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Brad Sweet Destroys I-55 Field for First-Career Ironman 55 Title

By Brian Walker, WOO Sprint Series PR (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 career Features with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series, the Grass Valley, CA native is still finding ways to knock out those first-career achievements with The Greatest Show on Dirt.

PHOTO CREDIT: Tret Gower

In July, he finally earned his first-career win at Williams Grove Speedway, and on Saturday, he finally tamed the iconic Ironman 55 presented by Festus Tourism Commission. "The Big Cat" has long been successful at the Pevely, MO 1/3-mile - proven by his now five-career 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 win in the DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash, Sweet quickly assumed the point and never relinquished it throughout 55 laps. The Kasey Kahne Racing, NAPA Auto Parts #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 lap 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 resume."

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's NAPA #49 for all 55 laps was Carson Macedo in the Jason Johnson Racing, Albaugh #41. Unlike Friday night, there was no late-race magic to spoil Sweet's party this time. The Lemoore, CA native did receive his golden opportunity when the caution flew on Lap 50 and lined him up on Sweet's rear bumper, but nothing could deter the #49 from cruising to a 1.396-second margin of victory.

"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 #83. He'll head to the Knoxville Nationals carrying loads of speed and confidence hoping to add that first win of the season to his belt.

"He spanked us," McFadden said on Sweet. "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 finished in fourth for the second straight night aboard his Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing, Ford Performance, Carquest Auto Parts #15. Rounding out the top five was Sheldon Haudenschild, who charged from 19th to fifth to earn KSE Hard Charger honors in the Stenhouse Jr. / Marshall Racing, NOS Energy Drink #17.

Closing out the top-10 in Saturday's 55-lapper was Rico Abreu in sixth, Brock Zearfoss in seventh, Justin Peck in eighth, Noah Gass in ninth, and Spencer Bayston in tenth.

NOS NOTEBOOK (I-55 Raceway, 8/6/22)
Brad Sweet's 77th career World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series win brings him to seven wins away from tying Stevie Smith (84) for 10th on the All-Time Wins List.

David Gravel opened the night with his 95th career World of Outlaws QuickTime, circling I-55 in 10.512 seconds to lead My Place Hotels Qualifying. Gravel, Hunter Schuerenberg, Logan Schuchart, and Brock Zearfoss scored Saturday's NOS Energy Drink Heat Races.

Following his actions at Weedsport Speedway last Sunday - which included pushing and pulling a Series official, throwing safety equipment onto a live track, and making obscene gestures towards the crowd - Sheldon Haudenshild received a fine of $1,000 to be paid by September 1, 2022.

UP NEXT (Wed-Sat) – The Greatest Show on Dirt now prepares for The Granddaddy of 'Em All. The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series is heading for The Sprint Car Capital of the World, Knoxville, Iowa. A field of 100+ entries will compete for a million-dollar purse in the 61st NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey's from Wednesday-Saturday, August 10-13. Fans can BUY TICKETS HERE, or watch every lap LIVE on DIRTVision.

RESULTS

A Feature (55 Laps): 1. 49-Brad Sweet[1]; 2. 41-Carson Macedo[2]; 3. 83-James McFadden[3]; 4. 15-Donny Schatz[4]; 5. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[19]; 6. 24-Rico Abreu[13]; 7. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[7]; 8. 13-Justin Peck[10]; 9. 20G-Noah Gass[11]; 10. 5-Spencer Bayston[12]; 11. 83JR-Kerry Madsen[9]; 12. 2-David Gravel[5]; 13. 1AU-Marcus Dumesny[14]; 14. 51B-Joe B Miller[21]; 15. 11K-Kraig Kinser[20]; 16. 84-Brandon Hanks[23]; 17. 1S-Logan Schuchart[6]; 18. 9JR-Derek Hagar[22]; 19. 3N-Jake Neuman[24]; 20. 7S-Robbie Price[15]; 21. 101-Lachlan McHugh[17]; 22. 25-JJ Hickle[16]; 23. 1A-Jacob Allen[18]; 24. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[8]

Last Chance Showdown (12 Laps): 1. 51B-Joe B Miller[4]; 2. 9JR-Derek Hagar[1]; 3. 84-Brandon Hanks[7]; 4. 3N-Jake Neuman[3]; 5. 6-Bill Rose[10]; 6. 50K-Kyle Bellm[6]; 7. 28-Jason Keith[8]; 8. 29-Brayton Lynch[9]; 9. 2K-Kevin Ingle[13]; 10. 7D-Marshall Skinner[16]; 11. 63-Ted Kirkpatrick[11]; 12. 22S-Slater Helt[2]; 13. 17C-Carson Short[5]; 14. 1-Trevin Littleton[12]; 15. 35-Zach Hampton[14]; 16. 44-Cole Duncan[15]; 17. 23B-Brian Bell[17]; 18. 49J-Josh Schneiderman[18]

