Sweet Races to Lincoln Speedway Podium

Returning to Pennsylvania for a second weekend in a row, the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series had dates lined up for both Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Penn., and Lincoln Speedway in Abbottstown, Penn. Unfortunately, mother nature struck again, and Friday night’s program at Williams Grove was canceled. Saturday at Lincoln was bitterly cold with wind and temperatures peaking in the 40s. Nonetheless, Lincoln Speedway is a track where Brad Sweet, driver of the No. 49 NAPA Auto Parts Sprint car, has been dominant, missing the top 10 only once in his last nine starts.

With 49 cars in attendance, Sweet was slated to qualify seventh in Flight B. He hit the charts 14.660 second, placing him second in the flight. Starting from the first spot in Heat Race 4, Sweet was eager to get the jump on second-place starter Chris Windom. The NAPA Auto Parts No. 49 launched ahead to pick up the heat race win and lock Sweet into the Fast Pass Dash.

“As we race, I think we are going to learn more and more about the tires, obviously, as the track changes,” Sweet said, drawing the second spot for the dash. “Hopefully, with our NAPA Auto Parts car, that was a good dash draw; we can keep it up front tonight.”

With six laps to complete the dash, the Big Cat rolled off from the second spot with his eye on the lead. At the drop of the green flag, Sweet managed to pull ahead to the lead. The No. 49 machine took off in the clean air up front, and Sweet picked up the Fast Pass Dash win.

That put the NAPA No. 49 in the first starting position for the 35-lap Lincoln Speedway feature. With Sweet eyeing victory lane, the green flag dropped. The NAPA driver jumped to the early lead before holding off the field while battling through heavy lapped traffic, but Sweet fell back to second with 12 laps to go. He held his line and brought the NAPA Auto Parts machine home in second place.

“We’re never happy to finish second, but we had new tires tonight, and the racing was actually a lot of fun there in the A-main,” Sweet said after the race. “I was struggling to figure out how to get my car off the corner there a little bit better, but that’s a part of the learning curve… We are going to have to keep adjusting out setups and try to find a package that’s going to be better for the whole 35 laps.”

Next up on the schedule is the Talladega Sprint Car Showdown at Talladega Short Track in Eastaboga, Alabama, on Friday and the World of Outlaws Black Ice Brawl at Magnolia Motor Speedway in Columbus, Mississippi, on Saturday.

Start / Finish: 1 / 2
Points Standing / Total: 4th / 812 (-40)

Next Race: Friday, March 24, Talladega Short Track, Eastaboga, Alabama
How to Watch or Listen: www.dirtvision.com

NAPA: @NAPARacing
Brad Sweet: @BradSweet49
Kasey Kahne Racing: @KKRdirt