By Tony Veneziano

Jason Johnson was victorious in each of the two main events leading up to Saturday’s finale of the 40th annual AGCO Jackson Nationals at Jackson Motorplex in Minnesota and was in line for a clean sweep of the weekend. That was, until nine-time and defending World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series champion Donny Schatz swooped in, taking the $40,000 top prize in the finale of the three-day event, which was condensed into a two-day show. 

Earlier in the week, Sheldon Haudenschild returned to victory lane in Illinois. The series heads to Schatz’s home state of North Dakota this coming weekend for a pair of races.

Day/night doubleheader

After rain postponed the opener of the Jackson Nationals on Thursday, a day/night doubleheader was run on Saturday to make that race up. Drivers raved about the daytime racing surface at Jackson, which produced a very raceable track. Jacob Allen led the first half of the race before Johnson got by him in traffic to pick up the win. The Friday portion of the show was run as originally scheduled.

Double digits

The win for Schatz added to the list of marquee events he has won in his career with the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series. For the nine-time and defending series champion, the win also was his 10th of the season in just the 27th race of the year, making it the fastest he has ever reached double-digit wins in his career.

Nearly perfect weekend

Johnson followed up his pair of wins in the two prelim features of the Jackson Nationals by leading the first 17 laps of the 40-lap finale. The veteran driver ended up finishing second. Johnson led a total of 48 laps in the three features over the course of the weekend. The wins were his first two of the season and helped him move up to fourth in the series standings.

A good recovery

Brad Sweet finished on the podium in each of the first two features at Jackson, to extend his streak to five straight races on the podium at the track, dating back to last year. In the finale, Sweet was battling among the top three when a spin led to heavy contact with the wall, which broke the front axle on his car. A trip to the work area, saw several teams chip to him to get the car repaired and back on the track. Sweet would then carve his way through the field to finish seventh.

Passing plenty of cars

David Gravel earned the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger Award in each of the first two main events at Jackson. In the opener, he came from 12th to fourth and on Saturday afternoon powered his way from 21st to 12th. In the finale, Gravel crossed the line fourth.

Closing in on a win

Allen continued his strong start to the month of June, this time at Jackson Motorplex. Following a runner-up finish earlier in the week in Illinois, the Pennsylvania native led the opening 14 laps on Saturday afternoon en route to another second-place finish as he chases his first Outlaws win. The second-generation driver followed that up with a top-10 finish in the finale of the Jackson Nationals. Allen’s teammate, Logan Schuchart, picked up a pair of top-five finishes in both races on Saturday.

Sixth sense

Tim Kaeding finished sixth on Saturday afternoon and again was sixth in the finale that evening. The Jackson Nationals marked his first two starts of the season in the Midwest and the first two races for the Lunstra Motorsports team, for whom he used to drive. The California native has been racing mainly in his home state this season.

Thanks to EVERYONE who joined us for a big @WorldofOutlaws weekend at the Jackson Nationals! Congrats to @DonnySchatz & @TonyStewart_Rcg on the $40,000 victory! #WoOCraftSCS pic.twitter.com/5XJ206BiZD

— DIRTVision.com (@dirtvision) June 10, 2018

A solid weekend

Jason Sides ran among the top 10 in two of the three feature races at Jackson. The veteran driver was seventh in the opener and ninth in the finale. He also was among the top five in his respective flight of time trials in both of the preliminary events.

A new track record

Lynton Jeffrey set a new track record in time trials on Friday at the Jackson Motorplex. The opener of the Jackson Nationals marked the first time the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series had competed on the reconfigured 4/10-mile layout at the track. The event also came after a significant amount of rain the night before made the track lightning fast. In the afternoon portion of the doubleheader on Saturday, Jeffrey again set a new track record, besting his previous mark by nearly 0.3 of a second.

All-important event points

Brian Brown put himself in a good position for the finale of the Jackson Nationals by earning a solid number of event points in the opening two races, which were used to set the lineups for the finale. Brown ran fifth in the opener and was 10th on Saturday afternoon, which earned him enough points to be among the four drivers locked in the dash later that night. Brown wrapped up the weekend by finishing on the podium in third.

Tough end to the weekend

Daryn Pittman finished among the top five in each of the first two features at Jackson. In the finale, he was battling in the top five when contact with another car led to him getting into the wall, which caused too much damage to continue.

Back on track

Sheldon Haudenschild returned to victory lane at Fairbury American Legion Speedway in Illinois last Tuesday, which marked his fourth win of the season but first since March 24 in California. The fourth-generation driver took the lead on the fourth lap and paced the remainder of the 40-lap contest. Haudenschild had led 150 laps of A-Feature competition this season, which tops the leaderboard.

A night to remember

Allen had one of the best nights of his career at Fairbury. He opened the night by turning the fastest lap in time trials and was nearly 0.3 of a second faster than the next quickest qualifier, Kyle Larson. Allen was the only driver in the 10-second bracket. He followed that up with a heat race win, which put him in the dash. Allen ended up matching his career-best finish with a second-place effort in the 40-lap main event.

Nice recovery

Larson fell out of the top 10 early in the race and then a spun; however, he recovered just past the halfway point to finish third. Larson and Brent Marks both spun to avoid a lapped car and were able to do 360s and keep going, which allowed them to keep their spot in the running order on the restart. Late in the race, Larson had a torrid battle with fellow Californian Cory Eliason for the third spot.

A solid debut

Cory Eliason made his first visit to Fairbury and wound up with a fourth-place finish. For the Californian, who scored his first career Outlaws win earlier this season, it was his sixth top-five finish of the season with the series.

Top-five streak continues

Brent Marks extended his string of top-five finishes to three at Fairbury. Following a charge from 22nd to fifth at I-96 Speedway on June 1, Marks picked up his first Outlaws win at Wilmot Raceway on June 2. The Pennsylvania native ran fifth at Fairbury, coming from the 14th starting spot.

He does it again! @JasonJohnsonRac takes his son Jaxx up top after scoring back-to-back #WoOCraftSCS wins during the @AGCOcorp Jackson Nationals at @jacksonmotorplx! pic.twitter.com/y7H5MAecl5

— World of Outlaws (@WorldofOutlaws) June 9, 2018

Hard charger

David Gravel earned the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger Award at Fairbury as he powered his way from the 22nd starting spot to finish 10th. For Gravel, it was his third Hard Charger Award of the season.

Points update

Schatz continues to lead the series standings, but Sweet gained some ground on Saturday afternoon when he finished 10 spots ahead of the point leader. The gap between the two is now 82 markers. Gravel remains solidly in the third spot. Johnson moved up a couple of spots to fourth and is now 26 points ahead of Daryn Pittman. Shane Stewart is sixth, 12 makers behind Pittman. Sheldon Haudenschild currently is seventh, with Schuchart eighth, rookie Ian Madsen ninth, and Kraig Kinser moved back into 10th.

Up next

The World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series travels to North Dakota for a pair of races. First up is the 1st Leg of the Northern Tour at the always thrilling River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks on Friday, June 15. Gravel won in June last year at the track, while Schatz was victorious in August. That same night, Schatz also won the NLRA Late Model Series companion race. Schatz leads all drivers with nine World of Outlaws wins at the track. On Sunday, June 17, the Outlaws head to Nodak Speedway in Minot for the Magic City Showdown. Gravel won at the 3/8-mile last year to snap Schatz’s five-race win streak, at the latter’s home track.