The World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series takes on the Dirt Track at Charlotte and Lawrenceburg Speedway
CONCORD, N.C. - May 21, 2015 - Brad Sweet, the reigning Kevin Grobecht Rookie of the Year recipient, entered 2015 with a new crew chief and a goal to build consistency and success.
With 27 World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series races in the books, Sweet sits third in the points and has two wins on the year - one at Volusia Speedway Park during DIRTcar Nationals and another at Calistoga Speedway. By any measure, the year has so far been successful for the second year team - especially when considering at this point last year, they sat sixth in the championship standings.
Sweet though continues to look ahead and focus on improving as the months wear on.
"I feel like we're doing a little bit better but we're not where we want to be, obviously," Sweet said. "Everybody is chasing the 15 at this point and I think for us, we'd just like to get a little bit more consistent for that second or third spot in points. Some of these tracks were a lot worse for us last year and we've done a little better this year. We're steadily getting better."
When you look at the competition, Sweet said, there are very few series competitors who are maintaining the right balance every night. Donny Schatz, with 10 wins so far this year and a perch atop the standings, is obviously one of those drivers he said, and Shane Stewart has been right behind.
For Sweet, the new year meant gelling with new crew chief Mike Carber and new crew members Austin Wenrich and Rob Beattie. The process has been an easy one, Sweet said.
"We have a good little team," Sweet said of his No. 49 crew. "We're tight with the 9 team - KKR, as a whole group, we're pretty close. We all rely on each other and work together. They're an upbeat group of guys which is good. You need that out here to get through the bad nights. They help me and I help them. We're just trying really hard and we're just trying to get better."
As he looks to build on the season's success one of the biggest challenges facing his Kasey Kahne Racing with Mike Curb team is successfully getting through the grueling summer months.
"That's the time that's going to make or break you," Sweet said. "That's where the money is made, that's where all the points are made. We will just keep working hard. We're a young team - we've shown a lot of promise. We'd like to win some more races of course and see what we can do."
Sweet and the rest of the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series head to the Dirt Track at Charlotte tomorrow and Lawrenceburg (Ind.) Speedway on Monday. For event information and to buy tickets to the Circle K/NOS Energy Outlaw Showdown at the Dirt Track at Charlotte on Friday, May 21, visit http://woosprint.com/the-dirt-track-at-charlotte. For more event information and to buy tickets to the Outlaws event at Lawrenceburg Speedway, visit http://woosprint.com/lawrenceburg-speedway.
ABOUT THE TRACKS
THE DIRT TRACK AT CHARLOTTE is a semi-banked, 4/10-mile oval. The track record of 11.880 seconds was established by Jeff Shepard on Oct. 6, 2001. For more event information, visit http://woosprint.com/the-dirt-track-at-charlotte.
Previous A-Feature Winners
2014 - Joey Saldana on May 23, Daryn Pittman on Nov. 7, Brian Brown Nov. 8
2013 - Paul McMahan on May 24, Donny Schatz on Nov. 8, Paul McMahan on Nov. 9
2012 - Joey Saldana on May 25, Sammy Swindell on Nov. 2, Dale Blaney on Nov. 3
2011 - Paul McMahan on May 28, Donny Schatz on Nov. 5, Donny Schatz on Nov. 6
2010 - Donny Schatz on May 29, Jason Meyers on Sept. 6, Jason Meyers on Sept. 6
2009 - Joey Saldana on May 22, Jason Meyers on Nov. 6, Joey Saldana on Nov. 7
2008 - Lance Dewease on May 23, Brooke Tatnell on Oct. 31, Donny Schatz on Nov. 1
2007 - Donny Schatz on May 25, Jason Meyers on Nov. 2, Steve Kinser on Nov. 3
2006 - Kevin Swindell on May 24
2003 - Blake Feese on May 24
2002 - Greg Hodnett on May 24, Greg Hodnett on May 25, Tyler Walker on Oct. 11, Daryn Pittman on Oct. 12
2001 - Danny Lasoski on May 26, Mark Kinser on May 26, Tim Shaffer on Oct. 5, Steve Kinser on Oct. 6
2000 - Sammy Swindell on May 25, Mark Kinser on May 26, Donny Schatz on Oct. 5, Mark Kinser on Oct. 6
LAWRENCEBURG SPEEDWAY is a high-banked, 3/8-mile oval. The track record of 11.628 seconds was established by Spud Gustin on Sept. 13, 2008. For more event information, visit http://woosprint.com/lawrenceburg-speedway.
