WEST FARGO, N.D. — The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series season has built up the hunger for Sheldon Haudenschild.
He’s been piecing together one of the most consistent campaigns of his nine-year career with The Greatest Show on Dirt. The Stenhouse Jr.-Marshall Racing No. 17 is a steady force in the top 10.
But the son of the legendary Jac Haudenschild is accustomed to winning more. A year ago, the Wooster, Ohio, native came out of the gate on fire with seven checkered flags in the first 27 races. Heading into Saturday’s trip to Red River Valley Speedway, he’d been to victory lane just once through 26 nights of action. Haudenschild was ready to win again, and that’s exactly what he did.
The 31-year-old started on the front row of the Ellingson presents the Rumble on the Red and used the cushion to rip by Donny Schatz on the opening circuit. The 30-lapper went green to checkered, and Haudenschild held off an early challenge from Schatz and a late one from David Gravel for his second score of the year.
“I thought I saw someone’s nose peek under me, and I just figured it was time to start moving around a little bit,” Haudenschild explained. “I feel like I did it at the perfect time. Hats off to (Kyle) Ripper, Luke (Vaughn), and Jayce (Wallick). Man, running fifth, sixth, seventh is no fun. We’ve just stayed motivated through it knowing we’ve been fast. Happy to get a win for these guys.”
Haudenschild’s 44th career World of Outlaws victory put him back in a tie with fellow full-timer Logan Schuchart for 19th all-time.
The path to victory was paved by having a maneuverable machine. After wrestling the lead away early, he was able to move wherever necessary in traffic to get the job done.
“Really, I felt like you could move around and go fast either way honestly,” Haudenschild said. “I got Donny on the top there and was able to zing the top there then move down once it went away.”
The consistency for David Gravel and Big Game Motorsports just kept on rolling as Gravel took second from Schatz on Lap 26 and held on for his second straight runner-up finish.
“I felt pretty good there in stages,” Gravel said. “I felt like I needed some more grip and got the wing back. The car didn’t like it, so I moved it back forward and the car really came to life. I felt like we were just as good as Sheldon there at the end.”
After starting on the pole, Schatz brought the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing No. 15 home third to make it two consecutive podiums on home turf.
“We just tried to go wherever he wasn’t,” Schatz said. “He did a great job. He was a little bit better obviously. Maybe the Dash helped with being out there (on the outside). I used a tire up trying to get there. You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do. I guess it’s better than fourth or fifth, but it would’ve been nice to get a win tonight.”
Carson Macedo and Giovanni Scelzi completed the top five.
The finish:
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[2]; 2. 2-David Gravel[3]; 3. 15-Donny Schatz[1]; 4. 41-Carson Macedo[4]; 5. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[6]; 6. 3-Tim Kaeding[7]; 7. 83-Michael Kofoid[10]; 8. 23-Garet Williamson[8]; 9. 1S-Logan Schuchart[9]; 10. 7S-Chris Windom[12]; 11. 17B-Bill Balog[11]; 12. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[17]; 13. 25-Jy Corbett[16]; 14. 99-Skylar Gee[13]; 15. 24T-Christopher Thram[5]; 16. 8H-Jade Hastings[24]; 17. 64-Andy Pake[15]; 18. 2C-Cole Macedo[19]; 19. 13-Mark Dobmeier[18]; 20. 53-Jack Dover[22]; 21. G5-Gage Pulkrabek[20]; 22. 28M-Conner Morrell[14]; 23. 11M-Brendan Mullen[23]; 24. 27-Weston Olson[21]
