Logan Schuchart's Uphill Battle Ends In Canadian Supremacy
Logan Schuchart's Uphill Battle Ends In Canadian Supremacy
Logan Schuchart had a week he would like to forget in the United States, but a trip to Canada proved to be a balm for his troubled soul.
Logan "The Shark" Schuchart grabbed his first win in Canada and beat points leader Donny Schatz to do it at the Six Nations Showdown on Tuesday. Schuchart gained the lead through a superior run in lapped traffic at Ohsweken (Ontario) Speedway en route to capturing his fourth World Of Outlaws victory of the season.
This win comes after a few hard weeks for the No. 1s team as it searches for an additional full-time crew member. Last week, it had to push-start its hauler after a starter went out in order to even get a chance to race at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, PA. Schuchart finished 23rd in that race and was 16th three nights later at Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, PA.
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/lschuchart1s/status/888158782857109504" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/lschuchart1s/status/887326994286997504" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
Schuchart credited his success on Tuesday night to Ohsweken Speedway's slick surface, which he said perfectly fit his style of racing.
"I love these types of racetracks, not just because we ran well on it tonight. I love slick racetracks," Schuchart said in Victory Lane. "I love when you have to drive the car straight and smooth. I feel like it makes it fun. Obviously, if you're not running good it's not fun, but if you can glide around the racetrack, be smooth and have forward drive, it's fun."
Schatz claimed the lead early after starting on the pole. He won the Dash after a full-field inversion set his No. 15 on the front row. As Schatz pulled away from the majority of the field, Schuchart was the only driver capable of keeping him in sight. While the two leaders battled through lapped traffic, Schatz gave up the bottom line to make a pass on a lapped car. This freed the fast lane for Schuchart to pull up and pull ahead, passing for the lead.
"I was having trouble catching Donny when we were in an open run," Schuchart admitted. "It wasn't until we got to lapped traffic, I felt like, that some lapped cars made him go where he didn't want to. I could just move around a little bit more than he could and go through the middle. When some lapped cars took his line away, I just felt like I was able to get the forward drive off the corners to get by him."
From lap nine until the end, Schuchart held his lead. He faced an early challenge when Sheldon Haudenschild brought out a caution with a right rear flat. The spectators' eyes focused back on the third and fourth positions where Greg Wilson and Kyle Larson, respectively, jockeyed for position. Wilson ended up the victor of that battle and grabbed the final podium slot.
"We've been struggling pretty bad lately, so I can't thank the folks at Hercules Tires, Ohio Logistics, DNC Hydraulics, Gear Alloy, and Weikel Sportswear (enough) for staying with us," Wilson said. "This is always an amazing show. [Track owner] Glenn [Styres] and the whole crew gave us an excellent racetrack. It's fun. I wish some other tracks in the country would take a look at this. I realize we're not going 100 mph, but there's racing all over the racetrack and that's what it's about."
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/kylelarsonracin/status/889850882124378112" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
Larson settled for a fourth-place finish after winning in a 360 sprint the night before at the track.
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/kylelarsonracin/status/890212019978350592" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
Schuchart was able to hold on to the lead through another series of lapped cars and eventually extended his lead over Schatz and the rest of the field to 5.9 seconds.
Schatz had less flexibility in where he could run with his race car, costing him what would've been his 16th World of Outlaws win.
"We got beat," Schatz said. "Logan was really good. He could go all over. Obviously, we got to traffic and you have to move around. We did that a little bit, and he found the better groove. Those guys rolled pretty good, and I couldn't stay down there very well. I had to roll the middle and do what I could. These guys did a great job, Logan was just that good tonight."
The top five was rounded out by Dylan Westbrook, a 19-year-old driver who was making his World of Outlaws debut. The newcomer advanced 11 positions from 16th to fifth.
Top 10 Finishers
1. Logan Schuchart
2. Donny Schatz
3. Greg Wilson
4. Kyle Larson
5. Dylan Westbrook
6. David Gravel
7. Ryan Susice
8. Brad Sweet
9. Kraig Kinser
10. Parker Price-Miller
Complete Results, with heat finishes
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This win comes after a few hard weeks for the No. 1s team as it searches for an additional full-time crew member. Last week, it had to push-start its hauler after a starter went out in order to even get a chance to race at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, PA. Schuchart finished 23rd in that race and was 16th three nights later at Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, PA.
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/lschuchart1s/status/888158782857109504" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/lschuchart1s/status/887326994286997504" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
Schuchart credited his success on Tuesday night to Ohsweken Speedway's slick surface, which he said perfectly fit his style of racing.
"I love these types of racetracks, not just because we ran well on it tonight. I love slick racetracks," Schuchart said in Victory Lane. "I love when you have to drive the car straight and smooth. I feel like it makes it fun. Obviously, if you're not running good it's not fun, but if you can glide around the racetrack, be smooth and have forward drive, it's fun."
Schatz claimed the lead early after starting on the pole. He won the Dash after a full-field inversion set his No. 15 on the front row. As Schatz pulled away from the majority of the field, Schuchart was the only driver capable of keeping him in sight. While the two leaders battled through lapped traffic, Schatz gave up the bottom line to make a pass on a lapped car. This freed the fast lane for Schuchart to pull up and pull ahead, passing for the lead.
"I was having trouble catching Donny when we were in an open run," Schuchart admitted. "It wasn't until we got to lapped traffic, I felt like, that some lapped cars made him go where he didn't want to. I could just move around a little bit more than he could and go through the middle. When some lapped cars took his line away, I just felt like I was able to get the forward drive off the corners to get by him."
From lap nine until the end, Schuchart held his lead. He faced an early challenge when Sheldon Haudenschild brought out a caution with a right rear flat. The spectators' eyes focused back on the third and fourth positions where Greg Wilson and Kyle Larson, respectively, jockeyed for position. Wilson ended up the victor of that battle and grabbed the final podium slot.
"We've been struggling pretty bad lately, so I can't thank the folks at Hercules Tires, Ohio Logistics, DNC Hydraulics, Gear Alloy, and Weikel Sportswear (enough) for staying with us," Wilson said. "This is always an amazing show. [Track owner] Glenn [Styres] and the whole crew gave us an excellent racetrack. It's fun. I wish some other tracks in the country would take a look at this. I realize we're not going 100 mph, but there's racing all over the racetrack and that's what it's about."
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/kylelarsonracin/status/889850882124378112" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
Larson settled for a fourth-place finish after winning in a 360 sprint the night before at the track.
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/kylelarsonracin/status/890212019978350592" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
Schuchart was able to hold on to the lead through another series of lapped cars and eventually extended his lead over Schatz and the rest of the field to 5.9 seconds.
Schatz had less flexibility in where he could run with his race car, costing him what would've been his 16th World of Outlaws win.
"We got beat," Schatz said. "Logan was really good. He could go all over. Obviously, we got to traffic and you have to move around. We did that a little bit, and he found the better groove. Those guys rolled pretty good, and I couldn't stay down there very well. I had to roll the middle and do what I could. These guys did a great job, Logan was just that good tonight."
The top five was rounded out by Dylan Westbrook, a 19-year-old driver who was making his World of Outlaws debut. The newcomer advanced 11 positions from 16th to fifth.
Top 10 Finishers
1. Logan Schuchart
2. Donny Schatz
3. Greg Wilson
4. Kyle Larson
5. Dylan Westbrook
6. David Gravel
7. Ryan Susice
8. Brad Sweet
9. Kraig Kinser
10. Parker Price-Miller
Complete Results, with heat finishes
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