Brian Brown won in front of his hometown crowd at Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City, KS, on Friday, while Kerry Madsen took the checkers the next night at the Salina (OK) Highbanks Speedway.

Lakeside Speedway

Brian Brown grabbed the win at Lakeside the night after his 39th birthday. He briefly led at the start of the race before getting passed by Kerry Madsen on lap eight.

Brown retook the top spot on lap 20 after the "Mad Man" Madsen suffered a right rear flat that forced him to pull into the pit.

Brown won his heat to start third in the Craftsman Dash. In the Dash, Brown pedaled his way to the lead and secured the pole for the A-Main. Once the feature was underway both the "Wild Child" Jac Haudenschild and his slightly less wild son, Sheldon Haudenschild, made multiple attempts to take the lead — but while they were otherwise engaged, Madsen drove to the front.

Once Madsen was in the lead, he had the car to beat. He had the best spot on the track and could pick his preferred line in clean air. No one came close to the No. 2 Muddy sprinter during the 12 laps he led. By the time his tire deflated, he had lapped seven cars and created an 8.5-second cushion over second place.

As Madsen drove into turn three on lap 20, he got turned. During his spin, he punctured the right rear, which forced the Aussie-born sprinter into the pits for a new tire before returning to the back of the field.

Brown was running second at the time of caution, but in the laps leading up to them he was swapping the position with Sheldon.

With Madsen out of the picture, the two started on the front row with 10 to go. Brown was not willing to let the win slip away from him in front of his hometown crowd. Sheldon battled hard for the win, but Brown ultimately took the checkers 0.713 seconds ahead of second place.

“My guys did a phenomenal job,” Brown said. “These Outlaw races are so tough to win. You can feel the pressure in lapped traffic.”

Brown went on to discuss the emotions and importance of winning on his home track.

“I’ve won with the Outlaws in Arizona and North Carolina so I’ve never really been able to celebrate," the Grain Valley, Missouri native said. "To do it here, with all the FVP guys in attendance – we’ll celebrate with a few beers tonight.”

While still trying to capture that first Outlaw win, the Rookie of the Year points leader was happy to take home another podium.

“We had some really good racing going on back there," Sheldon said. “I threw a couple of good sliders in the middle of the race but could never make it stick.”

Donny Schatz made it up to third after starting in 12th.

In the final 10 laps, Madsen made his way from 14th to fifth. Apparently, his spin did not impact the speed of his car.

“Obviously it’s a huge disappointment when you have a car that good,” Madsen said. “But that’s racing. We’ll try again next time.” 

Those words would prove to be prophetic.

The following night, the Outlaws headed south to Salina, OK, to compete at Salina Highbanks Speedway.

Top 10 Finishers

1. Brian Brown
2. Sheldon Haudenschild
3. Donny Schatz
4. Jason Johnson
5. Kerry Madsen
6. Shane Stewart
7. David Gravel
8. Brad Sweet
9. Daryn Pittman
10. Logan Schuchart

Salinas Highbanks Speedway

A determined Madsen would not allow history to repeat itself after his heartbreaking loss the night before. When Madsen took the lead Saturday, he did it in style by passing first and second in less than half a lap.

With rain in the forecast, the sanctioning body rushed through the events to get the full show in before rain hit the area.

David Gravel blew an engine while coasting to the win in the Dash, causing his team to jump into action and change the power plant before the feature.

After successfully making the change, Gravel started on the front row next to Brad Sweet — and he must have thought his problems were behind him.

Gravel was wrong.

The pole sitter grabbed the lead on the front stretch, but Sweet caught up on the back. While battling into turn three, Sweet attempted a slide job on Gravel that was not quite timed correctly. After contact exiting turn four, Gravel’s night finally ended without completing a single lap of the A-Main.

“I was surprised I hit [Gravel]. I was expecting him to turn back underneath me,” Sweet said. “I’ll have to go back and watch it.”

The incident was handled with grace by Gravel, who credited it to hard racing.

“We were racing for inches at 130 mph and neither of us gave an inch,” Gravel said. “There just wasn’t enough room.”

On the second attempt at green, Sweet took the lead and pulled away from the field to lead until the halfway mark. While Sweet battled lapped traffic, Madsen and Shane Stewart battled for second. On lap 19, Sweet split two lapped cars and stretched his lead to a full front straightaway in clean air.

On lap 24, Madsen ran past Stewart to reclaim second. Soon after, he slid Sweet for the lead. At the time of the lead change, the top four—including Donny Schatz — were within inches of each other.

The next caution came on lap 28 when RJ Johnson hung his machine on the front stretch fence to bring out a red flag. With only two laps to go, the field lined up for a single file restart. Madsen held onto his position as Schatz and Sweet attempted to pass at every chance.

“We gave one away last night,” Madsen said. “I’m glad I was able to put this car where it belongs. It is an absolute joy to drive every night. Salina is always exciting and I thought that was pretty exciting. I hope the fans did as well.”

Schatz held on to second, slightly disappointed to not have had the chance to battle for the lead again.

“It’s tough with a single-file restart with two to go, you almost are just hoping to hang on for second,” Schatz said. “We’ll come back and try and pick up a pair of wins next weekend.”

Sweet, who led for 23 laps, was more disappointed in his podium finish — a place he ends up far too often without having the hardware to show for it.

Top 10 Finishers

1. Kerry Madsen
2. Donny Schatz
3. Brad Sweet
4. Shane Stewart
5. Jason Johnson
6. Ian Madsen
7. Logan Schuchart
8. Brent Marks
9. Sheldon Haudenschild
10. Daryn Pittman