DIRTVision FAST PASS Dash (6 Laps): 1. 49-Brad Sweet[2]; 2. 41-Carson Macedo[1]; 3. 83-James McFadden[5]; 4. 15-Donny Schatz[6]; 5. 2-David Gravel[4]; 6. 1S-Logan Schuchart[8]; 7. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[7]; 8. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[3]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 2-David Gravel[1]; 2. 41-Carson Macedo[4]; 3. 83JR-Kerry Madsen[2]; 4. 24-Rico Abreu[3]; 5. 101-Lachlan McHugh[5]; 6. 9JR-Derek Hagar[6]; 7. 17C-Carson Short[8]; 8. 29-Brayton Lynch[7]; 9. 2K-Kevin Ingle[9]; 10. 49J-Josh Schneiderman[10]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[1]; 2. 49-Brad Sweet[3]; 3. 20G-Noah Gass[4]; 4. 7S-Robbie Price[5]; 5. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[2]; 6. 3N-Jake Neuman[7]; 7. 84-Brandon Hanks[8]; 8. 63-Ted Kirkpatrick[9]; 9. 44-Cole Duncan[6]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 1S-Logan Schuchart[2]; 2. 83-James McFadden[1]; 3. 13-Justin Peck[3]; 4. 1AU-Marcus Dumesny[4]; 5. 1A-Jacob Allen[5]; 6. 22S-Slater Helt[6]; 7. 50K-Kyle Bellm[8]; 8. 6-Bill Rose[7]; 9. 35-Zach Hampton[9]; 10. 7D-Marshall Skinner[10]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[1]; 2. 15-Donny Schatz[3]; 3. 5-Spencer Bayston[2]; 4. 25-JJ Hickle[4]; 5. 11K-Kraig Kinser[5]; 6. 51B-Joe B Miller[6]; 7. 28-Jason Keith[8]; 8. 1-Trevin Littleton[9]; 9. 23B-Brian Bell[7]

Qualifying A (2 Laps): 1. 2-David Gravel, 00:10.512[12]; 2. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg, 00:10.516[11]; 3. 83JR-Kerry Madsen, 00:10.545[19]; 4. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 00:10.632[9]; 5. 24-Rico Abreu, 00:10.675[14]; 6. 49-Brad Sweet, 00:10.748[16]; 7. 41-Carson Macedo, 00:10.749[13]; 8. 20G-Noah Gass, 00:10.749[17]; 9. 101-Lachlan McHugh, 00:10.931[3]; 10. 7S-Robbie Price, 00:10.931[4]; 11. 9JR-Derek Hagar, 00:10.968[10]; 12. 44-Cole Duncan, 00:11.097[15]; 13. 29-Brayton Lynch, 00:11.162[8]; 14. 3N-Jake Neuman, 00:11.170[5]; 15. 17C-Carson Short, 00:11.294[18]; 16. 84-Brandon Hanks, 00:11.439[2]; 17. 2K-Kevin Ingle, 00:11.662[1]; 18. 63-Ted Kirkpatrick, 00:12.715[7]; 19. 49J-Josh Schneiderman, 00:12.715[6]

Qualifying B (2 Laps): 1. 83-James McFadden, 00:10.552[12]; 2. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss, 00:10.592[5]; 3. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 00:10.608[11]; 4. 5-Spencer Bayston, 00:10.697[15]; 5. 13-Justin Peck, 00:10.768[13]; 6. 15-Donny Schatz, 00:10.814[6]; 7. 1AU-Marcus Dumesny, 00:10.823[4]; 8. 25-JJ Hickle, 00:10.827[14]; 9. 1A-Jacob Allen, 00:10.859[3]; 10. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 00:10.893[18]; 11. 22S-Slater Helt, 00:10.982[8]; 12. 51B-Joe B Miller, 00:11.024[9]; 13. 6-Bill Rose, 00:11.195[1]; 14. 23B-Brian Bell, 00:11.202[19]; 15. 50K-Kyle Bellm, 00:11.218[10]; 16. 28-Jason Keith, 00:11.409[17]; 17. 35-Zach Hampton, 00:11.418[16]; 18. 1-Trevin Littleton, 00:11.466[7]; 19. 7D-Marshall Skinner, 00:11.903[2]

NEW Championship Standings (After 47/77 Races) – 1. Brad Sweet (6,380); 2. David Gravel (-68); 3. Carson Macedo (-114); 4. Sheldon Haudenschild (-150); 5. Donny Schatz (-184); 6. Logan Schuchart (-224); 7. James McFadden (-356); 8. Spencer Bayston (-372); 9. Jacob Allen (-616); 10. Brock Zearfoss (-688).

