FINDLAY, Ohio — Sheldon Haudenschild cares deeply for his Ohio roots and continuing the state’s rich sprint car racing tradition.
The Wooster, Ohio, native’s passion will be on display this weekend as he’s bringing the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series to his home state for a tripleheader at three different race tracks.
Sheldon Haudenschild’s NOS Energy Drink Buckeye Brawl Weekend sets the stage for a big trip to the “Buckeye State.”
All three races will dish out $18,000 to the winner, a nod to Haudenschild’s car number with KCP Racing.
The brawl begins at Findlay’s Millstream Speedway on Thursday, Oct. 8. The tour returned last year for the first time since 1994 and is back for a second consecutive season.
Round two takes The Greatest Show on Dirt to Mansfield Speedway on Friday, Oct. 9. Matt Tift and his team revived the historic track and are ready to welcome the World of Outlaws for the first time in 45 years.
The “Buckeye State” showcase is finalized on Saturday, Oct. 10, at Hartford’s Sharon Speedway as the World of Outlaws makes its 16th stop at the northeast Ohio facility.
HAUD’S HOMECOMING
The KCP Racing pit area will be busy all three nights this week.
Sheldon Haudenschild has amassed one of the most passionate followings in the sport, and it’s felt nowhere more than when he comes home. The Ohio fans watched his dad Jac Haudenschild ride the Haud Line to 72 World of Outlaws victories and many more accolades, and they’ve watched Sheldon follow in his footsteps in carving out his own legacy. He’s up to 55 career wins with nine of them coming this year, his first campaign with the KCP team.
Haudenschild would love nothing more than to add to that total this week. He’s won before at Millstream, topping a 2016 All Star Circuit of Champions visit. Friday will mark his debut at Mansfield. He bagged a Sharon trophy with ASCoC in 2015 at the Lou Blaney Memorial. In World of Outlaws competition, he’s finished on the podium in four of his six tries.
THREE-PEAT WITHIN REACH
David Gravel is closing in on history.
A rough stretch in California for the two-time opened the door for Michael “Buddy” Kofoid’s championship hopes, but Gravel did his best to shut it as the scene shifted east. A win and a fourth at Williams Grove Speedway’s National Open upped his point lead to 142 with just 10 races remaining.
If he can hold on, he’ll join Steve Kinser, Donny Schatz, and Brad Sweet as only the fourth driver to ever claim three consecutive titles.
Don’t expect Gravel to stumble on Thursday as he enters Millstream as the defending winner at the track. The Watertown, Conn., ace will make his first Mansfield laps the next night. He and Big Game Motorsports have been stellar at Sharon with a 2.8 average finish in six tries, highlighted by a 2024 triumph.
HOME AWAY FROM HOME
A trio of California-born World of Outlaws competitors (Buddy Kofoid, Carson Macedo, and Cole Macedo) consider Ohio a home away from home and look forward to any swing through the state. All three are united in the Linder family providing them a place to stay as they expanded their racing careers eastward.
Kofoid sits second in the standings heading to Ohio during his third tour with Roth Motorsports. His Millstream debut a year ago resulted in a runner-up finish.
The time with the Linders led him to making one prior appearance at Mansfield, a fourth-place effort in 2019. He’s made four Sharon appearances, peaking at second last year.
Carson Macedo resides fourth in points, a manageable 32 markers back of Sheldon Haudenschild for third. His three trips to Millstream yielded a best finish of ninth last year in the Jason Johnson Racing No. 41.
The Lemoore, Calif., native owns more Mansfield experience than most of his fellow World of Outlaws drivers with five starts leading to three podiums, including a 2018 Sprint Car World Championship prelim score. None of Macedo’s 10 Sharon feature starts have resulted in a win, but he’s been on the podium on four occasions.
Cole Macedo’s sophomore World of Outlaws season sees him sitting eighth in the standings, which would mark a two-spot improvement over his rookie campaign if he can stay there. He took the TwoC Racing ride from 14th to seventh at Millstream last year. He’ll get his first look at Mansfield Saturday.
Last year in his seventh Sharon appearance, the 26-year-old started on the pole and finished a solid sixth.
DOGFIGHT FOR EIGHTH
Cole Macedo leads the most hotly contested battle in the points. Spots eight through 12 are separated by only 120 markers. The point fund and exclusivity bonus pay $70,000 more to finish eighth over 12th, so the five drivers in this fight will be scratching and clawing for every point they can get.
Behind Macedo, next in line is Spencer Bayston as his first year with Stenhouse Jr./Marshall Racing winds down. He won the season opener and has piled up 32 top 10s. He trails Macedo by 62.
Then it’s leading Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year presented by Five Star Bodies contender Emerson Axsom 16 markers behind Bayston. Axsom and the Klaasmeyer/Petry Motorsports team have found some speed over the last couple months with 13 top 10s in 17 races, highlighted by Axsom’s first World of Outlaws win at Huset’s Speedway.
Only two points behind Axsom is Bill Balog. The “North Pole Nightmare” has dealt with several cases of bad luck recently, but his speed over that time suggests it wouldn’t be a surprise at all if the No. 17b breaks through into victory lane soon.
Rounding out the group is series sophomore Chris Windom with 40 markers separating him from Balog. He got his first career victory in August at I-55 and picked up a pair of podiums last month in the Sides Motorsports No. 7s.
BUCKEYE BRAWLERS
The World of Outlaws will have a group of talented “Buckeyes” ready to brawl this week with hopes of battling the best of the best for wins on the sport’s biggest stage.
Dale Blaney may only show up at Sharon, but he’s likely to make the most of that appearance. Last year he wheeled his brother Dave’s No. 10 to an extremely popular win at their home track, becoming the oldest victor in series history at 61 years old.
Nate Dussel has won at both Mansfield and Sharon this year. He’s topped a pair of FAST races at Mansfield and beat the ASCoC at Sharon in August.
Cap Henry is always one to watch when the World of Outlaws roll into his local region. He’s won nine 410 sprintc races in 2026, including Mansfield’s season opener in May.
These three will be joined by plenty more local gassers looking to impress under the bright lights.
