Sweet Searches for Luck at Port Royal
The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series continued their tour through Pennsylvania with a second consecutive doubleheader weekend, this time at the Port Royal Speedway for the Nittany Showdown on Friday and Saturday, October 8-9.
On Friday night, NAPA AUTO PARTS driver Brad Sweet kicked off the weekend with quick time in his qualifying group, earning him the pole position for his heat race. He finished second in the eight-lap heat race, locking himself into the dash. The California driver drew the third starting position for the dash and finished fourth to set his starting position for the 25-lap, $10,000-to-win feature.
The No. 49 settled into third at the drop of the green flag and was able to briefly snag second on an early restart with two laps in the books. Sweet tagged the guardrail exiting turn two with 22 laps to go, which bent the right rear wheel. When the caution flag waved with 15 laps remaining, he brought the car to the work area to change out the tire and restarted from 24th . Sweet drove his way forward to a 14th-place finish in the closing laps of the race.
On Saturday, Sweet once gain set himself up well from the start of the night with a 4th-place qualifying time. He started and finished second in heat race four to lock into the dash for the second night in a row. Out of eight positions available, he drew the sixth starting spot and was able to gain one position to finish fifth.
Rolling off from the fifth starting position, Sweet immediately began a battle with David Gravel for sixth before relinquishing the position on lap five. He began to maneuver all over the Port Royal surface searching for a line that suited the setup on the No. 49, but to no avail. Sweet had slid to 10th with seven laps to go and ultimately finished 12th in the Nittany Showdown finale.
The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series will take the upcoming weekend off before returning to action on Friday, October 22, for the FVP Platinum Battery Showdown at Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas.
The NAPA No. 49 team continues to hold a 92-point lead in the series standings with five races remaining in the 2021 campaign.
Start / Finish:
Friday, Oct. 8: 4 / 14
Saturday, Oct. 9: 5 / 12
Points Standing / Total: 1st / 9910 pts. (+92)
Next Race: Friday, Oct. 22, Lakeside Speedway, Kansas City, KS
How to Watch or Listen: www.dirtvision.com
NAPA: @NAPARacing
Brad Sweet: @BradSweet49
Kasey Kahne Racing: @KKRdirt
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Kasey Kahne Racing View All
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 World of Outlaw Sprint Car Series; Brad Sweet (NAPA No.49) and former NASCAR Cup Series driver Kasey Kahne (No.9). Collectively, KKR has 5 World of Outlaws Championships (Daryn Pittman in '13 and Brad Sweet in '19,'20,'21 &'22). Since the team's inception, KKR has amassed over 211 World of Outlaws wins.