SUN PRAIRIE, Wis. — It was quite the weekend for Buckeyes in the state of Wisconsin.
A day after Ohio State football rolled into the “Badger State” and dominated against the home team, Sheldon Haudenschild gave Ohio another reason to celebrate.
The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars returned to Angell Park Speedway for the first time in nine years for a Sunday showdown, and the historic track didn’t disappoint.
Haudenschild and Emerson Axsom gave the packed house exactly what they came for. Axsom fired off from the pole for the 35-lapper after winning the dash, and Haudenschild started a row behind him. Axsom pulled ahead early and rolled the bottom while Haudenschild started to search for speed up top. It didn’t take him long to find it as he ripped by David Gravel for second despite tapping the Turn 2 wall once while making the pass.
It took Haudenschild only two more circuits to track down Axsom and make the pass on the cushion, but just like the Indiana Hoosiers aren’t ready to bow down to the Buckeyes this year, Axsom, a native of Franklin, Ind., wouldn’t go away easily. He fired a slider at the Stenhouse Jr.-Marshall Racing No. 17 that cleared.
The two went back and forth for the next several laps before Haudenschild finally gained the upper hand and pulled away. Axsom closed in late to make things interesting but couldn’t find a route by as Haudenschild took the checkered flag.
It’s been a tough couple weeks for Haudenschild working with an entirely new crew following the National Open, but he won’t let that slow him down. He was happy to take Kyle Pruitt, Nate Repetz and Cole Neuhalfen to victory lane.
“I said from the start when I told these guys I was leaving that I’m still going to focus on winning these races,” Haudenschild said. “I’ve stuck to my word on finishing the year out on this thing. A little uncomfortable for me with a whole new set of guys in there, but the crew did a good job.
“I kind of figured I had to run the top in (Turns) 1 and 2, and it about bit me there a couple times. I could enter really good, and it was just really powdery off the top. I just think there was a little bit of a benefit to starting third there and kind of get to see what the other guys were doing. Once I started sliding across the track I didn’t feel good. I started on the top over here and was able to turn down, and I felt it latching up a little bit. I kind of figured he’d try and slide me, and I’d be able to do that.”
The victory was Haudenschild’s fourth of the year and the 46th of his career with The Greatest Show on Dirt.”
Axsom came home with the runner-up spot for his fourth career World of Outlaws podium as he continues to bang on the door of that first series victory. The Klaasmeyer/Petry Motorsports pilot came away happy with the speed but also a little disappointed to night end the evening celebrating a victory.
“I was racing with him,” Axsom said. “And he just kept leaving the bottom open, and it allowed me to, with how the track is shaped, to build speed below him and not really break my momentum. He must’ve got a run on me, and then David got by me. I got back by David just trying stuff. It’s just bittersweet. Our stuff is really good right now.”
Gravel took the Big Game Motorsports No. 2 to a third-place finish, marking his series-leading 38th podium of 2025. Gravel’s point lead stands at 138 markers with just five races to go as he closes on a second straight championship.
“It was interesting,” Gravel said. “I felt like the bottom was going to be the place to be in (Turns) 1 and 2 the whole time. Sheldon showed us the top was the place to be, and I saw him almost crash that one time outside of me. I thought maybe he just had a hero lap, but then the next lap he drove around me. Then I kind of got up there and followed him.”
Logan Schuchart and Buddy Kofoid completed the top five.
The finish:
Feature (35 Laps): 1. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[3]; 2. 27-Emerson Axsom[1]; 3. 2-David Gravel[2]; 4. 1S-Logan Schuchart[7]; 5. 83-Michael Kofoid[4]; 6. 17B-Bill Balog[8]; 7. 2C-Cole Macedo[9]; 8. 41-Carson Macedo[5]; 9. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[14]; 10. 23-Garet Williamson[16]; 11. 7S-Chris Windom[6]; 12. 15-Donny Schatz[20]; 13. 21H-Brady Bacon[12]; 14. 15S-Kerry Madsen[17]; 15. 6-Zach Hampton[11]; 16. 18-Cory Eliason[13]; 17. 99-Skylar Gee[18]; 18. 85J-Logan Julien[10]; 19. 2W-Scott Neitzel[15]; 20. G5-Gage Pulkrabek[19]; 21. 25-Danny Schlafer[21]; 22. O9-Clayton Rossmann[23]; 23. 7-Lance Fassbender[24]; 24. 28M-Conner Morrell[22]
