Contact: Nick Graziano
World of Outlaws PR
ngraziano@dirtcar.com

Please click here for the original World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series article

OREGON VICTORY TRAIL: Brad Sweet slides to thrilling victory at Willamette Speedway
Sweets gets first Willamette Speedway win with late race slider on David Gravel

LEBANON, OR – Sept. 4, 2019 – Brad Sweet saw the collapse of a fruitful performance in less than a second during Wednesday night’s World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series Feature at Willamette Speedway.

With lap cars slowing the Grass Valley, Calif.-native’s progress, David Gravel threw a slide job underneath them all into turn one and exited the corner with the lead. After leading 25 of the 30 laps, Sweet was forced to watch defeat drive away from him.

He wasn't willing to settle for second, though. Not now. Not this late in the season.

The next time into turn one Sweet wasn’t forgiving with the throttle. Or his car. He dove to the bottom of the corner and slid the NAPA Auto Parts No. 49 car up across the track, directly in front of Gravel, nearly making contact with the Jason Johnson Racing No. 41 car.

But it was the winning move. Sweet led to the end, picking up his first Willamette Speedway victory and 13th World of Outlaws win of the year – 47th career victory overall.

“I’m just glad I led the last one,” Sweet said. “I about gave it away in lap traffic. It’s nice to get this NAPA Auto Parts car back in Victory Lane. We’ve had a great season. When you have a great season and you go on a little winless streak it kind of feels like the world is ending.”

The winless streak was eight races – about a month’s time. Many drivers are on longer winless droughts, but in those eight races Sweet lost the points lead to 10-time Series champion Donny Schatz and struggled to find the podium at times – an uncommon characteristic for he and his Kasey Kahne Racing team.

The pairing looked back in traditional form at the Oregon track. Sweet started the night by setting Quick Time – five hundredths of a second off the track record he set in 2016. He then finished second in his Drydene Heat race and won the DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash.

Sweet jolted to the lead at the start of the 30-lap Feature, but Gravel never let the “Big Cat” out of his sight. The Watertown, Conn.-native stayed within a second to half of a second gap behind Sweet throughout the race.

Lap traffic came into play on Lap seven, but every time a slower car would obstruct Sweet’s run around the high side of the track – allowing Gravel to close on him – Gravel would also face the same issue once having to deal with the lap car himself.

However, with five laps to go, Sweet found himself stuck behind the slower cars of Brent Marks and Jessie Attard going into turn one. The two cars blocked the top lane, forcing Sweet to hammer the brakes and kill his momentum into the turn. That allowed Gravel to dive into the turn and exit off the bottom with the lead.

“I miss judged how slow that fifty-three (car) was going,” Sweet said. “Brent got kind of tangled up with him and I basically had to stop. I was stopped up by the cushion and I knew I was in a bad spot. It wasn’t surprising to see David go by there.”

With the hunger and determination to win again, Sweet said Gravel left the door open the next time around and he threw the power slider at him to take back the lead. Gravel tried to throw another slide job at Sweet with three laps to go but couldn’t slide up in front of the No. 49 car in time. Sweet went on to claim the victory.

Looking back on the race, Gravel has an idea of what he could have done differently.

“Maybe just throw a bomb on him like he gave me back there,” Gravel said. “It’s just one of those things that you’ve got to put moves on guys to win these races. I was just a little nice. He put a big boy move on me and I should’ve done the same back.”

While Gravel and Sweet dueled for the lead, Ian Madsen found his way back to a podium finish – finishing third – and picked up the KSE Hard Charger award by racing from his sixth-place starting position.

“It’s been quite frustrating as of late because we’ve had a lot of car speed, just not luck on our side,” Madsen said. “Just to get on the podium is awesome, especially starting a couple of rows back like we did.”

Schatz finished fourth, allowing Sweet to gain eight points on the reigning champion and continue to keep the battle for the championship tight – now 28 points separating them with 21 races to go this season.

The win couldn’t have come at a better time for Sweet, too, with the Series spending the next five races in his home state of California.

“It’s a good win for us,” Sweet said. “We needed a little confidence booster. These races aren’t easy to win. Even though sometimes they’re easier than others. Tonight was no easy task, even though we started on the pole. The track wasn't super conducive to passing. But it all comes down to lap traffic and I think years of experience has helped me figure out how to finish these things off.”