Previous A-Feature Winners
2014 - Donny Schatz on May 26
2013 - Donny Schatz on May 27
2012 - Chad Kemenah on May 28
2009 - Joey Saldana on June 5, Donny Schatz on June 6
2006 - Jac Haudenschild on July 7
2005 - Kraig Kinser on Aug. 3
2004 - Danny Smith on May 6
2003 - Paul McMahan on May 6
1981 - Sammy Swindell on Aug. 21
1979 - Steve Kinser on May 11
DRIVER INFO
The following World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series drivers maintain websites:
Jacob Allen - Shark1s1a.com
David Gravel - DavidGravel89.com
Jason Johnson - JasonJohnsonRacing.com
Kraig Kinser - KraigKinser.com
Kerry Madsen - KenericRacing.com
Paul McMahan - PaulMcMahanRacing.com
Daryn Pittman - DarynPittman.com
Joey Saldana - JoeySaldanaRacing.com
Donny Schatz - DonnySchatz.com
Logan Schuchart - Shark1s1a.com
Jason Sides - SidesMotorsports.com
Shane Stewart - ShaneStewart.com
Brad Sweet - Bradsweetracing.com
For more driver information, visit: WoOsprint.com
SEASON WINNERS: Donny Schatz - 10 ( Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 14, Stockton Dirt Track on March 21, Silver Dollar Speedway on March 28, Placerville Speedway on April 8, Calistoga Speedway on April 12, Devil's Bowl Speedway on April 26, Eldora Speedway on May 8, Eldora Speedway on May 9, Williams Grove Speedway on May 15, Weedsport Speedway on May 17); Daryn Pittman - 3 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 13, Antioch Speedway on March 29, New Egypt Speedway on May 19); Shane Stewart - 3 (The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 5, Keller Auto Speedway on April 17, Salina Highbanks Speedway on May 1); Rico Abreu - 2 (Thunderbowl Raceway on March 14, Stockton Dirt Track on March 22); Paul McMahan - 2 (Perris Auto Speedway on April 18, Tri-State Speedway on May 3);Brad Sweet - 2 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 15, Calistoga Speedway on April 11); Christopher Bell - 1 (Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 on May 2); Brian Brown - 1 (USA Raceway on March 7); Greg Hodnett - 1 (Lincoln Speedway on May 13); Tim Kaeding - 1 (Thunderbowl Raceway on March 13); Terry McCarl - 1 (The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 5).
WATCH AND LISTEN LIVE: Watch Pay-Per-View and listen live to the World of Outlaws event at the Dirt Track at Charlotte onhttp://www.DIRTVision.com. Listen live for FREE to all the Outlaws action from Lawrenceburg Speedway on http://www.DIRTVision.com.
LIVE ONLINE UPDATES: Check out the Official World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series website at WoOsprint.com for live, interactive text updates of each race. It also includes driver biographies with statistics and pictures, race-by-race stats, detailed track information and race coverage, series news and team press releases.
GET SOCIAL: Follow the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series on Twitter at www.twitter.com/WorldofOutlaws, like it on Facebook at www.facebook.com/WorldofOutlaws, follow on Instagram at @WoOSprint or check out the latest videos on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/WorldofOutlaws.
UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series heads north to take on the Kistler Engines Classic at Attica (Ohio) Raceway Park on May 29 and the NAPA Auto Parts Rumble in Michigan at I-96 Speedway in Lake Odessa, Mich. on May 30.
- administrator on May 22, 2015
- Article Date: 5/22/2015