(Photo by Tylan Porath Photography)
Inside Line Promotions – BRANDON, S.D. (June 22, 2023) – James McFadden climbed onto the rear of his sprint car and gulped down a shoey in front of the packed grandstands Thursday evening at Huset’s Speedway, where the Australian was victorious during the second night of the 2nd annual BillionAuto.com Huset’s High Bank Nationals presented by MENARDS.
McFadden was awarded $20,000 for the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series triumph, which came a night after he was unable to make the A Main during the opening round of the four-day crown jewel event.
“After last night I was contemplating if I could drive a sprint car anymore,” he said. “I didn’t do a very good job last night. We worked hard. I felt really good all night and it shows. These (races) are tough to win so any time you can win one is great.”
Traffic played a role throughout the middle portion of the 35-lap feature. McFadden chased Roth Motorsports teammate Buddy Kofoid for the first 17 laps before he drove into the lead on the outside exiting turn two on Lap 18.
“Believe it or not this is probably one of the hardest tracks we come to for dirty air,” McFadden said. “It’s like you’re on a wakeboard boat, like there’s two wakes on either side. It’s super hard to get yourself in a position to slide them and get a run to pass them. I was hoping Buddy would do what he did and went to the bottom there to try to get a lapped car and it was enough for us to get a run.”
David Gravel made a bold move to advance from fourth to second on Lap 20 and then he reeled in McFadden. The top five nearly raced in a single-file line running the cushion as the laps winded down until the final caution occurred on Lap 31, when Kyle Larson spun while running 12th.
McFadden launched to a solid advantage on the restart, but Gravel clawed back to within striking distance before McFadden jumped the cushion in turns one and two on the final lap. Gravel, who also entered on the cushion, dove to the middle of the track exiting turn two before the duo raced down the backstretch. McFadden blocked the bottom lane and Gravel checked up, sliding to the cushion to get one last run on McFadden exiting turn four. McFadden held on to win by a car length.
“Man, I thought I threw it away there that last lap,” he said. “I just messed up there on that last lap and was lucky enough I was racing a guy like David and he’s super respectful. I was probably a little bit rude, but I didn’t want to lose 20 (thousand dollars) on the last lap like I did last year.”
Gravel finished second by less than two tenths of a second for the second straight night.
“Man, I really wanted to win that race,” he said. “James made that car about as wide as possible. He did nothing dirty. He’s protecting a win. This is four seconds in a row, probably all under half a second. Hopefully I’m saving the big one for Saturday.”
Kofoid placed third.
“That’s close to the best I’ve felt here in any sprint car,” he said. “I guess if I could have done it over again I would have stayed committed to the top. I tried the bottom to get by a lapper because I felt I wasn’t gaining much on them. I guess I should have stayed up and kept my momentum up.”
Logan Schuchart earned a fourth-place result and Shark Racing teammate Jacob Allen rounded out the top five.
Schuchart was the quickest qualifier out of the 54 drivers in time trials. The heat races were won by Noah Gass, McFadden, Lachlan McHugh, Bill Balog, Kerry Madsen and Carson Macedo. Dusty Zomer claimed the C Main and Cory Eliason captured the Last Chance Showdown.
Stay tuned to the World of Outlaws social media channels for the official event standings.
The final preliminary night of the BillionAuto.com Huset’s High Bank Nationals presented by MENARDS is Friday. The grandstands open at 4 p.m. with racing at 8 p.m.
Tickets can be purchased online at https://mpv.tickets.com/schedule/?agency=JKMV_PL_MPV&orgid=55369#/?view=list&includePackages=true.
NIGHT 2 OF THE BILLIONAUTO.COM HUSET’S HIGH BANK NATIONALS PRESENTED BY MENARDS RESULTS AT HUSET’S SPEEDWAY (June 22, 2023) –
World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series
NOS Energy Drink Feature (35 Laps): 1. 83-James McFadden (3); 2. 2-David Gravel (7); 3. 83JR-Michael Kofoid (1); 4. 1S-Logan Schuchart (5); 5. 1A-Jacob Allen (8); 6. 7BC-Tyler Courtney (9); 7. 5-Spencer Bayston (4); 8. 49-Brad Sweet (6); 9. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild (22); 10. 24-Rico Abreu (18); 11. 41-Carson Macedo (2); 12. 20G-Noah Gass (23); 13. 18-Giovanni Scelzi (13); 14. 9-Kasey Kahne (11); 15. 7S-Robbie Price (10); 16. 21-Brian Brown (14); 17. 5X-Kerry Madsen (24); 18. 15-Donny Schatz (16); 19. 88-Austin McCarl (15); 20. 6C-Carson McCarl (12); 21. 11S-Parker Price Miller (17); 22. 57-Kyle Larson (19); 23. 11-Cory Eliason (21); 24. 9R-Chase Randall (20).
