YORK HAVEN, Pa.: James McFadden entered Wednesday’s World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series event at BAPS Motor Speedway with a little bit of incentive.
A short 24 hours earlier, McFadden was contending for the win at Lernerville Speedway. Contact took place between the Australian driver and Tyler Courtney, which took McFadden out of the running.
So, when he lined up for the 30-Lap Bricker’s Bash, he was on a mission, and he wasn’t going to be denied. McFadden rose to the challenge, passing Gio Scelzi at the midway point and dominating the remaining laps to secure the $12,000 victory.
“I feel like we’ve been really solid the last month or two and just haven’t finished it off for whatever reason,” McFadden said. “Last night (Tuesday), I felt unbelievable with my car. Today, I watched it, and I don’t really know. I guess I ran him out of room ... just disappointed we didn’t get to complete that race and battle for the lead.
“We rolled the car out tonight exactly how we had it at Lernerville and felt comfortable and were fast all night. We, basically, rolled out for the feature with the same setup and felt really good, so hopefully, that means we’ve come across a comfortable spot with the car.
“To win tonight is great. To win any night is great, but to win with World of Outlaws means a lot. It’s something I dreamed about growing up, and to win with them in central Pennsylvania was really cool.”
Scelzi drove away in the Dash and earned the right to start on the pole for the main event. McFadden and King’s Royal victor David Gravel followed close behind as the laps clicked by.
The first caution of the event came out on the seventh circuit, when Mark Smith rolled to a stop on the frontstretch. Scelzi used the clean air to his advantage and pulled out to a .955-second lead by the time Lap 12 was scored.
But McFadden kept nailing the bottom and chipping away at the lead. He closed to within three tenths on Lap 14, and blasted around the bottom of Turns 3 and 4 to wrestle the top spot away one lap later by .032 seconds at the stripe.
Gravel followed McFadden’s lead and took second in lapped traffic on the 19th circuit. The World of Outlaws point leader got a crack at McFadden on a Lap 24 restart after the red flag was thrown for a crash involving Scelzi and Brad Sweet.
McFadden was too good when the race went back to green. He drove away at the finish and claimed his 12th World of Outlaws win by 2.039 seconds at the finish.
Gravel settled for second, with Sheldon Haudenschild completing the podium Brock Zearfoss had his first top five of the season with the series, and Cory Eliason completed the top five.
Local standout Chase Dietz set quick time for the 33-car field. Dietz, Scelzi, Haudenschild, and Gravel were heat winners. Kody Hartlaub won the Last Chance Showdown.
410 Sprint Car Feature Finish, 30 Laps: 1. James McFadden; 2. David Gravel; 3. Sheldon Haudenschild; 4. Brock Zearfoss; 5. Cory Eliason; 6. Chase Dietz; 7. Logan Schuchart; 8. Donny Schatz; 9. Anthony Macri; 10. Devon Borden; 11. Troy Wagaman Jr.; 12. Buddy Kofoid; 13. Carson Macedo; 14. Bill Balog; 15. Freddie Rahmer; 16. Gio Scelzi; 17. Danny Dietrich; 18. Aaron Bollinger; 19. Tyler Ross; 20. Brad Sweet; 21. Lucas Wolfe; 22. Kody Hartlaub; 23. Jacob Allen; 24. Mark Smith; 25. Brett Strickler.
- April Clark on Jul 26, 2024
- Article Date: 7/26/2024