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MICHEAL PICKENS PULLS OFF LAST LAP PASS FOR XTREME OUTLAWS MIDGET WIN

By Brian Walker, Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series PR (Pevely, MO) -- Michael Pickens had just enough momentum coming off Turn 4 to the checkers for a last-second surge past Jacob Denney, earning his first victory at Federated Auto Parts Raceway in Saturday night’s Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented Toyota main event.

Denney grabbed the lead on a restart with 12 to go and was holding off the field by circling the very bottom of the track. Pickens gave chase on a restart with three to go, putting his car on top and blasting around the outside on the last lap. In the final corner, it looked as if Denney would have just enough to hang onto the win, but Pickens’ Toyota-powered Dave Mac Dalby Motorsports car carried enough momentum to edge Denney at the finish by just over a tenth of a second.

Pickens, an accomplished racer from Auckland, New Zealand, became the fifth different winner through the Series’ first five races in its inaugural season.

“I’m not sure if he missed his marks or what, but we made a ton of ground coming off Turn 2 and Turn 4,” said Pickens, 39, who pocketed $5,000 for the victory and is now headed back to his native New Zealand. “It was super tricky trying to hit my marks down there, it was like a long, big run. I had to lay my right rear over it in the black.

“I’ve got a to say a massive, massive thank you to Dave Mac Dalby Motorsports. They put me in this car just for this weekend. I’ve heard so many cool stories about this place. It’s a privilege to race in America, but especially to race at Pevely and get a win. Sitting on that plane for 15 hours out of Houston is going to be a lot shorter ride than it would have been without a win.”

Pickens started from the outside of the front row and grabbed the lead on the initial start of the 30-lapper, but polesitter Chase McDermand recovered and led until the caution on Lap 18. McDermand bounced through the middle of Turns 1 and 2 on the restart and Denney pounced on the opportunity.

Denney led through four more restarts, including one following a red flag when Emillio Hoover flipped with seven to go.

“It definitely sucks, but congratulations to Michael and the whole Dave Mac Dalby crew,” said Denney, of Galloway, OH. “Michael ran a better last three laps than I did. I just didn’t do the best laps I could do when it counted.”

Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series championship points leader Zach Daum charged from 11th to finish third, maintaining a streak of five top-10 finishes, the only driver to accomplish the feat.

“Michael made the middle and the top work,” said Daum, of Pocahontas, IL. “We passed a lot of cars on the bottom and then we kind of fell in line towards the end. We just kept chugging. We’ve been battling some electrical gremlins the past week, I think we finally got those straightened out. The motor runs good, we just need to finish one of these.

Consistency wins championships. I’ve been in championship deals before, I know what it takes. If we keep putting ourselves in this position we’re going to win a race. We just have a few more things to fine tune and then we’ll be alright.”

News & Notes: This weekend’s Xtreme Outlaw Series races at Federated Auto Parts Raceway were run in conjunction with POWRi. … Michael Pickens was quickest overall in Whitz Racing Products Group Qualifying, turning a lap around the high-banked 1/3-mile oval in 12.770 seconds. … Heat race winners included Brenham Crouch, Karter Sarff, Cade Lewis and Chase McDermand, who pulled a “0” for the inversion. … Bryant Wiedeman won the Last Chance Showdown with former NASCAR Truck Series champion Ben Rhodes earning the final transfer to the main event. … Emillio Hoover and Branigan Roark used provisionals to start the Feature.

MIDGETS RESULTS

Feature (30 Laps): 1. 08$-Michael Pickens[2]; 2. 61-Jacob Denney[3]; 3. 9M-Zach Daum[11]; 4. 21K-Karter Sarff[8]; 5. 01-Bryant Wiedeman[17]; 6. 40-Chase McDermand[1]; 7. 26-Chance Crum[5]; 8. 97-Brenham Crouch[6]; 9. 25K-Taylor Reimer[12]; 10. 84X-Jesse Love[9]; 11. 71M-Cade Lewis[7]; 12. 7U-Kyle Jones[4]; 13. 51B-Joe B Miller[14]; 14. 84-Jade Avedisian[15]; 15. 06-Rylan Gray[13]; 16. 97K-Ben Rhodes[20]; 17. 71K-Dominic Gorden[18]; 18. 44-Branigan Roark[22]; 19. 19AZ-Hayden Reinbold[16]; 20. 21E-Emilio Hoover[21]; 21. 7-Shannon McQueen[19]; 22. 97A-Mitchell Davis[10]

