VADO, N.M. — The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series return to Vado Speedway Park didn’t disappoint.
The Greatest Show on Dirt invaded Vado on Friday for night one of the Desert Showdown, and the New Mexico oval delivered three different leaders in a 30-lap thriller.
First, it was polesitter Logan Schuchart taking early command with hopes to snap a 29-race winless streak. Then Kerry Madsen stole the top spot aiming for his first series victory since 2021. But when all was said and done, it was David Gravel climbing atop the wing of the Big Game Motorsports No. 2 in victory lane.
The defending champion capitalized when the “Madman” got held up in traffic with eight laps remaining as Gravel rolled under Madsen in Turns 1 and 2 and executed a race winning slide job in the next set of corners. Once he had the lead, there was no catching Gravel.
“I think he (Madsen) saw me in (Turns) 3 and 4 pressuring him and made him change it up a little bit,” Gravel said of getting the lead. “I felt like he was in a rush to get by that guy, but the bottom was so dominant in (Turns) 1 and 2. That was the place to be, and that’s where I was able to slip up on him, but again I think me poking my nose on him in (Turns) 3 and 4 made him think, ‘I can’t follow this guy another lap.’ Then I got the lead and cleared that one lapped car. I feel like that probably changed the race. I don’t know if he got by as well. You’re running the top as hard as you can wide open, and these guys are hauling ass around the bottom. It was so hard to get around guys.
“I’ve just got to thank Cody (Jacobs), Pete (Stephens), and Zach (Patterson). They perform every night. It’s just my job to get the job done.”
The World of Outlaws checkered flag count rose to 13 for Gravel and Tod Quiring’s team with Friday’s triumph.
After leading early before slipping to third, Logan Schuchart rallied to snag second on the final circuit. There’s no doubt he and the Shark Racing team want a win badly, but their recent results suggest one is coming as they’ve put together six consecutive top five finishes. If one or two things go slightly different on Friday, it very well may have been the Hanover, PA native standing in victory lane.
“We might’ve gotten a little tight in traffic there but not really bad,” Schuchart explained. “Racing with lapped cars I thought I was holding a good line. Until somebody showed me something I wasn’t going to move on the race track. It wasn’t until Kerry got by us on the bottom of (Turns) 1 and 2 that I felt like I could move around a little bit and see what I could get and see what he was getting with his race car when he had to move how I could make up some ground on him. I feel like we were able to do that. I could see David to my inside a few times into (Turns) 1 and 2, and I knew I had to keep gassing it up in (Turns) 3 and 4 then get back to the bottom in (Turns) 1 and 2. Sometimes that line wasn’t always there. If I got the lead back from Kerry coming out of (Turn) 4, it was probably our race.”
Madsen completed the podium with the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing team.
“I saw David or heard him a couple times and thought, ‘I’ve got to go,’” Madsen said. “I actually had a great run on the lapped car, and that one lap he decided to go middle-top, and I thought, ‘Oh my god. Being half a car back I could’ve zipped under him.’ David was knocking on the door, so you’ve got to go win the race. Honestly, I’m disappointed not to but still pretty excited to have a great run.”
Buddy Kofoid and Landon Crawley completed the top five.
The finish:
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 2-David Gravel[2]; 2. 1S-Logan Schuchart[1]; 3. 15S-Kerry Madsen[3]; 4. 83-Michael Kofoid[4]; 5. 45X-Landon Crawley[8]; 6. 99-Skylar Gee[6]; 7. 41-Carson Macedo[5]; 8. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[10]; 9. 17B-Bill Balog[7]; 10. 23-Garet Williamson[11]; 11. W-Donny Schatz[13]; 12. 2C-Cole Macedo[9]; 13. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[17]; 14. 18-Emerson Axsom[12]; 15. 7S-Chris Windom[16]; 16. 6-Zach Hampton[18]; 17. J2-John Carney II[15]; 18. 2B-Brett Becker[20]; 19. 4J-Tuesday Calderwood[19]; 20. 45-Don Grable[21]; 21. 28M-Conner Morrell[14]; 22. 2X-Alex Pettas[22]
