CONCORD, N.C. — Brad Sweet had never won a race at The Dirt Track at Charlotte.
Sweet finally turned the trick on Saturday night during the final night of the World Finals, putting the lid on his fifth consecutive World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series championship in winning style.
Sweet earned $25,000 after a late charge past Rico Abreu at the four-tenths-mile race track aboard the Kasey Kahne Racing with Mike Curb No. 49.
It was the third consecutive night that the feature ran green to checkered without a yellow flag.
Sweet emerged from his to a chorus of boos from the sold-out crowd.
“I finally made it now that I am getting booed. Getting cheers and boos means you made it,” Sweet said. “Glad to finally get a victory here. We have been trying here for a long time. I was able to be conservative on the bottom and keep my tires under me and there at the end I was just able to sneak under Rico and get the win.
“Really neat to cap it off with a win like this,” he added. “It is like a walk off homer. It feels really good and we are going to celebrate.”
Sweet started outside the third row and fell back as far as third as Abreu set the pace with the field lined up on the cushion.
But as the laps ticked off, Sweet moved to the bottom and his car came to life. He tracked down Abreu on lap 20 and after three laps of side-by-side action, grabbed the lead on lap 23.
He led the rest of the way for the victory.
“It takes two different setups,” Sweet said. “You either set up to go fast around the top or slow around the bottom and we set it up to run the bottom. I just tried to be patient.”
Abreu finished second for the second time in three nights.
“You put yourself in those positions and you can run them over all day long on how to fix them or make them better,” he said. “You are racing the best in the country and your margin for error is so minimal. My car was set up to run the top and I was committed up there. That’s how you win and lose these races. That’s just part of it.”
Logan Schuchart raced from fifth to finish third.
“I think we might have went back to seventh or something and had to fight our way back up there,” the Shark Racing driver said. “I had a great car. It was really good tonight compared to the rest of the week.”
Brent Marks and Tyler Courtney rounded out the top five.
The finish:
Brad Sweet, Rico Abreu, Logan Schuchart, Brent Marks, Tyler Courtney, Sheldon Haudenschild, David Gravel, Carson Macedo, Hunter Schuerenberg, Brian Brown, Jacob Allen, Donny Schatz, Justin Peck, James McFadden, Gio Scelzi, Cap Henry, Justin Henderson, Brock Zearfoss, Cory Eliason, Sam Hafertepe Jr., Tanner Holmes, Skylar Gee, Kasey Kahne, Robbie Price, Sye Lynch, Noah Gass.