CONCORD, N.C. – Aaron Reutzel may have set the fastest overall qualifying time for the Can-Am World Finals at The Dirt Track at Charlotte, but the star of Thursday night’s festivities was Logan Schuchart.
Schuchart topped his qualifying flight for both Friday and Saturday’s World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series programs, with a lap of 12.774 seconds (109.065 mph) serving as his best lap of the night and putting him at the head of the overall time sheets for Friday night’s sprint car field.
His lap during Saturday qualifying of 12.785 seconds (108.971 mph) was good enough for second-quick on that side of the coin and best among the Flight-B qualifiers.
Schuchart’s double-fast-time performance came just hours after his Shark Racing team’s main sponsor, Drydene Performance Products, announced a new product line and unveiled new schemes for Schuchart and teammate Jacob Allen.
“I think Drydene should make a big announcement every year. It seems like every year they do – last year and this year – we have a good performance,” Schuchart said. “It’s just a great start. We’ve been fast here in Charlotte, but we haven’t always been able to qualify. We race well, but struggle a little bit in qualifying. We did the first part. Thursday is done, we’re starting up front Friday and Saturday, so that’s a start. But there is still the rest of the night to go.
“It’s still going to be tough, but we have a big advantage starting up front.”
Reutzel’s time of 12.737 seconds (109.382 mph) in Saturday Flight A was the fastest sprint car lap turned on the night and made the Clute, Texas driver the overall fast qualifier for the Nov. 9 program.
The two-time defending All Star Circuit of Champions titlist is seeking his second World of Outlaws sprint car victory of the season and admitted he didn’t put a lot of input into the stellar qualifying lap.
“The car is really good. That was a good, smooth lap right there,” said Reutzel. “It’s pretty much all about the race car there. It’s an easy line; you know which line to run (as a driver). There is nothing technical about it. That was all race car there.”
Trailing Schuchart in Friday’s Flight-A qualifying order were David Gravel, Ian Madsen, Paige Polyak and Gio Scelzi, while Friday Flight-B qualifying was led by Kerry Madsen at 12.927 seconds.
Zeb Wise, Reutzel, Donny Schatz and Sheldon Haudenschild followed Madsen in the Friday Flight-B rundown.
Wise was second to Reutzel in Saturday Flight-A qualifying, with Jacob Allen, point leader Brad Sweet and Carson Macedo filling out the top five.
Saturday Flight-B saw Gravel come in second to Schuchart again, followed by Gio Scelzi, Madsen and Brian Brown.
Friday’s World Finals program for the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars features a full lineup of heat races, followed by D-main, C-main, and Last Chance Showdown action. The night for the winged warriors is capped off by a 30-lap main event at the four-tenths-mile dirt oval.
To view complete qualifying results, advance to the next page.