The Headline(s)
David Gravel wired a 35-lap feature win the Skagit Nationals finale in Washington, narrowly besting points leader Brad Sweet.
How it Happened
2022 Skagit Nationals (World of Outlaws)
Where: Skagit Speedway – Burlington, Wash. (streamed on DirtVision)
Winner’s Purse: $26,000 (Saturday)
Brad Sweet made the race-winning move a lap too early. Using the low side coming to the white flag, Sweet got alongside race leader David Gravel coming down the frontstretch at Skagit Speedway but was unable to complete the pass, allowing Gravel to block Sweet’s line in the final set of corners and leaving Gravel to score his sixth WoO feature win in 2022.
. @dirtvision WINNER: @DavidGravel holds off @BradSweet49 and @spencerbayston in a classic race at @skagitspeedway!f pic.twitter.com/lpNEHb4XkJ
— World of Outlaws (@WorldofOutlaws) September 4, 2022
While Gravel expressed joy in scoring a major-dollar victory (“I feel like I always win the $10,000-to-win features” he quipped in victory lane), the bigger winner on the weekend was nonetheless Sweet, who despite not visiting victory lane was the only driver in the Skagit Nationals field to score top-five finishes in all three features on the weekend, leaving Sweet to head to Gray’s Harbor with a healthy points lead over Gravel.
Logan Schuchart and Sheldon Haudenschild scored $10,000 preliminary feature wins on Thursday and Friday nights, Schuchart with a late-race pass on Sweet and Haudenschild capitalizing after James McFadden broke while leading Friday’s feature.
Success Stories
No, Sweet was not able to score a feature win during the Skagit Nationals, but it was a haul of a weekend nonetheless for the defending series champion, enduing with an average finish of 3.0, three heat wins, a dash win and two quick-times in qualifying. That consistency is why Sweet is leading the charge for a fourth consecutive WoO crown.
Haudenschild’s win on Friday officially made 2022 the winningest season of his WoO career, and frankly it was a deserved karmic result for the Stenhouse Marshall Racing team he competes for. Tragically this weekend modified ace Nick Hoffman and his father were involved in a violent highway accident involving their hauler, hospitalizing both with significant injuries (both driver and father have improved in their condition over the last few days). Notable, because Haudenschild’s team owner Ricky Stenhouse Jr. paid for flights to get Hoffman’s family to the hospital.
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Frontstretch…