Dave Blaney shocks them on home turf at Sharon Speedway
On Saturday night, the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series unloaded in Hartford, Ohio. It was the first time the series has visited the track in 14 years.
Memories would soon be created for everyone in attendance as well as fans, worldwide. The track is owned by Dave Blaney himself.
The 58-year-old driver drove by Sheldon Haudenschild on the final lap of the event. The win comes 23 years after his last Outlaws win, a record gap.
With under 5 laps to go in the 35 lap main event, a caution flew. That setup a shootout for the victory at the 3/8-mile track.
Sheldon Haudenschild was glued to the cushion and driving away. As he drove into turn one on the final lap, he ran a little wide. Haudenschild then became stuck to the wall as he tried to exit turn two.
Blaney drove right by on the inside and the entire place erupted. He led the last half lap, taking the win at the line by just 0.802-seconds.
The crowd chanted and stomped the grandstands, “Blaney! Blaney!”
Blaney is the 1995 World of Outlaws champion. However, he’s not one a race with the series since Southern New Mexico Speedway back in 1997.
His son, Ryan Blaney stated via twitter, “HELLLLLL YEAH!!!!! That’s so badass. Damn, I love it. That’s emotional right there.”
Dave Blaney comments
“I feel like I had a Sprint Car career in the 90’s, but I don’t anymore,” Blaney stated.
“I just come out and play, nowadays. It’s not lost on me that winning a World of Outlaws race in this day and age is giant; especially at a track I’m part-owner at. The response was just overwhelming.”
The driver also broke the record for the longest gap from the first win to the last win. Blaney’s first win with the series came 36 years ago at Tri-City Speedway in Illinois.
He was two months away from becoming the oldest driver to ever win on the series. For now, Sammy Swindell still holds that line of the record books.
For Blaney, he saw it coming…
“Yeah, I can believe it actually,” Blaney told DIRTVision’s Chase Raudman. “I thought we had a car that could come here and be competitive. We’ve raced here quite a few times with this car and it’s ran really well. To have it actually work out is pretty crazy, though. This is really awesome.”
He added, “This is such a proud moment for us. This is a car we built ourselves and we just beat the Outlaws. Holy crap. It’s a dream come true, and it happened at my home track.”
“I knew that was my only chance,” Blaney said.
He concluded, “That caution saved us, no doubt. I could see him up there and the lappers were catching him on the bottom, so the top was slowing down. He wasn’t going to move off it, so I thought I had a chance if I could get alongside him. I thought we were dead with two to go, but that mistake all we needed.”
World of Outlaws
Sprint Car Series
Sharon Speedway
May 22, 2021
View full results from the Rossburg, Ohio dirt track below.
Hot Laps
Hot Laps (Combined) : 1. Spencer Bayston (12.730); 2. Carson Macedo (12.831); 3. Giovanni Scelzi (12.838); 4. Parker Price-Miller (12.844); 5. David Gravel (12.857); 6. Kerry Madsen (12.874); 7. Brock Zearfoss (12.876); 8. Logan Schuchart (12.877); 9. Aaron Reutzel (12.912); 10. Sam Hafertepe Jr (12.939);
11. Brian Brown; 12. Jason Sides; 13. Brad Sweet; 14. Tyler Courtney; 15. Jacob Allen; 16. Brent Marks; 17. James McFadden; 18. Daryn Pittman; 19. Zach Hampton; 20. Zeb Wise;
21. Rico Abreu; 22. Kraig Kinser; 23. Justin Peck; 24. Sheldon Haudenschild; 25. Donny Schatz; 26. Jac Haudenschild; 27. Ian Madsen; 28. Wayne Johnson; 29. Greg Wilson; 30. Cory Eliason;
31. Cole Macedo; 32. Paige Polyak; 33. Shawn Dancer; 34. Harli White; 35. Noah Gass; 36. Cole Duncan; 37. Bryce Schmitt;
Qualifying
