Brad Sweet and Logan Schuchart both joined David Gravel and Daryn Pittman as two-time winners this season on the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series trail as the series wrapped up the month of April. 

On the other side of the ledger, the ever-mounting number of rainouts continued to climb. Sweet remains the series point leader, thanks to his win and a solid streak that sees him tied for the series lead in top-five finishes. A busy month of May opens this coming weekend, with 13 races over a 28-day period at 10 tracks in eight states. The battle at the top of the standings remains close as the series heads into the heart of the season.

Rain, rain go away

As has become all too common this season, Mother Nature again won more races than any driver this past weekend. A trio of events were scheduled, but just one was completed. The event at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 in Missouri on April 27 fell to rain and was not re-scheduled. Heat races and the dash were completed at Jacksonville Speedway in Illinois on Sunday night, before rain moved in. A date is being explore for the series to return and complete the race program. Prior to break for Easter, the second night at Devil’s Bowl Speedway in Texas fell to rain. The series has competed 13 race programs thus far in 2019, while nine have been affected by inclement weather.

Rolling right along

Brad Sweet continued his strong start to the 2019 season over the last few weeks. The veteran driver added his second win of the season, in a thriller at Lake Ozark Speedway on April 26, coming out on top of a furious last lap battle with David Gravel and Donny Schatz. Sweet has nine top-five finishes, which is tied with Donny Schatz for the lead in that department.

“I almost gave it away in the last corner,” said Sweet of his Lake Ozark win. “All that matters is we hung on to the checkers and got the win.”

Joining his Grandfather

Logan Schuchart made history on April 12 when he won at the famed Devil’s Bowl Speedway in Texas, as he joined his grandfather, Hall of Famer Bobby Allen, on the win list at the track. Schuchart took the lead from his Shark Racing teammate, Jacob Allen, on lap-14, then traded the top spot with Daryn Pittman a couple of times on his way to winning his second race of the season. 

“I’ve watched old videos of my grandfather running good here and winning races,” Schuchart said. “Now, I get to put my name in the history books and this team gets to put its name in the history books. We just want to win races. We just want to get out there and win races every time we go.”

Close, yet again

Jacob Allen continues to chase that elusive first World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series win. At Devil’s Bowl, he led 10 laps on his way to a podium finish in third. Allen took the lead from Kraig Kinser on the fourth lap, before being passed by his teammate and eventual winner Logan Schuchart on the 13^th circuit. For Allen, it marked his second straight top-10 finish and his best run of the season.

“Obviously I want to win more than anything,” Allen said. “It is what it is, but I had fun. It’s really good to see Logan win and both Shark Racing cars on the podium. We work hard at this and this is what it’s about.”

The streak continues

Donny Schatz is the only driver who has finished among the top-10 in each and every World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series race thus far in 2019. Schatz found himself on the podium at Lake Ozark Speedway in third. He is a perfect 13 for 13, when it comes to top-10 finishes.

Gaining on it

Shane Stewart and the CJB Motorsports team continue to knock on the door of their first win of the season. Following a recent switch in engine providers, the team continues to turn in solid runs as well as rise in the points standing. At Lake Ozark Speedway, Stewart came from the 12^th starting spot to finish fourth.

Continuing to impress

Carson Macedo has had a very solid start to his rookie season with the World of Outlaws. The California has 11 top-10 finishes in the first 13 races and currently is tied for fourth in points. At Lake Ozark Speedway, he was the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger, coming all the way from 18^th to sixth. When the Outlaw were off for Easter weekend, Macedo returned home to California and picked up a win at Keller Auto Speedway in Hanford.

Best finish of the season

Kraig Kinser earned his best finish of the young season at Devil’s Bowl Speedway, coming home fourth. The 2005 winner of the Knoxville Nationals was fastest in time trials, won the first heat, was victorious in the dash and led the first three laps of the main event on his way to his first top-five run of the year.

“Those are the weekends we're trying to duplicate,” said Kinser. “All in all, it was a positive deal for us. Top-fives are what we're looking for day in and day out. Our progress is good. We just need to keep it up and stay consistent.”

Rilat records top-10 at Devil’s Bowl

Travis Rilat scored one for the “locals” at Devil’s Bowl Speedway on April 12. The native of Forney, Texas, finished a solid eighth, against a very stout field of cars. That was run his best against the Outlaws since a seventh-place showing back in 2012 at Skagit Speedway in Washington. The finish marked his first top-10 with the Outlaws since September 2016 and it extended his top-10 streak at Devil’s Bowl Speedway to 15 straight seasons.

“That was a great night for the team,” said Rilat. “It’s a tough task to race with the World of Outlaws and do well, especially when it's your first 410 race of the year and they’re already two months into the season. For us to earn a top 10 is like a win.”

Running up front

Cale Thomas finished ninth in his first Outlaws start of the season at Lake Ozark Speedway. The Indiana native, who won with the All Star Circuit of Champions last season, started third and ran in the top-five in the early going, before losing a few spots as the race went on. 

Representing the Badger state

Bill Balog and Scotty Thiel made the trip south from Wisconsin to compete with the World of Outlaws at Lake Ozark Speedway. Balog, who won the IRA season opener at Beaver Dam Raceway on April 20, earned the final transfer spot at Lake Ozark in the B-main, winning a drag race down the main straightaway with Joe B. Miller.

Points update

Brad Sweet continues to lead the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series standings as he chases his first title and the second for Kasey Kahne Racing. With his win at Lake Ozark Speedway, Sweet extended the margin over Donny Schatz to eight markers. Daryn Pittman remains third in points, 16 points out of the lead. David Gravel used a runner-up finish at Lake Ozark to move into a tie for fourth with rookie Carson Macedo. Logan Schuchart is currently sixth in the standings, followed by Shane Stewart in seventh, Ian Madsen in eighth, Sheldon Haudenschild in ninth and Kraig Kinser in 10^th.

Up next

The Outlaws are set for a pair of races on quarter-mile bullrings to open the month of May. First up on Friday, May 3, is a visit to Riverside International Speedway in West Memphis, AR, where Daryn Pittman won a thriller last year over Sheldon Haudenschild. Pittman also won at the track in 2007, while Donny Schatz was victorious at the venue, affectionately known as “The Ditch” in 2008. 

On Saturday, May 4, the series makes their annual visit to Tri-State Speedway in Indiana, where David Gravel won last year. He also won at the track in 2016 and is the only current full-time driver with the series, who has visited victory lane at the historic track. Parker Price-Miller won at Tri-State Speedway in 2017 to score his first-career Outlaws win.