SCHUCHART CAPS AUSTRALIAN TOUR WITH HISTORIC VICTORY
GRANVILLE, NSW, AUSTRALIA – (January 14, 2019) American standout Logan Schuchart concluded his third tour of Sprint car racing in Australia with a dramatic victory in the final Scott Darley Memorial Challenge Saturday near Sydney.
Schuchart carried the Drydene banner to great heights over the past 16 days in Australia finishing second twice and winning once during six nights of action driving a Drydene-branded No. USA1s.
The first five nights he competed at Archerfield Speedway near Brisbane and Australia’s famous Gold Coast region. He earned podium finishes in his first nights of action coming home third on December 29 and second to reigning World of Outlaws champion Donny Schatz on New Year’s Day. After finishing eighth in the Australian Open preliminary event, Schuchart was poised to grab one of the most prestigious Sprint car races in Australia. He raced his way to the pole position with great time in the pole shuffle and led the star-studded field to the green. The Drydene USA No. 1s set a blistering pace through the first 20 laps, but Schuchart struggle to get past a lapped car. While trying to get around the back marker, Schatz was able to get under him and grab the top spot. Schuchart chased him the rest of the way and finished a career-best second in the event.
A part failure in heat race during his final appearance at Archerfield ended his night early on January 9. The team regrouped and headed for Sydney to compete in the 10thand final Scott Darley Challenge at Sydney Speedway. After Friday night’s opening night was washed out by rain, Schuchart closed his trip with the best possible results. He was fastest in his qualifying group, won his heat and after starting fifth in the 38-lap A-Main, charged forward to take the lead on lap 22 and never looked back.
Schuchart returned to the United States on Monday and will join his Shark Racing team as they continue preparing for the 2019 campaign, which will begin Thursday, January 31 at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Fl.
QUICK STATS:
Races: 6
Wins: 1
Top-3: 4
Highlights: Logan led the first half of the prestigious Australian Open before finishing second. He scored his first A-Main win at Sydney Speedway to close his Summer Tour Down Under, winning the final Scott Darley Memorial and joining an elite list of winners of the event including Steve Kinser and Donny Schatz.






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.”


His charge forward Saturday night was just beginning of his time in the drivers seat. He spent the next two and half days making the 1,390-mile trek from Phoenix, Arizona to California, Missouri. Once they arrived at the Clyde Knipp Racing shop late Tuesday afternoon, Schuchart and his National Sprint Car Hall of Fame grandfather, Bobby Allen, stretched their legs for a few minutes and jumped back in Logan’s motorhome and made the four-hour trip north to the Sprint Car Capital of the World, Knoxville, Iowa, for Wednesday’s Bryan Clauson Tower Ribbon Cutting event at the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame.

LS.com: You started your fifth season with the World of Outlaws by setting fast-time at Volusia in the season opener. Unfortunately, your speed early in the night didn’t result in finishes near the the front. How tough is it to get your car not only fast early in the night, which you have to with the Outlaws format, but also fast at the end of the night when the race is on the line?
Logan: “It’s super important to be surrounded by quality people. We’ve welcomed Ausherman Properties and Priority Aviation to our team this year and they joined a great group that have helped us out for long time like Mark Pell and Mike Palumbo. As well as a lot of great manufacturers that help us put a fast race car out there on the track. We’re really proud of everyone that is part of Shark Racing and honored to represent them. People like Richard and Jennifer Marshall of Priority Aviation are tremendous ambassadors for dirt track racing. They help a lot of teams and drivers out giving a lot people the opportunity to chase a dream. Ausherman Properties is new to the sport and have helped us get our race team some solid help. We’re really thankful for everyone that is involved.”
Logan: “Last year, they changed the track a little bit. I think it was completely different in 2016. I think they widen it out. So we’ve been there twice and it’s been different both times. It was really tricky last year and I know talking to some other people they said it was a weird track too. It seemed to be wet and fast early and then almost immediately went to slick and then rubbered up. I haven’t seen many tracks do that and I’m not sure if had something to do with it being in the desert, being sandy or what. Looking back at our notes, we have a good idea of why we were any as good as we wanted to be and I look forward to getting back there tonight and hope we can get the 1s rolling.”