CONCORD, N.C. — After 13 features and four Invitationals with more than 400 race cars across nine divisions, the DRIVEN Racing Oil World Short Track Championship wrapped up Saturday night at The Dirt Track at Charlotte.
Among the many highlights from this year’s event was Brayden Pruitt becoming the first woman to win a feature at The Dirt Track at Charlotte when she captured the COMP CAMS Mini Stock main event.
The COMP CAMS Mini Stock ace drove to a hard-fought victory at the famous speedway. With an impressive display of skill and prowess, Pruitt overtook front-runners Nicholas Broome and Travis Mosley to take the checkered flag.
Nothing quite compares to the excitement of Victory Lane at the DRIVEN Racing Oil World Short Track Championship. Pruitt proudly held her little girl high above her head in celebration.
She tried to put her excitement and pride in her accomplishment into words.
“You don’t even know what this night means,” she said. “My daughter was four weeks old the first time she visited The Dirt Track at Charlotte. I just hope one day she’ll be sitting right where I am and she’ll know what it means.”
Nothing came easy in the race. Pruitt battled her away to the top and never made a wrong step once she was in the lead.
“It took a lot of patience out there,” she said. “On that last restart I got over my head. I was really driving it hard. Once I settled down and started rolling through the corners I looked up in my mirror and I started checking away. Trying to stay clam in a situation like that really tested me tonight.”
In other action, Michael Brown became the first driver in the FOX Racing SHOX DIRTcar/SECA Pro Late Model division to win at the World Short Track Championship in back-to-back years.
Adding to his 2018 victory, Brown bolstered his stellar season by besting the 27-car field on Saturday night in dominating fashion, taking the lead from polesitter Timmie Harrelson on lap live and leading the rest of the way to claim the second win of his career at Charlotte.
“I’m blessed to be in this position, this is awesome,” Brown said. “Having a good shock guy really helped me out. Wesley Page at WP Racing Shocks, he dials this thing in and I just hold the wheel straight.”
In the Summit Racing Equipment UMP Modifieds, Nick Hoffman wrapped up a hugely successful year with a victory on Saturday night.
The DIRTcar UMP Modified national champion, DIRTcar Nationals champion and DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals champion led every lap of the feature despite pressure from Kyle Strickler.
“When [Strickler] pops up in second place, it’s always nerve-wracking,” Hoffman said. “Going into this race, we knew it would be tough to beat him. Us two, we’ve had really good race cars all year.”
In other action, Jackson Gil is now a two-time winner of the DRIVEN Racing Oil World Short Track Championship at The Dirt Track at Charlotte after winning Saturday’s VP Racing Fuel DIRTcar Sportsman Modified feature.
Jeff Parsons continued his domination of the Hoosier Racing Tire Pro Modifieds, holding off three different drivers during the feature to earn the $1,500 prize.
Luke Horning captured the RacerTents.com Pro Stock 30-lap feature in his black No. 8. Horning jumped to the lead on the initial start, outrunning pole-sitter Rick Duzlak. Horning took home $3,000 for his big win.
In one of the best side-by-side battles The Dirt Track saw all night, Billy Rushton bested polesitter Mike Davidson for the lead early in the 20-lap Chevrolet Performance 602 Late Model contest for his first victory at Charlotte.
Mitchell Duvall laid claim to the checkered flag in the caution-free DRIVEN Racing Oil Crate Sportsman 20-lap feature, worth $1,500.
The DIRTVision Hornets ran five features on Saturday, with Paul Clayton, Eddie McGrew, Chase Webb, Joey Kelly and Payne Pickles each collecting trophies.
In addition to the World Short Track Championship features, four All-Star Invitationals were run Saturday night. Those were won by Kevin Ridley (DIRTcar Sportsman Modified), Scott Towslee (DIRTcar Pro Stock), Matt Long (DIRTcar/SECA Pro Late Model) and Kyle Strickler (DIRTcar UMP Modified).