MECHANICSBURG, Pa. — The 61st Champion Racing National Open has come and gone, marking the end of the season of weekly racing at Williams Grove Speedway and the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series’ final trip of the year to the half-mile dirt oval.
With Friday’s $10,000-to-win preliminary feature rained out, it set up a doubleheader on Saturday night.
Brent Marks scampered away in the closing laps to earn his second National Open triumph, banking $75,000. World of Outlaws regular Brad Sweet won the preliminary feature.
Word From The Pits
With rain putting a lid on Friday’s main event, track and series officials planned to run the 25-lap event prior to the National Open finale.
Though when a revised schedule was presented to the 52 drivers and teams entered, the proposed schedule was not well received. The consensus was teams didn’t want to risk tearing up equipment in the prelim, therefore risking their shot at the $75,000 finale prize.
As a result, the 25-lapper was moved to the end of the program, 30 minutes after the conclusion of the National Open.
Seeing Red
Carson Macedo’s night was eventful from start to finish. After starting 12th in the 40-lap feature, Macedo vaulted inside the top 10 quickly.
Though a blown engine on the white-flag lap put the No. 41 Jason Johnson Racing team in a difficult situation.
Having around 30 minutes to swap out their entire motor before heading out for the 25-lap prelim, Macedo wasn’t pleased with the predicament.
“Killer for points, obviously, and then running in the top 10 at the National Open and end up blowing, not very ideal. Just a tough deal,” Macedo told SPEED SPORT.
“You gave us no time really to try and get prepared for the second feature. We barely got the motor changed in time, didn’t really get to fire it or anything like that.
“Then we’re slamming the hood on just getting back out so we’re not late to staging.”
Rushing to get the No. 41 out on track in time proved to be successful for the JJR team, as Macedo hit the track in time to keep his third starting position.
From there, Macedo morphed his frustrations into a positive as he ran runner-up to Sweet.
“I think I was just upset. That probably drove me to run even harder and better,” Macedo admitted. “The way the track ended up it was kind of like rewarded you, the harder you ran, at least in (turns) three and four. One and two, you had to slow down a little bit to run the top good.
“I was probably overdriving it early and that was probably costing me a little bit. I think I just tried my best to put my best foot forward,” Macedo continued. “Try and wipe my slate clean, give it the best start I could off of four and then wait for other people to make mistakes.
“Ultimately we were able to capitalize, and I’m pretty happy about that.”
Sweet Surging Toward Another Title
Sweet continued his hunt for a fifth consecutive World of Outlaws title, notching his third Williams Grove victory in the last two seasons.
More importantly on Saturday, Sweet outpaced title rival David Gravel in both features, as Sweet finished a solid fifth in the National Open finale as well.
Now, the Kasey Kahne Racing driver holds a firm 90-point advantage over Gravel with only six races left before the World Finals at The Dirt Track at Charlotte (N.C.).
“We’ll keep plugging away though. I mean, our car’s really good, I’m having a lot of fun right now,” Sweet said after his prelim win.
“This team’s gelling, we got confidence, the NAPA Auto Parts car is in contention to win every time we hit the track, so that’s all you can ask for.”
Final Observation
During an open red flag on lap 15, Kreitz Racing’s Daryn Pittman held command of the top spot. The majority of the chatter on the PA speaker was the possibility of Pittman, a part-time racer, finally breaking through at the National Open.
Stats were rattled off for all fans to hear. For instance, Pittman finishing second five times in four different cars in the historic event and the possibility of him adding another Williams Grove victory to the 17 he won earlier in his career.
All the chatter was for not, as the 2013 World of Outlaws champ relinquished the lead with 18 laps to go, and finished second to Marks.
When posed a question post-race whether runs like Saturday’s would lead to him competing in more events, Pittman smiled and stated, “”No, unfortunately it’s not.”
“Too busy at work and priorities have changed. I still love racing, still love competing,” Pittman said. “This is why I still do it. I haven’t been competing as good as I’d like.
“When I stop being able to contend for wins, I’ll be done.”
Pittman did, however, leave the door open to another National Open chase.
“It was fun to come out here and compete, prove that we can still compete for wins and get close to winning crown jewels of the sport,” Pittman said. “Maybe I’ll just try again next year.”