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PUNCING ON THE POSE: Brad Sweet dominates Williams Grove for fourth win of the season
Sweet takes his second win at Williams Grove by leading every lap
MECHANICSBURG, PA (May 12, 2023) – Brad Sweet put his hand to his ear and stuck his tongue out as he stood atop his wing Friday night at Williams Grove Speedway.
The fans fell silent. But “The Big Cat” knew there would be minimal applause. The truth is, he expected more boos than he got.
After all, the Pennsylvania Posse were forced to watch a World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car driver park in Victory Lane at one of their proudest tracks. Sweet dominated on his way to victory in the historic half-mile, leading all 25 laps of the opening night Morgan Cup Feature.
Why not play the rivalry game after such a perfect performance?
“I was looking forward to getting booed,” Sweet said with a smile. “But they (the crowd) are kind of quiet. I don’t know if they’re blown away or what.”
The Grass Valley, CA native has won twice at “The Grove,” adding Friday’s triumph to last year’s Summer Nationals crown. Sweet needed more than 50 tries to add a Williams Grove win to his list of accomplishments. It only took him three more tries to tally a second at the Mechanicsburg, PA oval.
Sweet is now tied for most Feature wins this season with four, and his 83rd career win with Kasey Kahne Racing with the Series moves him within one of tying Stevie Smith for 10th all-time the times
“The guys gave me a great race car,” Sweet said. “Tonight we were on the second row in the Heat (Race) and we were able to get to the Dash and draw number one. I think that was the key to winning. I don’t know if we had the best car. I’ll go back and look, but the the last few laps I struggled a little bit. I don’t know if I was trying too hard or what the guys behind me were doing. I’m excited to get to Victory Lane.”
Winning the Toyota Dash was exactly what set Sweet up for success. Once the green flag waved, Sweet never looked back from the pole position. At the race’s opening green flag, Sweet moved ahead in the #49 Napa Auto Parts.
Although a handful of caution periods slowed the early part of the race, Sweet was untroubled on each restart. The 37-year-old pulled away with ease every time the green flag waved. Then, halfway through the race, when it looked like traffic was going to become a factor, another yellow flag waved, giving him clean air once again. The caution was welcome for Sweet.
“I’ll be honest. I didn’t feel like I was going to have much luck getting past them in traffic,” admitted Sweet. That hole on (Turn) 3 just scared me all night. We tried something a little different for the A (main) and I’m not sure it was really good for running the bottom like we were on the Dash. My car seemed to be better at the top, but I was happy to get out of it (traffic) and focus on trying to get a really good restart. I didn’t want to leave myself open.”
That late caution effectively sealed the deal as Sweet excelled on another restart. Ultimately, the four-time Series champion would go on to take the checkered flag by more than two seconds.
Behind him provided plenty of drama for second place. Rico Abreu held on for much of the start after starting on pole. But in the end challengers emerged.
Brent Marks slid past Abreu on the late restart to take command of second. The Myerstown, PA native did everything in his power behind the wheel to make a run for Sweet, but it just wasn’t enough. The runner-up finish was Marks’ second in a row after finishing second in Lincoln on Wednesday. The reigning Morgan Cup champion came away buoyed by the knowledge that he is not far from a victory.
“We’re very happy with our program right now,” Marks said. “We were still just a tick there. We’re just missing one very small thing, and I think we’re dialing it in. I wish we had a chance to try and give Brad a run for his money, but we just never got the traffic going tonight”.
Shortly after Marks was charged by Abreu, Donny Schatz did the same in his Tony Stewart/Curb Agajanian Racing #15. The 10-time champion rolled the bottom without a problem throughout the race in his charge from starting sixth to the podium. Schatz now has 56 podiums in World of Outlaws competition at Williams Grove alone. The Fargo, ND native has finished in the top three in three of the last four races. Despite the encouraging stretch, Schatz is looking for a little more comfort behind the wheel.
“We invented some places,” Schatz said. “That’s what you’ve got to do. Guys keep making big changes there. I can’t seem to slow down when I need to, and I can’t speed up when I need to go. But we’re digging in and working on it. We’re doing great job. Scuba (Steve Swenson), he’s pulling everything he can out of the hat. They’re doing what they can. It’s a decent race here to get us a decent place.”
Completing the top five, Rico Abreu and Anthony Macri. Sweet’s win extended his lead to 36 points over David Gravel (who finished sixth) in the championship standings. Carson Macedo (ninth finish) is not far behind in third, 46 points behind Sweet.
The Feature’s KSE Racing hard charger went to Freddie Rahmer with a 21-12 drive aboard the #8 Eichelberger.
The night started with David Gravel claiming his fourth Simpson QuickTime of the year and 101 of his career.
CAS No.1 Engine Oil Heat One went to Justin Peck (sixth career Heat win). NOS Energy Drink Heats Two through Four were topped by Carson Macedo (87th career), Rico Abreu (36th career) and Anthony Macri (8th career).
Freddie Rahmer won the MicroLite Last Chance Showdown.
UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars returns to Williams Grove for the Morgan Cup Final on Saturday, May 13. For tickets, CLICK HERE.
If you can’t make it to the track, watch all the action live on DIRTVision.
RESULTS:
A feature (25 laps): 1. 49-Brad Sweet[1]; 2. 19-Brent brands[3]; 3. 15-Donny Schatz[6]; 4. 24-Rico Abreu[2]; 5. 39M-Antoni Macri[8]; 6. 2-David Grava[5]; 7. 69K-Lance Dewease[13]; 8. 13-Justin Peck[7]; 9. 41-Carson Macedo[4]; 10. 1S-Logan Schchart[10]; 11. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[17]; 12. 8-Freddie Rahmer[21]; 13. 44-Dylan Norris[12]; 14. 11-Cory Eliason[14]; 15. 48-Danny Dietrich[24]; 16. 12-Billy Dietrich[19]; 17. 99M-Kyle Moody[18]; 18. 5-Spencer Bayston[20]; 19. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[16]; 20. 11T-TJ Short[22]; 21. 5C-Dylan Cisney[26]; 22. 23-Devon Borden[25]; 23. 91-Kyle Reinhardt[9]; 24. 7S-Robbie Price[23]; 25. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[15]; 26. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[11]
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