UP NEXT:

The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series on Friday, Sept. 6, and Saturday, Sept. 7, will be at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, Calif. for the Gold Cup Race of Champions.

As always, if you can’t make it to the race, you can watch all of the action LIVE on www.DIRTVision.com.

Race Results: 9/4/19 – Willamette Speedway

NOS Energy Drink Feature (30 Laps) – 1. 49-Brad Sweet [1][$8,000]; 2. 41-David Gravel [2][$4,000]; 3. 18-Ian Madsen [6][$2,500]; 4. 15-Donny Schatz [3][$2,200]; 5. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [7][$2,100]; 6. 5-Shane Stewart [4][$2,000]; 7. 83-Daryn Pittman [5][$1,800]; 8. 1S-Logan Schuchart [10][$1,600]; 9. 11K-Kraig Kinser [12][$1,500]; 10. 19-Brent Marks [8][$1,300]; 11. 2-Carson Macedo [11][$1,200]; 12. 44W-Austen Wheatley [15][$1,100]; 13. 53-Jessie Attard [14][$1,000]; 14. 7S-Jason Sides [13][$700]; 15. 1A-Jacob Allen [9][$600]; 16. 75-Brian Boswell [16][$600]; 17. 7-Gravy Fairfield [17][$600];
Lap Leaders: Brad Sweet 1-25, 27-30; David Gravel 26;
KSE Hard Charger Award: 18-Ian Madsen[+3]

Qualifying – 1. 49-Brad Sweet, 11.563; 2. 41-David Gravel, 11.597; 3. 5-Shane Stewart, 11.63; 4. 18-Ian Madsen, 11.672; 5. 83-Daryn Pittman, 11.698; 6. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 11.816; 7. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 11.832; 8. 15-Donny Schatz, 11.833; 9. 1A-Jacob Allen, 11.845; 10. 7S-Jason Sides, 11.888; 11. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 11.889; 12. 19-Brent Marks, 11.891; 13. 2-Carson Macedo, 11.914; 14. 44W-Austen Wheatley, 11.994; 15. 53-Jessie Attard, 12.283; 16. 75-Brian Boswell, 13.218; 17. 7-Gravy Fairfield, 14.127

DRYDENE Heat #1 (8 Laps) – 1. 5-Shane Stewart [2]; 2. 49-Brad Sweet [1]; 3. 83-Daryn Pittman [3]; 4. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [4]; 5. 1A-Jacob Allen [5]; 6. 1S-Logan Schuchart [6]; 7. 2-Carson Macedo [7]; 8. 53-Jessie Attard [8]; 9. 7-Gravy Fairfield [9]

DRYDENE Heat #2 (8 Laps) – 1. 41-David Gravel [1]; 2. 15-Donny Schatz [4]; 3. 18-Ian Madsen [2]; 4. 19-Brent Marks [6]; 5. 11K-Kraig Kinser [3]; 6. 7S-Jason Sides [5]; 7. 44W-Austen Wheatley [7]; 8. 75-Brian Boswell [8]

DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash (6 Laps) – 1. 49-Brad Sweet [1]; 2. 41-David Gravel [3]; 3. 15-Donny Schatz [4]; 4. 5-Shane Stewart [2]; 5. 83-Daryn Pittman [5]; 6. 18-Ian Madsen [6]

Qualifier (8 Laps) – 1. 83-Daryn Pittman [1][-]; 2. 18-Ian Madsen [2][-]; 3. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [3][-]; 4. 19-Brent Marks [4][-]; 5. 1A-Jacob Allen [5][-]; 6. 1S-Logan Schuchart [7][-]; 7. 2-Carson Macedo [9][]; 8. 11K-Kraig Kinser [6][]; 9. 7S-Jason Sides [8][]; 10. 53-Jessie Attard [11][]; 11. 44W-Austen Wheatley [10][]; 12. 75-Brian Boswell [12][]; 13. 7-Gravy Fairfield [13][]

Contact: Nick Graziano
World of Outlaws PR
ngraziano@dirtcar.com

Please click here for the original World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series article

LABORING VICTORY: Daryn Pittman wins Labor Day race at Grays Harbor Raceway
With his 84th career victory, Pittman has tied his hero Stevie Smith on the all-time wins list

ELMA, WA – Sept. 2, 2019 – Daryn Pittman has matched his childhood hero.

