WILMOT, Wis. — Sprint car racing doesn’t get much better than Saturday night at Wilmot Raceway.
The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series rolled into the Wisconsin track for the O’Reilly Auto Parts presents the Larry Hillerud Memorial finale and gave the fans a night they won’t forget.
Sheldon Haudenschild and Garet Williamson lined up on the front row, and the two put on an absolute show. Williamson fired off better from the outside in the Fischer Motorsports No. 23 and took command early in search of his first World of Outlaws win.
The KCP Racing/NOS Energy Drink No. 18 stalked Williamson throughout much of the race, matching his every move in traffic and waiting for the right chance to pounce.
The time came with about five laps remaining as Haudenschild pulled alongside Williamson to show him a nose. Haudenschild pulled the trigger on a slider a lap later, but Williamson countered with a crossover.
It didn’t take long for Haudenschild to come back with another slide job to take the lead coming to two laps to go. Williamson responded by hammering the cushion in Turns 1 and 2 to take the spot back. Haudenschild wrestled the top spot back by ripping the top in the next set of corners. That proved to be the winning move as Williamson couldn’t find a lane to take a shot on the final lap, and Haudenschild came out on top of a thriller.
“Garet does such a great job,” said a humble Haudenschild. “Him and Chaddy (Chad Cypert), they’ve been so good all year and I think a little overlooked honestly. They’ve been right there every night. They qualify well. Garet does a great job. Man, he did such a good job that whole race, and I was kind of in the cat-bird seat. I was able to see where he was going and move around. I think I had him guessing a little bit. He slid across the track down there. When he ran the top in (Turns) 3 and 4, he was kind of just going up a little bit, and I was able to throw a slider right there and be able to protect it.”
Haudenschild and KCP continue to be the hottest team in the sport with four victories in the last seven races. They’ve also collected 10 podiums in the last 12 Features. Haudenschild’s 52nd career World of Outlaws win gives him sole possession of 18th all time, and he’s now just 20 behind his father Jac Haudenschild in the record books.
David Gravel brought the Big Game Motorsports No. 2 home third for his third straight trip to the podium.
Spencer Bayston and Logan Schuchart completed the top five.
John Fahl won the Wisconsin WingLESS Sprints feature.
The finish:
Feature (35 Laps): 1. 18-Sheldon Haudenschild[1]; 2. 23-Garet Williamson[2]; 3. 2-David Gravel[4]; 4. 17-Spencer Bayston[5]; 5. 1S-Logan Schuchart[9]; 6. 41-Carson Macedo[7]; 7. 20-Bill Balog[3]; 8. 15-Donny Schatz[19]; 9. 83-Michael Kofoid[10]; 10. 2C-Cole Macedo[11]; 11. 7S-Chris Windom[21]; 12. 87A-Austin Hartmann[22]; 13. 16C-Skylar Gee[20]; 14. 37-Bryce Norris[12]; 15. 6-Scott Neitzel[23]; 16. 27-Emerson Axsom[15]; 17. 51-Ashton Torgerson[16]; 18. AU55-Parker Scott[18]; 19. 10V-Matt VanderVere[24]; 20. 28M-Conner Morrell[13]; 21. 4-Alex Pokorski[17]; 22. (DNF) 15K-Creed Kemenah[14]; 23. (DNF) 21H-Brady Bacon[6]; 24. (DNF) 85J-Logan Julien[8]
