BARBERVILLE, FL - February 9, 2018 - Sheldon Haudenschild passed race-long leader Paul McMahan on a Lap 27 restart to win his first career World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series Feature in thrilling fashion at the DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park. Haudenschild, in his first Outlaw start with the Stenhouse Jr.-Marshall Racing No.17, assumed the runner-up position with three laps remaining after Ian Madsen caught the rut in turn one and landed on his side. The 2017 Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year muscled his way underneath McMahan, who was nursing a flat tire, on the restart and never looked back for a popular victory in front of the standing room only crowd. McMahan held on for second with Shane Stewart completing the podium.
McMahan won the Craftsman Club Dash, earning him the pole on the opening night of the 2018 World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series 40th Anniversary Season alongside Madsen. McMahan, in search of his first Outlaw win since 2015, was strong all night and led the opening lap before a Red Flag for David Gravel and Tim Shaffer halted the action. Gravel and Shaffer were both uninjured, but the accident scene took some time to clean up, providing the first Open Red of the 2018 Season.
When action resumed, McMahan continued to show the way in his new ride for 2018, the Tom Buch 13. McMahan navigated traffic masterfully and survived another restart with 11 to go as Madsen threatened to take the lead.
With three laps remaining Madsen bounced hard in the looming rut in turn one and lost the handle of the KCP Racing No.18. That was all that Sheldon Haudenschild needed. Haudenschild pounced on McMahan down the backstretch, overtook the veteran and went on to win by 1.418 seconds.
“That was the plan. I saw [McMahan] had a tire going down. I wanted to square the car up and get underneath him on the backstretch,” an elated Haudenschild said in Victory Lane. “This team works incredibly hard. I can’t thank Stenhouse Jr.-Marshall and NOS Energy enough,” Sheldon added.
Obviously disappointed, McMahan also referenced his flat tire but credited Haudenschild for driving a great race. Stewart, who failed to qualify for last night’s All-Star Feature, was pleased with his team’s rebound effort. “I’ll take a podium finish on the first night. That is way better than we have been here in the past,” Stewart said with a smile.
Donny Schatz maintained his DIRTcar Nationals points lead coming from 14th to fourth with California’s Cory Eliason coming home an impressive fifth.
A DIRTcar Nationals event high 35 cars signed into action with Logan Schuchart setting fast time with a blistering lap of 12.975. Brent Marks scored the KSE Hard Charger Award coming from 25th to finish in the top ten.
- administrator on Feb 12, 2018
- Article Date: 2/9/2018