Qualifying (2 Laps – Combined) : 1. 83-Aaron Reutzel, 13.342; 2. 2-David Gravel, 13.545; 3. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 13.573; 4. 42-Sye Lynch, 13.615; 5. 19-Brent Marks, 13.787; 6. 41-Carson Macedo, 13.872; 7. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 13.876; 8. 10-Dave Blaney, 13.903; 9. 15-Donny Schatz, 13.944; 10. 1A-Jacob Allen, 13.967;
11. 49-Brad Sweet, 13.972; 12. 70-Henry Malcuit, 14.128; 13. 9-James McFadden, 14.195; 14. 2C-Wayne Johnson, 14.212; 15. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss, 14.233; 16. 5K-Adam Kekich, 14.275; 17. 11-Carl Bowser, 14.616; 18. 12-Darin Gallagher, 14.689; 19. 22-Brandon Spithaler, 14.705; 20. 13-Brandon Matus, 14.764;
21. 40-George Hobaugh, 14.807; 22. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 15.044; 23. 29-Michael Bauer, 15.088; 24. 23-Darren Pifer, 15.458; 25. 33-Brent Matus, 16.006; 26. O8-Brandon Conkel, 16.415; 27. 47-Brett Brunkenhoefer, 18.529
Heat Races
Heat 1 (8 Laps – Top 6 Transfer, Top 2 to Dash) : 1. 83-Aaron Reutzel [1]; 2. 42-Sye Lynch [2]; 3. 1S-Logan Schuchart [3]; 4. 9-James McFadden [5]; 5. 11K-Kraig Kinser [8]; 6. 22-Brandon Spithaler [7]; 7. 5K-Adam Kekich [6]; 8. 1A-Jacob Allen [4]; 9. 33-Brent Matus [9]
Heat 2 (8 Laps – Top 6 Transfer, Top 2 to Dash) : 1. 2-David Gravel [1]; 2. 10-Dave Blaney [3]; 3. 19-Brent Marks [2]; 4. 49-Brad Sweet [4]; 5. 11-Carl Bowser [6]; 6. 13-Brandon Matus [7]; 7. 29-Michael Bauer [8]; 8. 2C-Wayne Johnson [5]; 9. O8-Brandon Conkel [9]
Heat 3 (8 Laps – Top 6 Transfer, Top 2 to Dash) : 1. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [1]; 2. 41-Carson Macedo [2]; 3. 40-George Hobaugh [7]; 4. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [5]; 5. 23-Darren Pifer [8]; 6. 70-Henry Malcuit [4]; 7. 12-Darin Gallagher [6]; 8. 15-Donny Schatz [3]; 9. 47-Brett Brunkenhoefer [9]
LCQ’s
B-Main 1 (10 Laps – Top 6 Transfer) : 1. 15-Donny Schatz [1][-]; 2. 29-Michael Bauer [4][-]; 3. 2C-Wayne Johnson [6][-]; 4. 5K-Adam Kekich [3][-]; 5. 1A-Jacob Allen [2][-]; 6. O8-Brandon Conkel [8][-]; 7. 12-Darin Gallagher [5][$300]; 8. 33-Brent Matus [7][$250]; 9. 47-Brett Brunkenhoefer [9][$225]
Dash
Dash (10 Laps – Sets front three rows) : 1. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [1]; 2. 83-Aaron Reutzel [4]; 3. 41-Carson Macedo [3]; 4. 10-Dave Blaney [6]; 5. 2-David Gravel [5]; 6. 42-Sye Lynch [2]
Sharon Speedway
WoO Sprint Car
Feature Results
May 22, 2021
35 Laps – $10,000 to win
Pos | Driver | Start | Earnings
1. 10-Dave Blaney
[4][$10,000]
2. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild
[1][$6,000]
3. 41-Carson Macedo
[3][$3,500]
4. 2-David Gravel
[5][$2,800]
5. 49-Brad Sweet
[11][$2,500]
6. 19-Brent Marks
[8][$2,300]
7. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss
[12][$2,200]
8. 1S-Logan Schuchart
[7][$2,100]
9. 11K-Kraig Kinser
[13][$2,050]
10. 9-James McFadden
[10][$2,000]
11. 15-Donny Schatz
[19][$1,600]
12. 2C-Wayne Johnson
[21][$1,400]
13. 40-George Hobaugh
[9][$1,200]
14. 11-Carl Bowser
[14][$1,100]
15. 42-Sye Lynch
[6][$1,050]
16. 13-Brandon Matus
[17][$1,000]
17. 23-Darren Pifer
[15][$1,000]
18. 22-Brandon Spithaler
[16][$1,000]
19. 5K-Adam Kekich
[22][$1,000]
20. O8-Brandon Conkel
[24][$1,000]
21. 29-Michael Bauer
[20][$1,000]
22. 83-Aaron Reutzel
[2][$1,000]
23. 1A-Jacob Allen
[23][$1,000]
24. 70-Henry Malcuit
[18][$1,000].
Lap Leaders: Sheldon Haudenschild 1-34, Dave Blaney 35.
KSE Hard Charger Award: 2C-Wayne Johnson[+9]
World of Outlaws
Sprint Car Series Points
After: Sharon (May 22, 2021)
Pos | Driver | Points | Wins
1. Brad Sweet
3656 | 9 Wins
2. David Gravel
3600 | 4 Wins
3. Carson Macedo
3570 | 3 Wins
4. Donny Schatz
3506
5. Sheldon Haudenschild
3492 | 3 Wins
6. Aaron Reutzel
3456 | 2 Wins
7. Logan Schuchart
3452 | 2 Wins
8. Kraig Kinser
3194
9. Borck Zearfoss
3128
10. James McFadden
3118 | 1 Win
11. Jacob Allen
2924
12. Wayne Johnson
2854
13. Giovanni Scelzi
2754
14. Jason Sides
2680
15. Mason Daniel
2520
16. Parker Price-Miller
2455
17. Brent Marks
2236 | 1 Win
18. Sam Hafertepe Jr
2222
19. Bill Rose
2160
20. Cory Eliason
1892