By Jacob Hord
For the first time in 31 years, the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars took to the 4/10’s mile of Millstream Speedway on Friday night, the tracks biggest event since their reopening in June of 2024. Promoted by Sheldon Haudenschild, it was touted as the Buckeye Brawl, and paid $17,000 to the winner. Here are some notes, takeaways, thoughts, etc. from the event.
Race Recap: It was championship contenders Buddy Kofoid and David Gravel on the front row, with Garet Williamson Logan Schuchart, and Sheldon Haudenschild behind them for the 30 lap feature. There was a stack-up on the start mid-pack, and the yellow flew as Emerson Axsom had a flat right front tire. Rerack and try again. Kofoid slid to the lead on the start ahead of Gravel, but the yellow would come out again on lap two as Cap Henry got spun around in turn four after contact with Kasey Jedrzejek as they were battling in the top ten.
On the ensuing restart, Gravel took the lead, but Kofoid was all over him, and would retake the lead going into turns three and four. By lap five, Kofoid’s lead was 1.279 seconds. Kofoid would reach lapped traffic two laps later, and Gravel would start reeling him in. On lap ten, as Kofoid and Gravel were navigated heavy lapped traffic, Gravel would take the lead. Gravel would put .691 seconds on Kofoid as Carson Macedo was inching closer towards second.
At the halfway point, the lead was hovering around the half-second mark, but lapped traffic was lighter for Gravel. The yellow would come out two laps later, as third-running Macedo’s right rear tire exploded. It was all Gravel on the restart, as Schuchart, Jedrzejek, and Haudenschild were all elbows-out for the fourth spot. That came to an end though, as the red flag came out when Macedo’s night went from bad to worse. Macedo and Kerry Madsen came together in turns three and four, sending Madsen into the fence and Macedo tipping over.
The restart was another good one for Gravel, but it was almost bad for Kofoid, but he was able to hold on to the second spot. Gravel quickly built a 1.31 second lead, but on lap 22, the yellow came out for the final time as Cap Henry slowed on the backstretch. Gravel got another good restart, but Kofoid was close enough to take a peak at the lead, but clean air was clean for Gravel. With five laps left, the lead for Gravel was 1.25 seconds. Gravel encountered lapped traffic late, and Kofoid cut the lead down to .562 seconds, but the sand ran out of the hour glass and Gravel picked up his 16th win of the season, bolstering his championship lead. Kofoid, Schuchart, Williamson and Jedrzejek rounded out the top five.
All Eyes on Millstream: When it was announced that Millstream would host the Buckeye Brawl, truthfully, I was skeptical. There have been some notable hiccups in the road as the Cogley’s have learned about running a racetrack, so to see an Outlaw race get scheduled, I was surprised. It was a big risk that had good upside, but a lot of downside. With no other national series or local races in the area, all eyes would be on Millstream on Friday night, and they had to get it right. In my opinion, it was a make or break kind of night for Millstream. If it was a night full of hiccups, it would be tough to recover in the public eye and on social media.
I showed up to the track mid-afternoon, and it was the best the track has looked pre-hotlaps in the four or five races I’ve seen there since last June. It was well-watered, smooth, and they weren’t scrambling to work the track before engine heat. The track developed character through hotlaps and qualifying, and the bottom was a little better during the heat races. There wasn’t a lot of passing in the heat races, but we could see the heat races, which was a plus. I would watch cars go into turns three and four side by side, and in theory, the car on top should’ve had a run off of the exit of four, and that car would, but it would fizzle out early in the backstretch because there was still lots of grip on the bottom. Clean air could’ve played a part in that as well. Alas, things were shaping up to have a good feature with multiple lanes, just like the FAST show in early August. The feature had its ebbs and flows, like most races do. As I was leaving the track, I thought to myself “that was kind of a boring night, but that’s exactly what Millstream needed.” There were no shenanigans, scrambling, etc. It was a well-ran show, probably the most well-ran show they’ve had. It was a capacity crowd, and they were treated to a good show.
Notes:
- Kasey Jedrzejek carried the flag for the locals with his fifth-place finish, his best career finish with the Outlaws. He timed in well, transferred through his heat, and started inside the top ten. He wasn’t afraid to throw sliders with the best drivers, and his battle with Haudenschild and Schuchart was fun to watch, even garnering a post-race fist bump from Haudenschild. Good, clean, hard racing from the youngster. His future is bright, and hopefully Friday night turned some heads.
- Keith Sheffer won the Great Lakes Traditional Sprints non-wing feature in nose-to-tail fashion with second place Dustin Ingle. The wrinkle being Sheffer won by 18 seconds. Ingle was one car-length away from being lapped when the checkered flag flew. It was one of the most dominating performances I’ve seen ever. A proper ass-whooping.
- It was Donny Schatz’s first night in the Sides/JVI 15 machine, his ride for the rest of the Outlaw season. They missed a little bit in Qualifying, timing in 20th out of 29 cars, but he rebounded in his heat race, and went 17th -> 10th in the feature, but was running P7 at one point before fading at the end. It was a good starting point for Schatz and Co. It was a quick turnaround for the Sides team. I talked to crew member Jimmy Fitzwater pre-race. He said the 7S team departed Tulare Saturday night and drove 28 hours straight to the team shop in Memphis Tennessee, arriving Monday morning at 8am. They then built Schatz’s car in two and a half days before towing up to Millstream. Hopefully the team gets to catch up on some sleep this week.
- It was almost weird going to an Outlaw race where the locals have a lot more experience at the track than the Outlaws. The results just go to show how good the Outlaws are night in and night out. They’re the best of the best for a reason.