Sweet Kicks Off Great Lakes Shootout By Topping 50-Plus Drivers During Opening Night Friday

Story By: SHAWN MILLER / JACKSON MOTORPLEX – JACKSON, MN – Brad Sweet emerged victorious on Friday evening at Jackson Motorplex, which welcomed nearly 60 of the best winged sprint car drivers in the country for the opening round of the Great Lakes Shootout presented by Tweeter Contracting and Harvey’s Five Star Roofing.

Sweet, who is the defending AGCO Jackson Nationals winner at the 4/10-mile dirt track, capitalized on a late-race move in traffic to lead the final eight laps of the $5,000-to-win, 25-lap main event featuring the Outlaw Sprints Fueled by Casey’s General Stores 410 winged sprint cars and the Bumper to Bumper IRA Outlaw Sprint Series.

“I thought the race was really good,” Sweet said in Victory Lane during an interview that was broadcast to the viewers watching live on Speed Shift TV. No spectators were allowed inside the facility because of the impact of COVID-19.

Sweet started sixth and gained a spot on the opening lap. He powered into third place by the time Sheldon Haudenschild passed Donny Schatz for the lead on Lap 11. Sweet took second from Schatz on Lap 13 and reeled in Haudenschild in traffic as the final 23 laps of the race went non-stop.

Five laps later Haudenschild slipped off the bottom in turn four, providing the opportunity for Sweet to rocket into the lead. He then held the bottom groove for the final eight laps and won by less than seven tenths of a second.

“I was lucky to get a couple of breaks in traffic,” Sweet said. “(Sheldon) made one small mistake and luckily we were there to capitalize.”

Haudenschild finished second with Schatz third, Kasey Kahne fourth and Ian Madsen fifth.

Schatz and Daryn Pittman each set quick time in their qualifying groups before Schatz, Zeb Wise, Tony Knight, Lynton Jeffrey, Bill Balog and Mark Dobmeier each won a heat race. Schatz and Madsen were the dash winners. Jason Sides and Cory Eliason each claimed a B Main triumph.

The Great Lakes Shootout presented by Tweeter Contracting and Harvey’s Five Star Roofing is scheduled to conclude on Saturday, capped with a $7,000-to-win main event. The pits will open at 2 p.m. (Central) with hot laps beginning at 6:30 p.m. (Central).

As a reminder, no spectators are allowed in the grandstands or the pits. All CDC guidelines will be enforced and teams will be required to park a minimum of 15 feet apart as well as practice social distancing.

Speed Shift TV is providing a live video stream of the action at http://www.SpeedShiftTV.com.

RACE REPORT: JACKSON MOTORPLEX IN JACKSON, MINN. (May 15, 2020) –

CASEY’S GENERAL STORES 410 WINGED SPRINT CARS

A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 49-Brad Sweet (6); 2. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild (3); 3. 15-Donny Schatz (1); 4. 9-Kasey Kahne (5); 5. 18-Ian Madsen (2); 6. 83-Daryn Pittman (8); 7. 3-Tim Kaeding (14); 8. 2M-Kerry Madsen (16); 9. 17B-Bill Balog (10); 10. 11-Zeb Wise (7); 11. 57-Kyle Larson (13); 12. 87-Aaron Reutzel (15); 13. 04-Tony Knight (11); 14. 26-Cory Eliason (20); 15. 09-Matt Juhl (9); 16. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss (18); 17. 14T-Tony Stewart (23); 18. 7S-Jason Sides (19); 19. 13-Mark Dobmeier (12); 20. 2-Carson Macedo (24); 21. 16-Brooke Tatnell (21); 22. 14-Parker Price Miller (22); 23. 7-Justin Henderson (17); 24. (DNF) 83R-Lynton Jeffrey (4).

B Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 7S-Jason Sides (1); 2. 16-Brooke Tatnell (2); 3. 14T-Tony Stewart (6); 4. 21-Brian Brown (5); 5. 4-Terry McCarl (7); 6. 17W-Shane Golobic (4); 7. 56N-Davey Heskin (8); 8. 14X-Jody Rosenboom (9); 9. 23-Russel Borland (14); 10. 73AF-Joey Moughan (12); 11. 44-Chris Martin (10); 12. 88-Kyle Offill (16); 13. 97-Alan Gilbertson (17); 14. 45H-Jeff Halligan (11); 15. 14M-Jack Routson (15); 16. 33-James Broty (3); 17. 35Q-Zach Hampton (19); 18. 2K-Kevin Engle (18); 19. 20S-Kevin Seidler (20); 20. 14R-Sean Rayhall (13).

