If the DIRTcar Nationals are any indication, the national Sprint Car season is going to be a dramatic wild ride.
Over 120 races
Two championships
28 full-time racers
True outlaws and Posse
Many of these storylines took root this past week at Volusia when David Gravel won his third Big Gator championship as the races were won by Brad Sweet, Gravel, Tyler Courtney and Sheldon Haudenschild — a 50/50 split of drivers from both tours.
How could anyone ignore the elephant in the room that was the emerging rivalry between the drivers who compete in the two series.
Sweet was awarded his fifth World of Outlaws championship ring on opening night and then proceeded to win in wire-to-wire fashion. Gravel went onto to win the next night in equally dominant fashion.
Sweet said after winning night one that he embraces any rivalry talk.
“We’ve had a lot of success in DIRTcar Nationals over the years and we took pride in that because World of Outlaws was the best racers, the best teams, and now we want to be that with where we’re going now,” Sweet said. “That’s a rivalry.”
Gravel said after winning night two that ‘we don’t want the High Limit guys to be able to come here and beat us.’
Then there was this.
It remains to be seen if the Sprint Car industry can sustain national two national tours or if the High Limit Racing charter system has longevity.
But, in this moment, having 50 or so marquee races and another championship to follow, not to mention the events where the new tour goes head-to-head with World of Outlaws, is all fun for the community.
“People got comfortable and we’ve shaken things up a little bit and there are going to be people who push back against change,” Sweet told Sportsnaut on Sunday. “We like the debate back and forth. We like when fans have a rooting interest when all the best teams from both sides come together.
“That’s a naturally evolving storyline we have all year and we didn’t have to fabricate it. It’s real.”
Really, the new status quo isn’t any different than the Outlaws versus the Pennsylvania Posse. We’ve now collectively entered the World of Outlaws versus High Limit era. And as long as that dynamic is contained to the race track, and not poisonously into business or management, maybe there is a pathway for both to thrive and grow together.
Gravel Makes Statement
Granted they had just come out of the gate with a third and first, but there was a moment where Big Game Motorsports team owner Tod Quiring walked over to David Gravel and the driver said with the utmost confidence, ‘yeah, we’re in a really good place.’
He said it in a way, not that he was telling the boss what he wanted to hear, but with absolute conviction.
Gravel then closed out the week at Volusia with a fifth and sixth, earning both the DIRTcar Nationals week long championship but also the World of Outlaws points lead after the first week of the season.
“Our car was good every time we hit the race track,” Gravel said. “Opening night, track prep through us for a loop and if we had just got a better handle of that, we could have gone even better. We qualified good, raced well, got through traffic good on Thursday. Really happy with everything.”
Again, it’s a long year and others are working to elevate themselves to their level but Gravel and Big Game have validated the expectations that the championship runs through them.
The Field
Gravel was the standout amongst the series regulars but there were some signs that it may not be the rout of a championship that many of predicting.
Again, this is one week at one track, but there are trends dating back to last season that portends potential for the weeks and months ahead.
For one, there’s Gio Scelzi and KCP Racing, who very well could have won the Saturday finale but faded in the final laps to fourth but still ended the week four three fourth places and a seventh. If he can turn some of these should have been wins into actual top steps of the podiums, there is breakout potential.
Donny Schatz, who is always good at Volusia but suffered an awful DIRTcar Nationals last year, looked resurgent in comparison this past week with finishes of 6, 5, 6 and 7, which is made more impressive considering he started no better than ninth all week.
He is racing better this week, and while it’s early, it’s a different looking TSR No. 15 after a winter of heavy testing and reshuffling of the cards.
Haudenschild capped off a week’s worth of struggles with a victory in the $20,000-to-win Volusia finale.
“Hats off to (Kyle) Ripper, Steve (Kinzer Dussel), and Luke (Vaughn),” Haudenschild said. “We had a hell of a week and a lot of work. They never gave up. We never give up and just keep on ripping.”
There’s never been a higher ceiling that also accompanies a low floor in just how boom or bust Lil Haud can be.
Buddy Kofoid blew two engines, a frequent issue for teams at Volusia in February, but rebounded with two top-5s to close out the week as well.
UPDATED STANDINGS
- David Gravel
- Tyler Courtney -8
- Giovanni Scelzi -14
- Rico Abreu -16
- Donny Schatz -18
- Brad Sweet -20
- Logan Schuchart -20
- Brian Brown -28
- Brent Marks -38
- Anthony Macri -50
- Justin Peck -62
- Carson Macedo -68
- Danny Dietrich -76
- Bill Balog -80
- Corey Day -80
- Sam Hafertepe -82
- Michael Kofoid -84
- Brock Zearfoss -84
- Zeb Wise -86
- Sheldon Haudenschild -102
Early Wicker Results
At least for the start of the season, World of Outlaws has mandated a maximum 1” wicker bill on top wings but it’s not clear what was learned through Volusia.
Rico Abreu said he felt a lot more wheel spin.
“Maneuverability was a lot more difficult,” Abreu said. “I honestly feel like the wing is a little bit, lot more sensitive. Last year, I was on it a lot more aggressively. We haven’t had slick slick track conditions either.”
Gravel echoed those sentiments to a point.
“It’s hard to say,” Gravel said. “The dirt here now is different than it’s ever been here, even compared to last year. There is less grip here in general, compounding that with a one inch wicker bill makes more wheel spin as well.
“Your first lap off a restart, you’re just spinning the tire all the way around the race track till you get enough speed build up that it puts the car in the track enough. That’s all I’ve noticed so far. It’s really hard to get your car into the track enough to run the bottom with less downforce. We’re really reliant on where the grip is.”
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.