Brad Sweet
The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series will wrap up the month of July this weekend in the Empire State Challenge at Weedsport Speedway in Weedsport, NY amid a very tight points battle among the top-three drivers. The closeness of the battle is similar to those to have taken place on this tour during the past few seasons.
Four-time and defending WoO Sprints champion Brad Sweet of Grass Valley, CA will enter this weekend tied with the driver he has beaten out for the title in head-to-head contests in each of the past two seasons, that racer being David Gravel of Watertown, CT. Just 44 points behind the leading duo is Carson Macedo of Lemoore, California.
The World of Outlaws system awards 150 points to the winner of a feature race with the second place finisher receiving 146 then a two-point drop off per position thereafter. Supposing that 25 cars start a feature race, the biggest possible points gap would be 50 considering that the winner receives 150 points while 25th place, under this model, would be awarded 100. So with that, if the series leader has less than a 50 point lead going into the season finale in the World Finals at The Dirt Track at Charlotte, he could be overtaken.
Three of the past five seasons on the World of Outlaws tour have seen the eventual champion finish fewer than 50 points ahead of the runner-up.
Brad Sweet’s first of his four consecutive championships earned for his Kasey Kahne Racing organization came in 2019 when he bested Ten-time WoO Sprints titlist Donny Schatz of Tony Stewart Racing by only four markers with Gravel closing out that season 82 points back. Schatz had beaten Sweet in the previous season by a commanding 286 points.
David Gravel
Sweet beat out Shark Racing driver Logan Schuchart by only 46 points in 2020 with Schatz finishing out the season 70 in arrears of the winner. Sweet then beat Gravel and his Big Game Motorsports team by 80 in 2021 and then a closer 48 last year.
With the top-two drivers tied this late in the going and Jason Johnson Racing’s Macedo within striking distance, it certainly appears as if there is the potential for this chase to go right down to the wire.
There is still much racing remaining in the 2023 campaign before the four-night season ending events in Concord, NC but all indications as of now are that fans and competitors alike could be in for another nail bitter in the same way the 2019 finale came down to the final checkered flag.
And not only are points going to be a top concern for those three drivers going forward but the entire series is about to enter a stretch that will feature prestigious events such as the Knoxville Nationals at Knoxville Raceway, the Jackson Nationals at the Jackson Motorplex, and the National Open at Williams Grove Speedway.
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