Brad Sweet And Donny Schatz Capture Wins In The Wine Country Showdown

Brad Sweet And Donny Schatz Capture Wins In The Wine Country Showdown

Brad Sweet swept night one of the Wine Country Outlaw Showdown while Donnie Schatz took the second night of action.

Sep 19, 2017 by Victoria Beaver
Brad Sweet And Donny Schatz Capture Wins In The Wine Country Showdown
Brad Sweet had a chance to shine in his home state Friday as he swept the program in the first night of the Wine Country World of Outlaws Showdown at Calistoga (CA) Speedway.

Sweet had to battle fellow California native Rico Abreu at every stage of the 25-lap feature. Sweet took the lead from Abreu on lap three but never built a safe advantage over second place. This was the third night in a row in which an in-state driver took home the win in California. Shane Stewart won the second night at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, and invader Kyle Hirst won night one.

"I just tried to get through lapped traffic as good as I could. I knew Rico would be charging," Sweet said after climbing down from the wing of the Ollie's Bargain Outlet No. 49. "We have a lot of podiums. It's nice to be on the top step tonight where this team belongs."



Sweet wasn't kidding when he said his team has had a lot of podiums lately. He's stood on the stand in seven of the last 12 features.

Sweet had to withstand numerous cautions to grab his fifth win of the season. There were so many cautions that the cars ran a total of 60 laps, the maximum the sanctioning body will allow without requiring a fuel stop. This caused multiple of cars to run out of fuel on the final lap, including Abreu, who crossed second but was recorded light on the scales. That cost him his podium finish.

Logan Schuchart inherited second place and was close to taking it on his own on the final lap as he closed the gap between him and Abreu. Stewart continued his hot streak with another podium finish.

Points leader Donny Schatz dealt with car issues from the start, missing hot laps and time trials while trying to get his car in order. He finished dead last in his heat before moving to a backup car for the Last Chance Showdown, where he started ninth and made it up to fourth to transfer into the main event.

Once in the show, Schatz did what Schatz does, muscling his way from 22nd to the top 10 in the first five laps. In what started as a disappointing night ended with a fourth-place finish and the Hard Charger title for the driver of the No. 15.

Night two at Calistoga Speedway


After a difficult first night at Calistoga Speedway, Schatz made his triumphant return to Victory Lane on Saturday -- winning his 18th feature of the year and his first in the month of September.

Schatz's last win came a month ago on Aug. 18 at River Cities Speedway. Friday night was not the first time Schatz suffered on the Outlaw's West Coast swing. He also had to take a provisional starting position in both nights at Silver Dollar Speedway.



"It was just one of those nights. You don't know if it's a nightmare or a freak show." Schatz said. "That's racing; you have to battle through adversity. These guys never stopped working and here we are."

Schatz started third and moved to second when a flat tire forced Stewart to pit on lap 10. From there, Schatz set his eyes on Friday night's winner and then-current leader Sweet, whom Schatz passed on lap 25 of the 30-lap feature.

Schatz only held the lead for two laps before an open red paused action to bunch up the field before a three-lap mad dash to the finish.

On the restart, Daryn Pittman was positioned in fourth and shot under Johnson and Sweet to finish second. Sweet settled for his eighth podium finish in the last 13 races.

Jason Johnson finished fourth after starting sixth and running as far up as third during the feature. David Gravel rounded out the top five, a much better finish than Friday night when he ran out of gas on the final lap.

Top 10 Finishers

Night One
1. Brad Sweet
2. Logan Schuchart
3. Shane Stewart
4. Donny Schatz
5. Daryn Pittman
6. Kraig Kinser
7. Bud Kaeding
8. Brent Marks
9. Jamie Veal
10. Jason Johnson

Night Two
1. Donny Schatz
2. Daryn Pittman
3. Brad Sweet
4. Jason Johnson
5. David Gravel
6. Rico Abreu
7. Jac Haudenschild
8. Jamie Veal
9. Greg Wilson
10. Shane Stewart