Last Chance Showdown (10 Laps): 1. 01-Bryant Wiedeman[3]; 2. 71K-Dominic Gorden[4]; 3. 7-Shannon McQueen[7]; 4. 97K-Ben Rhodes[6]; 5. 77W-Joe Wirth[5]; 6. 7D-Michelle Decker[14]; 7. 17B-Austin Barnhill[9]; 8. 21E-Emilio Hoover[11]; 9. 44-Branigan Roark[12]; 10. 50-Daniel Adler[15]; 11. 71E-Mariah Ede[8]; 12. 72J-Sam Johnson[2]; 13. 17-Kevin Thomas Jr[16]; 14. (DNS) 85-Jerry Coons Jr; 15. (DNS) 17C-Devin Camfield; 16. (DQ) 5-Gavin Miller[1]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 97-Brenham Crouch[2]; 2. 61-Jacob Denney[4]; 3. 06-Rylan Gray[1]; 4. 25K-Taylor Reimer[3]; 5. 01-Bryant Wiedeman[5]; 6. 77W-Joe Wirth[6]; 7. 21E-Emilio Hoover[8]; 8. 7D-Michelle Decker[7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 21K-Karter Sarff[1]; 2. 7U-Kyle Jones[4]; 3. 97A-Mitchell Davis[2]; 4. 5-Gavin Miller[5]; 5. 51B-Joe B Miller[3]; 6. 17B-Austin Barnhill[6]; 7. 44-Branigan Roark[7]; 8. (DNS) 17-Kevin Thomas Jr

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 71M-Cade Lewis[1]; 2. 08$-Michael Pickens[4]; 3. 84X-Jesse Love[3]; 4. 84-Jade Avedisian[5]; 5. 71K-Dominic Gorden[7]; 6. 71E-Mariah Ede[6]; 7. 17C-Devin Camfield[8]; 8. 85-Jerry Coons Jr[2]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 40-Chase McDermand[3]; 2. 26-Chance Crum[4]; 3. 9M-Zach Daum[5]; 4. 19AZ-Hayden Reinbold[7]; 5. 72J-Sam Johnson[2]; 6. 7-Shannon McQueen[6]; 7. 97K-Ben Rhodes[1]; 8. 50-Daniel Adler[8]

Qualifying 1 (3 Laps): 1. 61-Jacob Denney, 00:12.876[2]; 2. 25K-Taylor Reimer, 00:12.975[6]; 3. 97-Brenham Crouch, 00:13.106[8]; 4. 06-Rylan Gray, 00:13.158[1]; 5. 01-Bryant Wiedeman, 00:13.288[7]; 6. 77W-Joe Wirth, 00:13.304[5]; 7. 7D-Michelle Decker, 00:13.433[3]; 8. 21E-Emilio Hoover, 00:13.576[4]

Qualifying 2 (3 Laps): 1. 7U-Kyle Jones, 00:12.968[3]; 2. 51B-Joe B Miller, 00:13.137[6]; 3. 97A-Mitchell Davis, 00:13.169[7]; 4. 21K-Karter Sarff, 00:13.223[2]; 5. 5-Gavin Miller, 00:13.421[1]; 6. 17B-Austin Barnhill, 00:13.862[8]; 7. 44-Branigan Roark, 00:13.940[4]; 8. (DNS) 17-Kevin Thomas Jr

Qualifying 3 (3 Laps): 1. 08$-Michael Pickens, 00:12.770[6]; 2. 84X-Jesse Love, 00:12.948[8]; 3. 85-Jerry Coons Jr, 00:13.067[1]; 4. 71M-Cade Lewis, 00:13.098[4]; 5. 84-Jade Avedisian, 00:13.189[3]; 6. 71E-Mariah Ede, 00:13.528[5]; 7. 71K-Dominic Gorden, 00:13.664[2]; 8. 17C-Devin Camfield, 00:13.963[7]

Qualifying 4 (3 Laps): 1. 26-Chance Crum, 00:13.140[2]; 2. 40-Chase McDermand, 00:13.235[7]; 3. 72J-Sam Johnson, 00:13.314[4]; 4. 97K-Ben Rhodes, 00:13.325[6]; 5. 9M-Zach Daum, 00:13.334[3]; 6. 7-Shannon McQueen, 00:13.387[8]; 7. 19AZ-Hayden Reinbold, 00:13.408[1]; 8. 50-Daniel Adler, 00:13.527[5]

NEW Championship Standings (After 5/10 races) – 1. Zach Daum (1062); 2. Brenham Crouch (-60); 3. Bryant Wiedeman (-78); 4. Kyle Jones (-136); 5. Taylor Reimer (-155); 6. Chance Crum (-167); 7. Sam Johnson (-250); 8. Jade Avedisian (-261); 9. Dominic Gorden (-283); 10. Ethan Mitchell (-344).

Next Up: The Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota joins the World of Outlaws CASE Late Models Aug. 26-27 at Davenport Speedway in a couple of $4,000-to-win showdowns.

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