B Feature 2 (15 Laps): 1. 26-Cory Eliason (1); 2. 14-Parker Price Miller (3); 3. 2-Carson Macedo (6); 4. 44S-Trey Starks (7); 5. 39M-Anthony Macri (8); 6. 17A-Austin McCarl (2); 7. 2KS-Chad Boespflug (4); 8. 73-Jake Blackhurst (5); 9. 91-Anthony Fiore (9); 10. 33M-Mason Daniel (14); 11. 27-Tucker Klaasmeyer (11); 12. 5J-Jeremy Schultz (15); 13. 24-Rico Abreu (10); 14. 14K-Victoria (Tori) Knutson (18); 15. 11M-Brendan Mullen (13); 16. 05-Colin Smith (12); 17. 25-Danny Schlafer (17); 18. (DNS) 55-Hunter Schuerenberg; 19. (DNS) 15S-Christian Bowman; 20. (DNS) 35-Skylar Prochaska.

Dash 1 (6 Laps): 1. 15-Donny Schatz (1); 2. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild (5); 3. 9-Kasey Kahne (4); 4. 11-Zeb Wise (6); 5. 09-Matt Juhl (2); 6. 04-Tony Knight (3).

Dash 2 (6 Laps): 1. 18-Ian Madsen (3); 2. 83R-Lynton Jeffrey (1); 3. 49-Brad Sweet (6); 4. 83-Daryn Pittman (5); 5. 17B-Bill Balog (2); 6. 13-Mark Dobmeier (4).

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 15-Donny Schatz (4); 2. 9-Kasey Kahne (2); 3. 87-Aaron Reutzel (5); 4. 33-James Broty (3); 5. 14T-Tony Stewart (6); 6. 56N-Davey Heskin (7); 7. 44-Chris Martin (1); 8. 14M-Jack Routson (10); 9. 88-Kyle Offill (8).

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 11-Zeb Wise (1); 2. 09-Matt Juhl (2); 3. 7-Justin Henderson (5); 4. 17W-Shane Golobic (7); 5. 21-Brian Brown (3); 6. 7S-Jason Sides (4); 7. 45H-Jeff Halligan (8); 8. 23-Russel Borland (6); 9. 97-Alan Gilbertson (9); 10. 20S-Kevin Seidler (10).

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 04-Tony Knight (2); 2. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild (3); 3. 57-Kyle Larson (1); 4. 16-Brooke Tatnell (4); 5. 4-Terry McCarl (6); 6. 14X-Jody Rosenboom (7); 7. 73AF-Joey Moughan (8); 8. 14R-Sean Rayhall (5); 9. 2K-Kevin Engle (9).

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 83R-Lynton Jeffrey (1); 2. 3-Tim Kaeding (3); 3. 83-Daryn Pittman (4); 4. 14-Parker Price Miller (5); 5. 2-Carson Macedo (6); 6. 39M-Anthony Macri (7); 7. 24-Rico Abreu (2); 8. 33M-Mason Daniel (9); 9. (DNF) 55-Hunter Schuerenberg (8).

Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 17B-Bill Balog (1); 2. 49-Brad Sweet (4); 3. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss (2); 4. 2KS-Chad Boespflug (5); 5. 26-Cory Eliason (3); 6. 91-Anthony Fiore (7); 7. 27-Tucker Klaasmeyer (6); 8. 11M-Brendan Mullen (8); 9. 14K-Victoria (Tori) Knutson (9).

Heat 6 (8 Laps): 1. 13-Mark Dobmeier (3); 2. 2M-Kerry Madsen (1); 3. 18-Ian Madsen (4); 4. 17A-Austin McCarl (2); 5. 73-Jake Blackhurst (5); 6. 44S-Trey Starks (6); 7. 05-Colin Smith (7); 8. 5J-Jeremy Schultz (9); 9. 25-Danny Schlafer (8).