returns to The Greatest Show on Dirt’s calendar after a year break. The series first visited Cotton Bowl in 2016 and has made six overall appearances at the three-eighths-mile.
Let’s look at the weekend’s top storylines:
TWO-TIME TWO-STEPPER
Only one current full-time series competitor has tamed Cotton Bowl twice through the six World of Outlaws visits to date — Sheldon Haudenschild.
The Wooster, Ohio, native drove the Stenhouse Jr.-Marshall Racing No. 17 to victories on opening night of the Texas Two-Step in 2021 and 2022. In typical Haudenschild fashion, both wins were filled with excitement as he charged from sixth in 2021 and seventh the next year.
Haudenschild enters the weekend riding the momentum of consecutive top two finishes.
He closed out Volusia’s DIRTcar Nationals with a $20,000 victory last month then came home runner-up during Bike Week at the Florida oval. A win this weekend would make Cotton Bowl the fifth facility where he’s topped at least a trio of races.
ONE COWBOY BOOT
Haudenschild may the only current World of Outlaws driver with a pair of Cotton Bowl wins, but two more on the roster have made a victory lane visit.
Six years ago, David Gravel led flag to flag for his one Cotton Bowl triumph.
That was aboard the CJB Motorsports No. 5, and this weekend he’ll look to replicate the feat but behind the wheel of the Big Game Motorsports No. 2. The Watertown, Conn., driver is always strong at Cotton Bowl with a 4.83 average finish in six tries. The point lead currently belongs to Gravel.
It was Carson Macedo most recently claiming a Cotton Bowl checkered flag.
The Jason Johnson Racing pilot wheeled the No. 41 to a win during the series’ most recent trip in 2022. The victory was a major improvement for Macedo whose previous best Cotton Bowl result was 11th. The Lemoore, Calif., native is coming off his first podium of the season at Volusia.
COTTON BOWL CONSISTENCY
While only three of the 2024 World of Outlaws roster have won at Cotton Bowl, plenty of others have been consistent and shown they’re plenty capable of breaking through for a win.
Donny Schatz has been in attendance for all six Cotton Bowl races, and he’s yet to finish outside the top 10. The 10-time champion has put the Tony Stewart/Curb Agajanian Racing No. 15 in the top five during three of those tries and owns a 6.5 average finish.
Like Schatz, Logan Schuchart hasn’t missed the top 10 in six Cotton Bowl tries but is still seeking victory lane. The Shark Racing driver owns a best finish of fourth at the facility, which he achieved twice at the most recent Texas Two-Step in 2022.
Giovanni Scelzi has taken on Cotton Bowl on four occasions. Each start has been with his current team — KCP Racing — and he’s put the orange No. 18 in the top 10 three times and peaked at sixth twice. Scelzi enters the weekend as one of only three drivers that haven’t missed the top 10 in 2024.
Cotton Bowl has also been kind to Jonestown, PA’s Brock Zearfoss. The three-eighths-mile is home to a trio of his 60 career World of Outlaws top 10 finishes. He’ll look to crack the top 10 for the first time this season with the trip to Cotton Bowl.
ONE STEP SHORT
Twice Cotton Bowl has nearly been the site of what would’ve been popular home state victories.
In 2021 it was Aaron Reutzel who came up one step short of the podium’s top step. The Clute, Texas, driver led a dozen laps aboard the Roth Motorsports No. 83 before Sheldon Haudenschild prevailed.
Then, during the most recent Cotton Bowl race, Sam Hafertepe Jr. (Sunnyvale, Texas) had victory pried from his grasp as the race wound down. Hafertepe Jr. led the opening 26 circuits before Carson Macedo drove by and forced him to settle for second.
To date, Gary Wright is the only Texas native to win a World of Outlaws race within the borders of the “Lone Star State.” The Hooks, Texas, pilot mastered Mesquite’s Devil’s Bowl Speedway to the tune of five wins.
Of the two above, Reutzel will return wheeling the Ridge & Sons Racing No. 87 looking to finish the job, but Hafertepe has RPM Speedway’s American Sprint Car Series (ASCS) action on his itinerary.