With a dominating performance Monday night at Grays Harbor Raceway, Pittman earned his 84th career World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series victory – tying his idol Stevie Smith on the all-time wins list.

“That’s pretty cool,” Pittman said. “That’ll take a little while to sink in.”

Smith had two wins at Grays Harbor. Pittman’s victory was his first at the raceway, and his third win of the 2019 season with Roth Motorsports.

It took seven months – since his 83rd win in February – and 30 grueling laps around 3/8-mile raceway to get win number 84.

He put himself in position to get the victory by first winning his Drydene Heat race and then finishing second in the DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash behind fellow Oklahoma driver Shane Stewart. Like Pittman, Stewart was eager for another win – having not won since June.

Their desperation to hold the checkered flag again manifested in the first three laps. They drag raced past the soaring green flag; their bumpers aligned. Sailing into turn one, Stewart went low, Pittman high. The Killer Instinct Crossbows No. 5 car edged Pittman by half a car into the corner and on exit.

Carrying more momentum off turn two, Pittman crept his way alongside Stewart down the backstretch. Before entering turn three the two almost made contact forcing Pittman to halt his run. The lead was now in Stewart's control.

Pittman had let too many victories slip through his fingers. He wasn’t going to let another opportunity drive away. He powered back to the outside of Stewart in turn one and kept alongside him down the backstretch.

Knowing Pittman was there, Stewart launched his car to the bottom of the track in turn three. Pittman stayed high, allowing himself to build momentum around the top and dive underneath Stewart on the exit of the turn. They again drag raced side by side down the front stretch. When turn one approached, Pittman stayed in the throttle, darting past Stewart for the lead on Lap 3.

The Roth Enterprises No. 83 car then began to pull away. However, a few laps later Pittman slid out of the racing groove into loose dirt in turn two, sending his car sideways. Dancing with the throttle and steering wheel, he worked his way out of the mistake. But Stewart was now back within striking distance.

On Lap 11 Stewart was side by side with Pittman due to a caution for a slowing Jason Sides. When the race restarted, Pittman accelerated back in front of the field. Stewart was no longer behind him, though. An aggressive Carson Macedo snuck his way by Jacob Allen and Stewart on the restart to move into second.

The rookie wasn't able to keep pace with the determined veteran. Pittman pulled away to a comfortable lead. On Lap 19 he was again forced to give it up. Stewart came to a stop in turn four due to power steering issues and brought out the caution.

On the restart, Macedo gave Pittman a scare. The California-native stayed with him down the front stretch and held onto his bumper down the backstretch before diving underneath the No. 83 car into turn three. The high side continued to favor Pittman, though. He used the available grip to launch ahead of Macedo and maintain his throne as the leader.

“I gave away a chance at winning forty grand at Jackson (Motorplex) by choosing the outside, and trust me that’s haunted me for a while and the next race I’m going to lose by choosing the inside, and I told myself that,” Pittman said. “Won the first restart against Shane and never saw him and Carson scared the crap out of me there on the last one.”

With Pittman pulling away to more than a second lead, Macedo had to turn his attention to fending off 10-time Series champion Donny Schatz. The reigning champion worked his way around Macedo for second on Lap 23, but the Kyle Larson Racing driver was ready for a brawl to the finish.

Macedo powered through the ruts in the track to keep pace with Schatz and capitalized on the North Dakota driver’s slip up with three laps to go to move back into second. With an 11th championship on the line and the season quickly coming to an end, Schatz is not willing to give up points. He stalked Macedo in the closing laps and snuck his way by him on the final lap to finish in the runner-up spot for the second night in-a-row.

“That’s the way it goes,” Schatz said. “We had to race our way there. At one point we were back in fifth or sixth. To get back up there is good. Consistency wins races. We’ll keep plugging away.”

Macedo admitted he made a mistake by staying up high in the closing laps, allowing Schatz to get back by him. However, he is happy with a podium finish in his first appearance at Grays Harbor Raceway.

Mistakes have haunted Pittman since February when he lost the lead on the final lap at The Dirt Track at Las Vegas. After winning the two season opening races at Volusia Speedway Park, he expected more wins to follow soon after. Many strong runs did, including his first podium finish at the Knoxville Nationals. But no wins.

That changed in August. The weight of not winning was first lifted off his shoulders when he won a non-World of Outlaws $20,000-to-win race at Southern Iowa Speedway. He carried that momentum throughout the month and into September to finally get his 84th career World of Outlaws win.

