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Sweet Owns Ocean Speedway

Logan Schuchart looked poised to claim his first ever World of Outlaws Craftsman® Sprint Car Series victory Friday night at the Ocean Outlaw Showdown at Ocean Speedway, but a late race restart put Brad Sweet in position and Sweet battled past Schuchart with 13 laps to go and claimed his fourth win of the season.

“If everyone knew what Shark Racing goes through to run two cars up and down the road, hats off to them,” Sweet said. “For both of them to be up here on the podium that’s amazing and I hate to steal this win away from them, but that’s racing.

“My guys have given me a great car all season long. When you run in the top five each week, you get a couple of these wins every now and then.”

For Schuchart, the disappointment of coming short of his first win was tempered by his second place finish and the third place finish of his teammate, Jacob Allen.

“When we started this thing three years ago, most of these guys didn’t think we wouldn’t last the first year,” Schuchart said. “Now we’re out here in our third year. Without our sponsors and everyone that helps us out, we wouldn’t be able to be out here.

“For Jacob and I we wanted to be a little bit better, a one-two would’ve been awesome, but Brad [Sweet] is on top of his game and they’re really fast right now, but the Shark team is getting better and better.”

The finish is his best since a second place finish at Thunderbowl Raceway in 2014.

Jason Johnson, fresh off a victory at Placerville Speedway, kicked off the night, the Outlaws’ first appearance at the track since 2008, with the qualifying quick time.

But it was Schuchart and Allen out front after the Dash inversion draw gave the teammates the top-two starting positions in the Dash.

Allen, in the Mark Pell Tire Service/Marty Thompson Investments No. 1A, jumped around his teammate and grabbed the early lead in the Dash, as he dominated all six laps to capture the first-place starting position for the 35-lap feature. Schuchart finished in second, setting up a Shark Racing front row.

When the green flag fell on the feature, Schuchart shot around Allen for the lead on the opening lap, and pulled away from the rest of the field as his teammate settled into the second position with Kasey Kahne Racing with Mike Curb teammates Daryn Pittman and Brad Sweet lurking behind.

The young, Hanover, Pa. –native controlled the top spot for much of the race, leading the opening 21 laps. Unfortunately for Schuchart, winning his first ever World of Outlaws race would not be that easy.

A restart just past the halfway point gave Sweet the opportunity he needed to gain on Schuchart. Sweet drove his Razorback Professional Tools No. 49 from fourth on the restart around Pittman and Allen to move into the second position, just behind the leader.

Schuchart did everything he could to hold off Sweet, but Sweet had too much momentum built up on the high-side of the track and rocketed around Schuchart for the lead with 13 laps left.

Sweet controlled the top spot through the final laps and held off Schuchart and Allen to capture his first victory since he won at Cotton Bowl Speedway on Feb. 26.

“That’s racing in California in March and April,” said the Grass Valley, Calif. –native Sweet. “It’s always going to be a little more hooked up than in July or August. They gave us a great racing surface tonight, it was smooth and opening up all night, but it’s hard to account for the cooler temperatures, it keeps the moisture in the dirt.”

Sweet extends his championship lead to 84 points over second place Shane Stewart.

Allen completed the sweep of the podium for the Shark Racing team, as he scored a career best finish of third.

“With the lead that close to you, I was just going for it all and hoping to finish the race,” Allen said. “That was a lot of fun. Being up there with everybody, it means the world to me and I can’t thank everyone enough for helping us out.

“This is a huge night for me, I am just very blessed and thankful to be here.”

Donny Schatz was the night’s KSE Racing Hard Charger, advancing 12 positions to finish in sixth.

The World of Outlaws Craftsman® Sprint Car Series action continues Saturday night as the series travels to Chico, Calif. for the Mini Gold Cup at Silver Dollar Speedway. Find out more information about the event at WoOSprint.com/Mini-Gold-Cup.

Follow the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series on Twitter at www.twitter.com/WorldofOutlaws, like it on Facebook at www.facebook.com/WorldofOutlaws, or check out the latest videos on YouTube at www.youtube.com/WorldofOutlaws.

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