SPRING VALLEY, Minn. — The holiday weekend off was nice, but it’s time to get back to business for the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series.
The smoke has settled from Fourth of July fireworks, and the country’s best sprint car drivers are ready to get back on the dirt. Three nights in the USA’s northern reaches ignite the busiest stretch of the season for The Greatest Show on Dirt.
The tour is set to take on a grueling 10 races in 18 days through five states.
It all kicks off Thursday at Minnesota’s Deer Creek Speedway. The World of Outlaws head to the three-eighths-mile for the first time since 2017 and the ninth time overall.
Then, an overnight haul from the “Gopher State” to the “Badger State” leads to a weekend (July 11-12) at Wisconsin’s Wilmot Raceway for the Larry Hillerud Memorial Badger 40.
HOME WEEKEND
It would be difficult to pick a better pair of weekends to bookend the break for Bill Balog. Two nights at Cedar Lake Speedway sent the tour into the off week, and Wilmot means another weekend on home turf awaits.
The “North Pole Nightmare’s” résumé boasts 21 Wilmot wins with the Interstate Racing Association. Balog also owns a non-winged sprint victory at the third-mile dirt track. He nearly beat the All Star Circuit of Champions at Wilmot in 2014 with a runner-up, and his best World of Outlaws finish there is seventh on two occasions.
Balog’s four World of Outlaws races in Wisconsin this year have resulted in a trio of top 10s with a best of fifth at Cedar Lake.
Thursday’s destination might not be in Balog’s home state, but he does have Deer Creek experience.
The “Gopher State” track is responsible for a pair of his more than 100 feature wins with IRA.
NEW WINNER
Fans watching Thursday’s return to Deer Creek are nearly guaranteed to witness a new winner at the track.
No current full-time competitor with the Series has topped a World of Outlaws feature at the Spring Valley, Minn., oval. The first two belonged to Joey Saldana, and he’s since been joined on the win list by Steve Kinser, Craig Dollansky, Ian Madsen, Paul McMahan, Brad Sweet and Kraig Kinser.
That means many titans of the sport will be looking to add their name to the list. Drivers such as David Gravel, Donny Schatz, Carson Macedo, Michael “Buddy” Kofoid, Sheldon Haudenschild, and more have the chance to etch themselves into the Deer Creek history books on Thursday, but there can only be one.
GRAVEL’S GROUND
Put David Gravel in any sprint car at Wilmot, and history suggests he’s going to be fast.
The defending World of Outlaws champion has raced at the Wisconsin track for five different teams and won with three of them. He took Roth Motorsports to Wilmot victory lane in 2014, won two in a row with CJB Motorsports in 2016 and 2017, and led all 40 laps in 2020 with Jason Johnson Racing.
Oddly enough, that leaves the team where he’s done the majority of his winning, Big Game Motorsports, off the list. Gravel has made five Wilmot appearances since climbing aboard Tod Quiring’s No. 2 and collected three top fives with a best of third last year. He’ll have two chances to make Big Game the fourth team he’s won with this weekend. They’ve already topped 10 races together in as they pursue another title.
WINNING IN WILMOT
Carson Macedo pieced together a statement stretch at the “Badger State” facility from 2022 through 2024. He and Jason Johnson Racing won three consecutive races as Macedo joined Gravel as the second competitor to take three straight.
The Lemoore, Calif., native has finished in the top two in five of his last six Wilmot appearances.
Macedo’s streak was stopped by 10-time series champion Donny Schatz. The 47-year-old dominated the Badger 40 finale last year aboard the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing No. 15.
That marked his second Wilmot win to go along with one in 2019. Schatz hasn’t finished worse than ninth in 13 tries at the track and has been in the top five in nine of them.
CLOSE CALLS
The list of competitors among this year’s roster to have won at one or both tracks ahead may be short, but several of them have had performances that give reason for optimism.
Sheldon Haudenschild’s only trip to Deer Creek led to a 2017 top five. Over at Wilmot, he’s been in the top 10 during all 13 of his attempts, including four podiums, peaking at second in 2016 with ASCoC.
Logan Schuchart landed on the Wilmot podium twice. He was third in 2020 before improving to runner-up in 2021 with Shark Racing. The only spot on the podium left to reach is the top one.
Chris Windom’s Deer Creek experience is limited to the non-winged variety, picking up a top five there in 2014 with the USAC National sprint cars.
With wings at Wilmot, “Big Daddy” has finished second in his last two appearances – 2021 with IRA and 2023 with ASCoC.
Hunter Schuerenberg finished one position behind Windom in 2014 with USAC at Deer Creek. He’s also been fast at Wilmot with three podium finishes and all of them coming with his current team, Vermeer Motorsports.
“Buddy” Kofoid has never been to Deer Creek, but his two previous Wilmot visits with Roth Motorsports resulted in top fives. Last year, he was runner-up on night one of the Badger 40 before leading laps and finishing fourth the following evening.
TIME IS NOW
Momentum is critical in the sport of sprint car racing, and now is the time for teams to begin building some if they haven’t already.
Some of the year’s biggest events are right around the corner. Next week features both the Ohio Logistics Brad Doty Classic presented by dac Vitamins and Minerals at Attica Raceway Park (July 15) and the 42nd running of the Kings Royal at Eldora Speedway (July 18-19). The latter will hand out a record $200,000 to the winner.
Just a little farther down the road is Williams Grove Speedway’s $20,000-to-win C&D Rigging Summer Nationals (July 25-26), which also serves as the final chance for the World of Outlaws to get laps at “The Grove” ahead of October’s $75,000-to-win National Open.
August opens with the Ironman 55 (Aug. 1-2) and a $25,000 check. Then, a week later, it’s the 64th NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s (Aug. 6-9) where sprint car immortality and $195,000 are on the line.
