Sheldon Haudenschild
Sheldon Haudenschild ended a 26-race World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series losing streak on Friday night at US 36 Raceway winning a thriller. The eventual winner used a daring three-wide move to get by Carson Macedo and Brad Sweet with five laps remaining then drove on to the checkered flag. The victory served as a birthday present for his father Jac, who had also won on this track.
The Stenhouse Jr/Marshall Racing driver from Wooster, Ohio earned the win on the track located in Osborn, MO in a race shown live by DirtVision.com.
A total of 31 cars were signed in for competition
Qualifying Results: 1. Rico Abreu(10.652), 2. Logan Schuchart, 3. Sheldon Haudenschild, 4. Jacob Allen, 5. David Gravel, 6. Brock Zearfoss, 7. James McFadden, 8. Brad Sweet, 9. Giovanni Scelzi, 10. Carson Macedo
Heat 1 Results: 1. Jacob Allen, 2. Carson Macedo, 3. Rico Abreu, 4. Spencer Bayston, 5. James McFadden, 6. Buddy Kofoid
Heat 2 Results: 1. David Gravel, 2. Logan Schuchart, 3. Brad Sweet, 4. Donny Schatz, 5. Sam Hafertepe Jr., 6. Tim Estenson
Heat 3 Results: 1. Sheldon Haudenschild, 2. Brock Zearfoss, 3. Giovanni Scelzi, 4. Brian Brown, 5. Tyler Courtney, 6. Garet Williamson
Last Chance Showdown Finish: 1. Ryan Timms, 2. Robbie Price, 3. Justin Peck, 4. Kasey Kahne, 5. Aaron Reutzel, 6. Noah Gass
WoO Sprints Dash Finish: 1. Sheldon Haudenschild, 2. Carson Macedo, 3. Brock Zearfoss, 4. David Gravel, 5. Jacob Allen, 6. Logan Schuchart
Feature Re-cap: The 30-lap main event got underway with Macedo jumping to the early lead ahead of Haudenschild, Gravel, Zearfoss, and Allen. On the second lap, Zearfoss took third away from Gravel as Macedo looked to pull away from his pursuers until a yellow flag waved on lap 4 for debris on the track.
On the lap 4 restart, Schuchart moved around his Shark Racing teammate when he took fifth from Allen. At the front of the field, Haudenschild closed in to challenge Macedo for the top spot but another caution would disrupt the action lap 8.
Gravel bolted to second on the lap 8 restart and immediately went after Macedo. With those two drivers fighting for the lead the door was opened for Haudenschild to make a bold three-wide move on the outside to grab the lead on lap 10. Meanwhile, Macedo and Gravel continued to battle for second as Haudenschild pulled ahead.
A spin by Reutzel brought out a caution on lap 14. Macedo returned to the lead on the restart which set off a slide job trading fight for the front until lap 17 when the car of Kahne flipped to bring out a red flag. The former NASCAR star was reported to be unhurt in the crash.
At the time of the red flag, Macedo led Haudenschild, a fast rising Sweet, Gravel and Bayston.
Sweet grabbed second away from Haudenschild on the restart as Macedo held the lead. Sweet took to the low side of the track to challenge Macedo for the lead but an lap 21 caution changed the complexion of the race.
Third-running Gravel crashed going into turn one on lap 21 and collected the oncoming car of fifth-tunning Bayston. That left Macedo, Sweet, Haudenschild, Schuchart and Zearfoss occupying the top-5 positions.
After Sweet briefly took the lead from Macedo, Haudenschild moved into second. Then on lap 25, Haudenschild would move by Macedo to claim the lead. Over the closing laps, the No. 17 car slipped away from his pursuers to score the victory.
“Happy birthday to my dad,” Haudenschild said in victory lane, “He was probably pacing around the kitchen there for a while. When you’ve got to struggle to start the season, it’s tough. But you’ve got to keep your spirits up and keep the whole team motivated. Really happy with the whole night. Finally we were fast at the beginning of the night. We qualified well and that’s been our struggle here at the beginning of the season.”
Feature Results: 1. Sheldon Haudenschild, 2. Carson Macedo, 3. Brad Sweet, 4. Logan Schuchart, 5. Brock Zearfoss, 6. Rico Abreu, 7. Giovanni Scelzi, 8. Justin Peck, 9. Tyler Courtney, 10. Buddy Kofoid, 11. Donny Schatz, 12. James McFadden, 13. Jacob Allen, 14. Ryan Timms, 15. Sam Hafertepe Jr., 16. Aaron Reutzel, 17. Robbie Price, 18. Brian Brown, 19. Noah Gass, 20. Tim Estenson, 21. David Gravel, 22. Spencer Bayston, 23. Kasey Kahne, 24. Garet Williamson
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Kyle Larson wins in slide job trading thriller at Volunteer Speedway
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