NAPA AUTO PARTS No. 49 Team Punches In 14th Victory of Season at Lernerville
The NAPA AUTO PARTS No. 49 team traveled with the World of Outlaws to Pennsylvania for three nights of racing action and scored their 14th win of the 2021 season Tuesday night at Lernerville Speedway.
The Kasey Kahne Racing (KKR) team kicked off the week Tuesday night at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, PA, qualifying third overall with a time of 12.586 seconds. Brad Sweet started on the pole of Drydene heat race three and went on to win it, transferring into the Fast Pass Dash.
Sweet ended up drawing the two pill out of the NOS Energy Drink can for his starting spot; he finished third after eight laps around Lernerville Speedway. The NAPA AUTO PARTS / KKR No. 49 started third in the 40-lap Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup. As soon as the leaders closed in on lap traffic, Sweet was able to capitalize and pass Gravel for second. On the restart after a red flag, Sweet made a bid for the lead by sliding Lynch in turns one and two, but Lynch was strong off the top. They put on a great battle for a couple of laps before Sweet took the lead with 29 laps to go. The No. 49 team took the win by over 5.3 seconds at the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup, earning $25,000 with the win. It was the NAPA AUTO PARTS / KKR No. 49’s 14th win of the 2021 season.
“My NAPA AUTO PARTS car is really fast right now and I had a great car all night,” Sweet said. “I’m really looking forward to the rest of summer. I almost gave it away with about five to go when I went off the backstretch.”
What he didn’t know is, at that point, he had an over seven-second lead over the second-place runner.
The team headed to Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, PA, for two nights of racing action on Friday and Saturday. Friday night, Sweet timed in 15th-quick overall, lining him up fourth in heat race competition. The No. 49 went on to finish third, transferring straight into the main event. During the 25-lap main event, Sweet went from 11th to eighth, picking up another top-ten finish.
Saturday night, the No. 49 team competed at Williams Grove Speedway again for the Summer Nationals finale. Sweet qualified 11th overall, lining him up third in Drydene heat race competition. The No. 49 crossed the line in fourth after ten laps around Williams Grove Speedway, transferring them into the main event. A $20,000 payday was on the line with 30 laps around the speedway; Sweet started 15th. The NAPA AUTO PARTS team ended the weekend with an 11th-place finish.
Looking ahead to next weekend, the team travels north to New York for two nights of racing action. The No. 49 NAPA AUTO PARTS team will compete at Ransomville Speedway Friday night and Weedsport Speedway Saturday night.
Start/Finish:
Tuesday, Jul. 20, Lernerville Speedway: 3 / 1
Friday, Jul. 23, Williams Grove Speedway: 11 / 8
Saturday, July 24, Williams Grove Speedway: 15 / 11
Points Standings / Total: 1st / 6,782 pts. (+112)
Next Race: July 30, Ransomville Speedway, Ransomville, NY
How to Watch or Listen: www.dirtvision.com
NAPA: @NAPARacing
Brad Sweet: @BradSweet49
Kasey Kahne Racing: @KKRdirt
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Kasey Kahne Racing (KKR), located in Mooresville, NC, was formed in 2005 and employs more than ten people dedicated to sprint car racing. The organization fields two entries in the High Limit Sprint Car Series; Brad Sweet (NAPA No. 49) and former NASCAR Cup Series driver Kasey Kahne (No. 9). Collectively, KKR has 7 World of Outlaws and High Limit Racing Championships (Daryn Pittman in '13 and Brad Sweet in '19, '20, '21, '22, '23 & ‘24). In addition, Eric Prutzman has won Crew Chief of the year 3x (’19,’23 & ’24). Since the team's inception, KKR has amassed over 290+ national dirt car wins.