Last Chance Showdown (12 Laps): 1. 11-Cory Eliason (2); 2. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild (1); 3. 20G-Noah Gass (4); 4. 5X-Kerry Madsen (9); 5. 25-Lachlan McHugh (6); 6. 17B-Bill Balog (7); 7. 29-Sye Lynch (5); 8. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr (13); 9. 5T-Ryan Timms (15); 10. 12-Tyler Drueke (10); 11. 24W-Garet Williamson (8); 12. 52-Blake Hahn (19); 13. 16-Brooke Tatnell (11); 14. 13-Mark Dobmeier (17); 15. 83H-Justin Henderson (14); 16. 81-Jack Dover (18); 17. 22-Riley Goodno (20); 18. 24T-Christopher Thram (16); 19. 3J-Dusty Zomer (21); 20. 14T-Tim Estenson (12); 21. 101-Cody Maroske (22); 22. 3-Tim Kaeding (3).
C Feature (10 Laps): 1. 3J-Dusty Zomer (1); 2. 101-Cody Maroske (3); 3. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss (4); 4. 19-Ayrton Gennetten (2); 5. 22K-Kaleb Johnson (7); 6. 17D-Ryan Bickett (8); 7. 105-Cody Ihlen (11); 8. 78-Bill Wagner (10); 9. 6-Bill Rose (5); 10. 2K-Kevin Ingle (12); 11. G5-Gage Pulkrabek (6); 12. 2AG-Trent Pigdon (9); 13. 11M-Brendan Mullen (13); 14. 01-Jim Enga (14).
Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 20G-Noah Gass (1); 2. 24-Rico Abreu (2); 3. 6C-Carson McCarl (3); 4. 7S-Robbie Price (4); 5. 1S-Logan Schuchart (6); 6. 11S-Parker Price Miller (5); 7. 81-Jack Dover (7); 8. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss (8); 9. 17D-Ryan Bickett (9).
Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 83-James McFadden (4); 2. 24W-Garet Williamson (1); 3. 29-Sye Lynch (2); 4. 83JR-Michael Kofoid (6); 5. 13-Mark Dobmeier (7); 6. 57-Kyle Larson (5); 7. 5T-Ryan Timms (3); 8. 6-Bill Rose (8); 9. 2AG-Trent Pigdon (9).
Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 25-Lachlan McHugh (1); 2. 3-Tim Kaeding (2); 3. 15-Donny Schatz (3); 4. 2-David Gravel (6); 5. 11-Cory Eliason (4); 6. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild (5); 7. 22-Riley Goodno (7); 8. 11M-Brendan Mullen (8); 9. 01-Jim Enga (9).
Heat 4 (10 Laps): 1. 17B-Bill Balog (1); 2. 18-Giovanni Scelzi (3); 3. 7BC-Tyler Courtney (4); 4. 12-Tyler Drueke (2); 5. 21-Brian Brown (5); 6. 9-Kasey Kahne (6); 7. 3J-Dusty Zomer (7); 8. G5-Gage Pulkrabek (8); 9. 78-Bill Wagner (9).
Heat 5 (10 Laps): 1. 5X-Kerry Madsen (1); 2. 5-Spencer Bayston (4); 3. 9R-Chase Randall (3); 4. 1A-Jacob Allen (6); 5. 88-Austin McCarl (5); 6. 24T-Christopher Thram (2); 7. 101-Cody Maroske (8); 8. 19-Ayrton Gennetten (7); 9. 105-Cody Ihlen (9).
Heat 6 (10 Laps): 1. 41-Carson Macedo (6); 2. 16-Brooke Tatnell (1); 3. 49-Brad Sweet (5); 4. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr (2); 5. 14T-Tim Estenson (3); 6. 52-Blake Hahn (7); 7. 83H-Justin Henderson (4); 8. 22K-Kaleb Johnson (8); 9. 2K-Kevin Ingle (9).