“Winning the front row challenge (in Iowa) was big for us as a team, just that we could win and it paid good,” Pittman said. “Then to back it up here pretty shortly with an Outlaw win. I feel like we’ve been a top-five, top-three car every night since we left Knoxville. I think momentum is on our side and I don’t think we’re the best team by any means on the road right now, but I think we’re a top three-four contender and if we can do that hopefully wins will follow.”

His next win will mark another crowning achievement. Surpassing his childhood hero's record.

UP NEXT:

The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series on Wednesday, Sept. 4, will be at Willamette Speedway in Lebanon, Ore.

As always, if you can’t make it to the race, you can watch all of the action LIVE on www.DIRTVision.com.

Race Results: 9/2/19 – Grays Harbor Raceway

NOS Energy Drink Feature (30 Laps) – 1. 83-Daryn Pittman [2][$8,000]; 2. 15-Donny Schatz [4][$4,000]; 3. 2-Carson Macedo [5][$2,500]; 4. 41-David Gravel [3][$2,200]; 5. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [9][$2,100]; 6. 11K-Kraig Kinser [7][$2,000]; 7. 49-Brad Sweet [11][$1,800]; 8. 1A-Jacob Allen [6][$1,600]; 9. 18-Ian Madsen [13][$1,500]; 10. 18S-Jason Solwold [8][$1,300]; 11. 1S-Logan Schuchart [15][$1,200]; 12. 7S-Tim Kaeding [10][$1,100]; 13. 19-Brent Marks [16][$1,000]; 14. 44W-Austen Wheatley [12][$700]; 15. 53-Jessie Attard [14][$600]; 16. 5-Shane Stewart [1][$600]; 17. 7-Jason Sides [17][$600];
Lap Leaders: Shane Stewart 1-2, Daryn Pittman 3-30;
KSE Hard Charger Award: 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[+4]

Qualifying – 1. 1A-Jacob Allen, 11.809; 2. 83-Daryn Pittman, 11.835; 3. 15-Donny Schatz, 11.862; 4. 41-David Gravel, 11.871; 5. 18S-Jason Solwold, 11.88; 6. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 11.912; 7. 5-Shane Stewart, 11.965; 8. 2-Carson Macedo, 11.978; 9. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 12; 10. 18-Ian Madsen, 11.94; 11. 7S-Tim Kaeding, 12.01; 12. 19-Brent Marks, 12.045; 13. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 12.075; 14. 49-Brad Sweet, 12.174; 15. 53-Jessie Attard, 12.241; 16. 7-Jason Sides, 12.267; 17. 44W-Austen Wheatley, 12.386

DRYDENE Heat #1 (8 Laps) – 1. 15-Donny Schatz [2]; 2. 5-Shane Stewart [4]; 3. 1A-Jacob Allen [1]; 4. 18S-Jason Solwold [3]; 5. 7S-Tim Kaeding [6]; 6. 1S-Logan Schuchart [7]; 7. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [5]; 8. 44W-Austen Wheatley [9]; 9. 53-Jessie Attard [8]

DRYDENE Heat #2 (8 Laps) – 1. 83-Daryn Pittman [1]; 2. 41-David Gravel [2]; 3. 2-Carson Macedo [4]; 4. 11K-Kraig Kinser [3]; 5. 49-Brad Sweet [7]; 6. 19-Brent Marks [6]; 7. 18-Ian Madsen [5]; 8. 7-Jason Sides [8]

DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash (6 Laps) – 1. 5-Shane Stewart [3]; 2. 83-Daryn Pittman [2]; 3. 41-David Gravel [4]; 4. 15-Donny Schatz [1]; 5. 2-Carson Macedo [5]; 6. 1A-Jacob Allen [6]

Qualifier (8 Laps) – 1. 2-Carson Macedo [2][-]; 2. 1A-Jacob Allen [1][-]; 3. 11K-Kraig Kinser [4][-]; 4. 18S-Jason Solwold [3][-]; 5. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [9][-]; 6. 7S-Tim Kaeding [5][-]; 7. 49-Brad Sweet [6][]; 8. 44W-Austen Wheatley [11][]; 9. 18-Ian Madsen [10][]; 10. 53-Jessie Attard [13][]; 11. 1S-Logan Schuchart [7][]; 12. 19-Brent Marks [8][]; 13. 7-Jason Sides [12]