PEVELY, Mo. — There was simply no denying Brad Sweet on Saturday night at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55.
As a three-time champion and winner of 77 features with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series, the Grass Valley, Calif., native is still finding ways to knock out those first-career achievements with The Greatest Show on Dirt.
In July, he finally earned his first victory at Williams Grove Speedway, and on Saturday, he finally tamed the iconic Ironman 55 presented by Festus Tourism Commission. Sweet has long been successful at the third-mile — proven by his now five wins at the track – but the track’s flagship event had always eluded him until tonight.
Earning the pole position with his series-best fifth dash victory, Sweet quickly assumed the point and never relinquished it throughout 55 laps. The Kasey Kahne Racing, NAPA Auto Parts No. 49 was in impeccable form, building an advantage as large as 4+ seconds at one point, and surviving a trio of restarts with ease.
It was a bit of redemption for the current championship leader, who lost Friday’s Night Before the Ironman in heartbreaking fashion when lapped traffic allowed Carson Macedo to instantly close and complete a Hail Mary slider.
The 36-year-old kept that in mind as he destroyed the field in Saturday’s $20,000-to-win feature.
“After last night, I felt like we had something to prove and I was pretty pissed off to be honest,” Sweet admitted. “I let my guys down and I didn’t do my job to deliver the win we needed and deserved. Team morale and confidence are a big thing in this sport and now we’re heading to the Knoxville Nationals after dominating 55 laps on the hardest track of the year. It’s nice to finally add this one to the résumé.”
Although the 2018 Knoxville Nationals champion controlled Saturday’s show from green to checkered, he never felt at ease in the cockpit.
“You just don’t have any time to relax at this race track,” Sweet continued. “You’re constantly searching for a faster line and I felt like I drove 48 good laps, but there were some mistakes in there when I went looking for things. Luckily this car was so good that I could maneuver a little better than others. I was definitely a little extra tense about getting this one.”
Trailing Sweet for all 55 laps was Macedo in the Jason Johnson Racing, Albaugh No. 41. Macedo finished 1.396 seconds behind Sweet.
“I think we were competitive again and felt like we executed really well, but Brad was just so damn good in that feature,” Macedo mentioned on chasing Sweet. “He could move around and make it work wherever he needed. I feel like last year we weren’t nearly this good at Pevely, so to come here with two wins and a second is pretty awesome. I’m pumped up for Knoxville.”
Completing the exact same trio of podium finishers for the second night in a row was James McFadden in his Roth Motorsports No. 83.
“He spanked us,” McFadden said. “When there’s a middle like that, Brad is the guy to beat. We were competitive with Carson and I had a really good battle with Donny, too. I love racing with Donny, a guy as good as him, and how he races you. Those guys out front were in another world, but it was fun battling our little bubble tonight. I hope I can win this race one day, we’ve been close several times now. Onto Knoxville.”
Donny Schatz and Sheldon Haudenschild, who started 19th, rounded out the top five.
The finish:
Feature (55 Laps) –Â 1. 49-Brad Sweet [1][$20,000]; 2. 41-Carson Macedo [2][$6,000]; 3. 83-James McFadden [3][$3,500]; 4. 15-Donny Schatz [4][$2,800]; 5. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [19][$2,500]; 6. 24-Rico Abreu [13][$2,300]; 7. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [7][$2,200]; 8. 13-Justin Peck [10][$2,100]; 9. 20G-Noah Gass [11][$2,050]; 10. 5-Spencer Bayston [12][$2,000]; 11. 83JR-Kerry Madsen [9][$1,600]; 12. 2-David Gravel [5][$1,400]; 13. 1AU-Marcus Dumesny [14][$1,200]; 14. 51B-Joe B-Miller [21][$1,100]; 15. 11K-Kraig Kinser [20][$1,050]; 16. 84-Brandon Hanks [23][$1,000]; 17. 1S-Logan Schuchart [6][$1,000]; 18. 9JR-Derek Hagar [22][$1,000]; 19. 3N-Jake Neuman [24][$1,000]; 20. 7S-Robbie Price [15][$1,000]; 21. 101-Lachlan McHugh [17][$1,000]; 22. 25-JJ Hickle [16][$1,000]; 23. 1A-Jacob Allen [18][$1,000]; 24. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [8][$1,000].Â
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