(Charlotte, NC) The Greatest Show on Dirt proved to be a wild spectacle on Friday night. Brad Sweet won everything he entered except for the main event where he was passed with 2 laps to go by the winner of the race Logan Schuchart.
There were 5 wild races for the World of Outlaw Sprint Cars 3 heats, a dash for the top 6 main spots, and the main event. In heat 1 Brad Sweet #49, the fastest qualifier of the night, was the dominant car leading all 8 of the laps and beating Logan Schuchart, the winner of the main event, by more than a second. They advanced into the Craftsman Club Dash for the main event top 6 spots. Heat 2 featured some fast cars as Kraig Kinser #11K lead all 8 of the laps in this heat winning the race; his closest competitor, Shane Stewart’s #2 was over 4 seconds behind. They also advanced into the Craftsman Club Dash for the main event top 6 spots. In the 3rd and final heat race of the night, the racing was very competitive Donny Schatz’s #15 lead all 8 laps, and the battle was on for second between Daryn Pittman’s #9 and Jason Johnson’s #41. Pittman’s #9 end up holding off and pulling away from Johnson’s #41 to take the final spot and advance into the Craftsman Club Dash for the main event top 6 spots.
The Craftsman Club Dash for the main event top 6 spots had the potential to be inverted in a random order, but the fan pulled out the zero (0) making the field start like they finished their heat races. Heat race winners started 1, 2, 3 and the second-place finishers started 4, 5, and 6 based on the race they competed in. Brad Sweet won this race over Kraig Kinser, Logan Schuchart, Daryn Pittman, Shane Stewart, and Donny Schatz. From there it was onto the main event.
The main event proved to be a spectacle beginning with the 4-wide salute to the fans with fireworks, explosions, and horsepower. Imagine 4-wide, 6 rows deep around the 4 tenths of a mile dirt oval. It was beautiful! The World of Outlaws Main Event went green flag laps without a caution, but the excitement and action were everything the fans deserved and more. Brad Sweet got out to the early lead and stayed there for 28 of the 30 laps. By lap 6 the leaders were in lap traffic, and that proved to be critical in this race. Greg Wilson won the hard charger award coming from the 15th starting position to the 5th position where he finished. Kinser and his #11K did not have a car to get through lap traffic cleanly and fell back to finish 6th. Remember when I said that lap traffic would play a factor, well with 5 laps to go the leader Brad Sweet #49 caught lap traffic and Logan Schuchart in his #1S got to the back bumper. With 2 laps to go Schuchart pulled the classic slide job on Sweet and never looked back, in the post-race interview he said, “I don’t know what I was thinking.” Schuchart went on to win the race claiming his 3rd win this season. Brad Sweet finished 2nd , and after the race he was very disappointed with himself, “I don’t want to be a poor sport, but you gotta hate losing them that way.” Daryn Pittman bringing it home 3rd
