by Alex Neiten – World of Outlaws PR

BARBERVILLE, FL (February 21, 2025) – Logan Schuchart stood on the front stretch of Volusia Speedway Park with a wide smile after the final Feature of the Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals. He hadn’t won the race, but a runner-up finish punctuated a winning week for he and the Shark Racing team.

The Hanover, PA driver and his team are open about last year’s World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car campaign. It didn’t go the way they’d hoped. After six victories in 2023 and a fifth-place finish in points, they slipped to a single checkered flag and seventh in the standings in 2024.

They wanted to come out swinging in 2025, and that’s exactly what they did.

With new crew chief Kyle Pruitt and long-standing team members Brendan Collum and Bill Klingbeil alongside, Schuchart opened the season by qualifying second quickest in his flight and finishing fourth in the Feature. The following night, the No. 1S improved to third.

In 2024, it took him until June 29 to find the podium. This year, it took two nights. Schuchart’s final two outings of the week led to a charge from 19th to eighth before his second podium with Saturday’s second-place effort.

“The first two nights we were good,” Schuchart said. “I knew we had a good chance to race well. It was the qualifying part I wanted to gain on and be better. We were top five the first two nights and then the third night we didn’t qualify as well. I felt like we were just missing a little bit of speed there that third night even though we raced well. I felt like the car handled good in qualifying. We just didn’t have the speed we needed. But what I was most proud about was the last night we kind of thought about how we could get more speed out of the car and keep our balance in the car in the same general area, and we were able to go out and set our first Quick Time in over a year and a half.”

There’s a long way to go, but the DIRTcar Nationals speed gave early evidence of the benefits of bringing Pruitt aboard to turn the wrenches. He’s a former driver that competed against Schuchart in the past before switching to crew roles in recent years. For Pruitt, the results are a proof of a productive off-season.

“It was very gratifying,” Pruitt said. “We were very blessed to come out of the gates running like that, but I think it’s a testament to what we did over the winter. Michael (Newman) with the motors. We went to Tim Engler’s and spent time there. Just everything with the cars, looking at every little detail of how they ran last year or the year before and maybe things we felt we could improve on.”

The connection between Schuchart and Pruitt is already clicking. The 42-time World of Outlaws Feature winner is accustomed to calling the shots himself. He’s hands on. He’s been his own crew chief to a certain extent. It’s a new, welcome dynamic for Schuchart.

“Kyle is more going to take on that role as a crew chief and kind of take a little bit of the pressure off myself,” Schuchart said. “I can lean on him for some of the setup changes and have someone to talk to about it instead of it all being on my shoulders, which I think has already proven to be very helpful. I think Kyle is very easy to work with. He’s very driven and passionate about being successful in the sport.”

“It’s a pleasure because he’s very intelligent,” Pruitt said of working with Schuchart. “He’s very hands on with the cars. He knows them from top to bottom. That’s how his granddad Bobby Allen taught him. It’s a good thing. It gives a driver a good outlook and respect for the cars, other racers, and what goes into it.”

Fortunately for Schuchart and company, a return trip to Volusia is next on the agenda as The Greatest Show on Dirt heads to the Barberville, FL oval on Sunday-Monday, March 2-3 for the Bike Week Jamboree.

Then, the campaign kicks into high gear with eight more races in five different states on a variety of tracks of all shapes and sizes. While the No. 1S crew isn’t overlooking Volusia, they’re ready to ensure their season-opening speed translates everywhere they go as Schuchart chases a championship in his 12th season.

“I feel like this can carry over to other racetracks, I hope,” Schuchart said. “We’ve always been fast at Volusia, so it’s hard to judge the whole season off of DIRTcar Nationals. But I’m happy with the start.”

“We try not to get too far ahead of ourselves, but know we’ve got a stretch of short tracks we’re running,” Pruitt said. “So, we kind of have some plans just like we kind of mulled over stuff for Volusia and got our time trial package honed in. We’ve done kind of the same thing with the short tracks. We’ve got a gameplan, and hopefully it all works out.

“I’m very confident that if we can just keep that momentum going in qualifying, whether it’s big tracks or a short track, and we put Logan Schuchart in a situation to excel, then he will. He’ll be at the front of the pack.”

Schuchart, Pruitt, and the entire Shark Racing team resume the 2025 World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car season at Volusia Speedway Park on March 2-3. Tickets are available now.