SCHUCHART GRABS GATOR, FIRST WOO WIN IN 2020
BARBERVILLE, FL – February 9, 2020 – The wild hunt commenced Sunday night at the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series finale at the DIRTcar Nationals presented by Bozard Ford.
The trophies: A golden gator. And a Big Gator.
Logan Schuchart put an assault on the 27-car field, in front of a packed house, to earn his first win at Volusia Speedway Park and Brad Sweet cruised to his third podium finish in-a-row, awarding him his second Big Gator championship. Sweet won his first Big Gator in 2016.
“It was a lot of fun,” Sweet said about the event. “I thought we had a lot of different tracks all week. The NAPA car was fast on all the different conditions, but we’ll take that… 2020 is looking to be a strong year for us.”
Schuchart, who had never finished inside the top-five and never led a lap at the half-mile speedway, ended his 2020 DIRTcar Nationals with three top-five finishes in-a-row and 50 laps led. He placed second the first night. Charged from 25th to fifth the second night. And won the DIRTcar Nationals Sprint Car Week finale.
“This place is just so tough,” Schuchart said. “You know, we come here, we learn, I watch videos in the wintertime. We just try to make our cars better as a whole.
“Just kind of studying the racetrack. Notes from the past. Watching the highlight videos from the past few years and what other people’s cars look like compared to ours and maybe what we could have done better to qualify and put us in better positions… First three races were awesome. To pull away with a win really helps our confidence.”
That confidence showed before the conclusion of Sunday night’s 30-lap Feature when the Hanover, PA driver powered his way underneath Daryn Pittman on Lap 2 to take the lead. From there, he never relinquished it, leading the final 29 laps. Although, those on the hunt behind him tested his poise.
Schuchart held a commanding lead on the field but as lap traffic continuously hindered his pace, Pittman closed in. With 10 laps to go, Schuchart got caught behind a slower car coming off Turn 2, allowing Pittman to close within a car length’s distance.
However, once Schuchart found his way back into clean air, Pittman was left having to fend off Cory Eliason and Sweet.
In the closing laps of the race, Eliason found another gear. With five laps to go he charged his way around the outside of Pittman for second and set his sights on Schuchart. Three laps later, with smoke billowing out of his exhaust, Eliason powered his way around Schuchart off Turn 2.
Not willing to forgo his first DIRTcar Nationals win, Schuchart threw a hold-your-breath-slide job on Eliason through Turns 3 and 4 to reclaim the lead.
A large cloud of smoke erupted from Eliason’s motor the next lap, ending his night. The yellow flag flew with one lap to go.
On the restart, with Pittman and Sweet breathing down his neck, Schuchart darted away from the field. No one could touch the red and white Drydene car. Pittman and Sweet had to settle for second and third, respectively.
“Just pissed off at myself,” Pittman said. “I feel like if I would have stayed second… Man, like on that white flag, I couldn’t believe how far back he (Schuchart) came to me and Cory (Eliason). Honestly, I think it was anybody’s race going down the backstretch there on the white flag lap. We were kind of nose to tail. I wish I would have been in second there, I think I would have had a shot.”
Sweet started the DIRTcar Nationals being presented his 2019 World of Outlaws championship ring and ended it being presented his second Big Gator trophy. He’ll also leave Florida with the Series points lead – two points ahead of Schuchart.
The championship is far out of Schuchart’s head with more than 80 races to go this season. He said his focus is just to win as many races as he can. Nabbing his first golden gator trophy is one he can finally cross of his list.
“I really wanted one of these gators,” Schuchart said. “I’m really glad we got one.”
Story courtesy of WorldofOutlaws.com
Schuchart owned up to the mistake and was determined to take advantage of the Nationals’ Friday night Hard Knox Night which had four spots remaining for Saturday’s 50-lap A-Main. He was the 30th of 31 cars in the first group to make a qualifying lap and once again he was quick time. He finished second in the opening heat and earned the pole position for the 25-lap A-Main. He led the opening laps before Brian Brown, a six-time Knoxville winner in 2018, took over the top spot. Schuchart stayed in his tracks and regained the lead in traffic and would end up leading 19 laps on his way to his first career Knoxville Raceway victory and earn one of the coveted four spots in Saturday’s A-Main.
It was a 70-mile trip down Interstate 29 the following night for his second appearance at Red River Valley Speedway in Fargo. A late qualifying draw put him behind early, but on the first lap of the opening heat he moved from seventh to second, but was put back for allegedly starting early. After being put back he charged back up to third, but a broken rod on the final lap spurred his chances to transfer directly into the A. Following an engine change, he came back and won his second consecutive Last Chance Showdown. From the 19th position, Schuchart charged forward 14 positions in the 30-lap A-Feature to earn his fourth KSE Hard Charger Award and 14th top-five finish of the season.
“These are exciting times for all of us at Drydene Performance Products and partnering with a rising star like Logan Schuchart and his legendary grandfather Bobby Allen adds to it,” said Dave Klinger, President of Drydene Performance Products. “A passion for racing and hard work is something Drydene values, and there is no better example of hard work than Logan and the Shark Racing team. In addition, Sprint car racing is an excellent platform for Drydene and works seamlessly with our recent motorsports initiatives including a primary sponsorship with Will Rogers and Kenny Schrader in the ARCA Series.”