Qualifying: 1. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 00:10.851 (2); 2. 83JR-Michael Kofoid, 00:10.888 (35); 3. 2-David Gravel, 00:10.905 (17); 4. 9-Kasey Kahne, 00:10.909 (12); 5. 1A-Jacob Allen, 00:10.919 (18); 6. 41-Carson Macedo, 00:10.924 (20); 7. 11S-Parker Price Miller, 00:10.962 (5); 8. 57-Kyle Larson, 00:10.998 (37); 9. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 00:10.998 (10); 10. 21-Brian Brown, 00:11.012 (13); 11. 88-Austin McCarl, 00:11.017 (4); 12. 49-Brad Sweet, 00:11.033 (31); 13. 7S-Robbie Price, 00:11.034 (16); 14. 83-James McFadden, 00:11.035 (53); 15. 11-Cory Eliason, 00:11.046 (48); 16. 7BC-Tyler Courtney, 00:11.051 (43); 17. 5-Spencer Bayston, 00:11.056 (25); 18. 83H-Justin Henderson, 00:11.063 (21); 19. 6C-Carson McCarl, 00:11.067 (19); 20. 5T-Ryan Timms, 00:11.073 (23); 21. 15-Donny Schatz, 00:11.076 (50); 22. 18-Giovanni Scelzi, 00:11.079 (30); 23. 9R-Chase Randall, 00:11.080 (42); 24. 14T-Tim Estenson, 00:11.086 (40); 25. 24-Rico Abreu, 00:11.089 (47); 26. 29-Sye Lynch, 00:11.098 (7); 27. 3-Tim Kaeding, 00:11.100 (38); 28. 12-Tyler Drueke, 00:11.112 (32); 29. 24T-Christopher Thram, 00:11.115 (6); 30. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr, 00:11.131 (39); 31. 20G-Noah Gass, 00:11.134 (22); 32. 24W-Garet Williamson, 00:11.145 (36); 33. 25-Lachlan McHugh, 00:11.147 (26); 34. 17B-Bill Balog, 00:11.155 (14); 35. 5X-Kerry Madsen, 00:11.158 (34); 36. 16-Brooke Tatnell, 00:11.161 (44); 37. 81-Jack Dover, 00:11.202 (33); 38. 13-Mark Dobmeier, 00:11.209 (3); 39. 22-Riley Goodno, 00:11.218 (46); 40. 3J-Dusty Zomer, 00:11.230 (9); 41. 19-Ayrton Gennetten, 00:11.231 (52); 42. 52-Blake Hahn, 00:11.232 (1); 43. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss, 00:11.268 (15); 44. 6-Bill Rose, 00:11.293 (11); 45. 11M-Brendan Mullen, 00:11.316 (27); 46. G5-Gage Pulkrabek, 00:11.332 (24); 47. 101-Cody Maroske, 00:11.339 (41); 48. 22K-Kaleb Johnson, 00:11.382 (45); 49. 17D-Ryan Bickett, 00:11.421 (29); 50. 2AG-Trent Pigdon, 00:11.543 (51); 51. 01-Jim Enga, 00:12.134 (8); 52. 78-Bill Wagner, 00:12.651 (49); 53. 105-Cody Ihlen, 00:16.127 (28); 54. 2K-Kevin Ingle, 00:16.127 (54).
UP NEXT –
Friday and Saturday for the 2nd annual BillionAuto.com Huset’s High Bank Nationals presented by MENARDS with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series
ABOUT BILLIONAUTO.COM –
Henry Billion first opened Billion Motors in 1935 as a single, new car franchise in Sioux Falls, S.D. Today, Billion has 16 new car franchises and locations in South Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa. These locations include Sioux Falls, Worthing, Dell Rapids and Rapid City, S.D.; Sioux City, Iowa City and Clinton, Iowa, as well as Worthington, Minn.
Billion Automotive offers one of the most complete service facilities around, with multiple service departments, a full-service collision center and the largest parts department in the state of South Dakota. For more information, visit http://www.BillionAuto.com.
ABOUT MENARDS –
A family-owned company started in 1958, Menards® is headquartered in Eau Claire, Wisc., and has more than 300 home improvement stores located in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. For more information, visit http://www.Menards.com.
HUSET’S SPEEDWAY MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.HusetsSpeedway.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/HusetsSpeedwaySD
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/HusetsSpeedway
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/HusetsSpeedwaySD
HUSET’S SPEEDWAY –
Huset’s Speedway is a dirt oval located in Brandon, S.D. The track opened in 1954 and has undergone a large renovation within the last few years, making it a premier destination for both marquee racing events and weekly programs.
INSIDE LINE PROMOTIONS –
Inside Line Promotions specializes in affordable public relations and media management for motor sports drivers, teams, sponsors, tracks, series, events, organizations and manufacturers. ILP Founder Shawn Miller leverages professional journalism with new media technologies and social networking to improve your exposure and the return on investment for your sponsors.
To meet the media relations needs of your program by joining Team ILP, contact Shawn at 541-510-3663 or Shawn@InsideLinePromotions.com. For more information on Inside Line Promotions, visit http://www.InsideLinePromotions.com.
- Shawn Miller on Jun 23, 2023
- Article Date: 6/23/2023 by Inside Line Promotions