Logan Schuchart inherited the lead and went on to the victory when Donny Schatz’s car lost power coming to the white flag of Sunday night’s World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series feature at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Florida.
Schatz was two laps away from his 300th career series win when his car slowed with ignition problems and slowed ot a stop with the white flag in the air.
Schatz’s suffering came to the benefit of Schuchart, who inherited the race lead coming to a green-white-checkered finish. His winning move actually came three laps prior on the 25th circuit, when Schuchart finally cleared Cory Eliason for the second spot after a race-long battle.
“It took me forever to get by Cory after that long green flag run,” Schuchart said. “I glanced forward to look for Donny once I got to second and I couldn’t see him. He was really fast, but I still felt like we had a car to beat there at the end, especially if we could’ve got some traffic. It’s not something you want to see happen, you want to win the right away. It’s also part of the game, though. For years, they’ve set the bar as far as handling issues, limiting DNF’s, and stuff that saves you championships. It’s something we all strive for nowadays because of them.”
Schatz had led since the drop of the green flag, and was in command when his car slowed. A trip to the work area quickly solved the issue, but the chance at the win had slipped away.
“It was just a defective ignition box, that thing was brand new on this engine tonight,” Schatz said. “I actually thought we cut a fuel line for a minute, because I was getting wet, but it was the MSD. It is what it is.”
With only two laps remaining and the lead thrown in his lap, Schuchart still had one final challenge to complete. On the restart, Schuchart instantly gapped the field and drove away to a 1.447-second victory over Danny Dietrich.
Schuchart’s victory put the finishing touches on his first career Big Gator Championship over title contender Brad Sweet, who he also overtook in the early-season series standings.
“We had confidence coming down here, but when it pays off like it means a lot,” Schuchart said. “When your confidence is high, your team feels good, and you perform better. It definitely feels good doing this against the quality of cars we had here. The Outlaws are so stacked this year and we’ve got a lot of good invaders joining us. My grandfather’s dream is looking awesome, though. I’m really proud of this Shark Racing team.”
Cory Eliason finished in third, with David Gravel in fourth, and Brad Sweet in fifth.
Carson Macedo, Kerry Madsen, Jacob Allen, Tyler Courtney, Aaron Reutzel rounded out the top 10.
The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series returns to action on Friday, February 12 at Dixie Speedway in Woodstock, Georgia. For more information, visit WorldofOutlaws.com.
WoO NOS Energy Sprint Car Series
Volusia Speedway Park – Barberville, FL
DIRTcar Nationals – February 7, 2021
1. 1S-Logan Schuchart
2. 48-Danny Dietrich
3. 26-Cory Eliason
4. 2-David Gravel
5. 49-Brad Sweet
6. 41-Carson Macedo
7. 101-Kerry Madsen
8. 1A-Jacob Allen
9. 7BC-Tyler Courtney
10. 83-Aaron Reutzel
11. 15H-Sam Hafertepe
12. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild
13. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss
14. 7S-Jason Sides
15. 15-Donny Schatz
16. 5-Brent Marks
17. 13-Justin Peck
18. 2C-Wayne Johnson
19. 11K-Kraig Kinser
20. 21-Brian Brown
21. 19-Parker Price-Miller
22. 9-Kasey Kahne
23. 18-Gio Scelzi
24. 33M-Mason Daniel
25. 12N-Joey Saldana
26. 72-Tim Shaffer
