Q: If you were suddenly in charge of the World of Outlaws, what’s the first thing you would change?
Sweet: I would get rid of all the support classes, so we can control the time and the race track better. I feel like a lot of times the support classes hurt our brand. They can either hurt the race track or prolong the night to where the fan doesn’t have the best possible experience. I would really focus on that brand; putting on the best possible event in a timely manner. That’s where we miss it a little bit, the control factor. All in all, I think the Outlaws officials are doing a great job but with pay-per-view and DIRTVision there are so many eyes on our races that you can’t afford to have any bad events.
Q: Describe Kasey Kahne as a car owner.
Sweet: He’s very passionate about racing. He’s very good as far as understanding what we go through as drivers because he understands that there are ups and downs. He is never really hard on the driver. He focuses on making sure that our cars are right and that we have what we need to race with the Outlaws. I don’t think there is a better car owner out there.
Q: What’s the best advice Kasey has given you since you started driving for him?
Sweet: The best thing I’ve learned from him is that you’re going to have ups and downs, good races and bad races, but just keep trying to get better and don’t dwell on a bad race. He’s also real big about getting the car right – working on the car.
Q: Explain how hard it is to win the Knoxville Nationals.
Sweet: It’s the Super Bowl or the World Series for us. Everybody is going there with their best equipment and all of the drivers are going there on top of their game. You’ve got to have so many things go right, but at the same time you’ve got to have a great car, a great driver and a great engine. From the word go, you’ve got to time in good, you’ve got to get through your heat and everything has to go right. You have to push 110 percent and every driver and team is doing it, so to come out on top you’ve really accomplished something.
Q: What does it mean to you to be a Knoxville Nationals winner?
Sweet: Obviously, it’s a dream come true. Growing up in sprint car racing, it’s kind of mind-boggling to me that I won that trophy. I’ll be in the history book and I’ll be on those poles under the grandstand, all of the things that go along with winning that race. You can look back through history and there aren’t a lot of guys who have won the Knoxville Nationals. It means a lot and now that I know that feeling, it’s going to be hard if I have to leave there without winning it again.
Q: Did you learn anything from your June victory at Knoxville Raceway that will help you when you go back for the Nationals?
Sweet: It’s hard to say because it rained and the track was pretty wet, but it’s nice to know we can win on a track that’s a little faster than we would normally be seeing. I just think it is laps, it’s reps. You’re always fine tuning your race car. Everybody is always getting a little better and we need to make sure we are getting better, too. We feel like we have something that is capable. We just need to get there and fine tune it during the Cappy, the Oskaloosa race and our prelim night, and hopefully put ourselves in a good position for Saturday night.
Q: Has the makeup of your team changed since last season?
Sweet: I have the same crew chief (Eric Prutzman) and tire guy (Andrew Bowman) as last year, and we have one new guy (Joe Mooney) — our car chief is different this year. This is the first time I’ve had the same crew chief two years in a row. It’s been tough to put it all together, but we have a great team right now.
Q: What is it going to take to mount a late-season charge and beat Donny Schatz for the World of Outlaws championship?
Sweet: We’ve just got to focus on ourselves. We’ve been running good, and if we keep running good the points will take care of themselves. If we keep our heads down and stay focused, we’ll be just fine. But I don’t want to be dictated by points to be honest with you. I like to chase wins, win big races, and if we do our jobs the points will take care of themselves.
Q: Name one thing race fans don’t know about Brad Sweet.
Sweet: Probably that I’m super in to cooking. I love being at home and barbecuing. I like to cook and try lots of different things. I’m pretty in to smoking things on my smoker — ribs, brisket and things like that. I’m also in to cooking steaks. We had a beef tenderloin last night. We try a lot of different things.
Q: Where do you live and how much time are you able to spend at home?
Sweet: I live in Placerville, Calif., and I try to come home and spend as much time as possible with my daughter (Savannah, born Dec. 13, 2017). If there is time between races, I’ll head to the closest airport and fly home on Sunday morning. I will usually fly back to where ever I need to go on a Thursday or Friday, depending on when and where we are racing.
Q: Where do you see your career five years down the road?
Sweet: Honestly, I’m not sure. I’m 33 and I don’t want to miss too much of my daughter’s life, so I want to make hay while the sun shines, so to speak. We have a great team, a great car right now and a great sponsor in NAPA. Hopefully, in these next five years we can win multiple Knoxville Nationals and World of Outlaws championships.
Q: What would be the next chapter of your career when you do decide to step away from the World of Outlaws?
Sweet: That’s a great question and I don’t have the exact answer. Hopefully, during the next two years I can figure that out. I’m always looking – me and Kasey are always looking to do business stuff now that he’s retired from NASCAR. We have some ideas on the horizon and I would like to stay involved in racing, either as a part-time driver or in the promoting business. We’ll just see where it takes us, but, as of now, there’s no grand plan.
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