ALGER, Wash. — Logan Schuchart ran down Brad Sweet to win Thursday night’s World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series feature at Skagit Speedway.
It was the opening event in a three-night stand at the three-tenths-mile track.
Schuchart baited championship leader Sweet into leaving the bottom, capitalizing on lap 22 to take the lead and stop Sweet’s bid for the fourth perfect night of the season. It was a finish that came down to the wire – proof by the.135-second margin at the white flag — as the two stars sliced and diced their way through tight lapped traffic.
The Shark Racing, DuraMAX Oil, Drydene Performance Products No. 1s made one final move on the 30th circuit to seal the deal as Schuchart scored his third win of the season and 33rd of his career with The Greatest Show on Dirt. His third score at Skagit Speedway gives him back-to-back wins in “The Evergreen State” to go along with last year’s Grays Harbor Raceway victory.
“I honestly felt like our No. 1s was better tonight, but I knew I needed to time the run perfect to get by him,” Schuchart said. “Brad is such a smart driver, so he’s not going to make many mistakes. I knew I would have to capitalize on him being a little conservative, and luckily we did it at the right time. I figured he was getting back to me the last few laps because I could tell the bottom was getting faster, but thankfully we made the right call in traffic and had enough to hold him off.”
After suffering a 32-race drought from April to August, Schuchart and the Shark No. 1s have now won two of the last four point races.
“I can’t thank my guys enough,” he continued. “Ronald Helmick, Todd Berkheimer, they’re working their butts off. We struggled throughout the first half of the season, but I think we’re building a strong second wind here.”
Finishing second after leading the first 21 laps was Brad Sweet, who fell short of a perfect night by 1.068-seconds at the checkered flag. The Kasey Kahne Racing, NAPA Auto Parts No. 49 team still managed to expand their championship lead to 70 points over David Gravel as they continue to chase a fourth consecutive World of Outlaws title.
“I think Logan was just better than us, all night honestly,” Sweet admitted. “He was able to pace me in the dash and we tried to make a few changes to get better in the Feature, but he could stay with me so well. I mean he drove right around me even when I was hitting my marks. He was a lot more maneuverable than us tonight, especially in traffic. It was a bit tricky deciphering the grip or slick spots. We’ll come back tomorrow and work on this thing some more.”
Earning his 13th podium of the season and 13th podium at Skagit Speedway was Donny Schatz with a third-place effort in the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing, Sage Fruit, Ford Performance No. 15.
“I know I got to see a pretty good race unfold right in front of me,” Schatz noted. “I tried to gather it up and get in there to battle with those guys, but we just didn’t have it tonight. We’ll work on it and try to be better.”
The finish:
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 1S-Logan Schuchart [2][$10,000]; 2. 49-Brad Sweet [1][$5,500]; 3. 15-Donny Schatz [3][$3,200]; 4. 41-Carson Macedo [8][$2,600]; 5. 2-David Gravel [4][$2,350]; 6. 83JR-Kerry Madsen [5][$2,150]; 7. 1A-Jacob Allen [7][$2,100]; 8. 14-Corey Day [10][$1,950]; 9. 55-Trey Starks [11][$1,900]; 10. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [9][$1,850]; 11. 7S-Robbie Price [12][$1,400]; 12. 5-Spencer Bayston [15][$1,200]; 13. 18-Jason Solwold [13][$1,000]; 14. 18T-Tanner Holmes [16][$1,000]; 15. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [18][$1,000]; 16. 17S-JJ Hickle [22][$1,000]; 17. 2L-Logan Forler [19][$1,000]; 18. 20G-Noah Gass [25][$]; 19. 46JR-Joel Myers [23][$1,000]; 20. 21-Mitchell Faccinto [20][$1,000]; 21. 7-Tyler Thompson [24][$1,000]; 22. 96-Greg Hamilton [14][$1,000]; 23. 41S-Dominic Scelzi [17][$1,000]; 24. 21S-Jesse Schlotfeldt [21][$1,000]; 25. 83-James McFadden [6][$1,000].
Keyword: Schuchart Stops Sweet At Skagit