Brad Sweet and the NAPA AUTO PARTS, Kasey Kahne Racing (KKR) No. 49 had a long week of what was supposed to be five straight nights of racing in Ohio. The World of Outlaws and Eldora Speedway battled mother nature all week, but ultimately still got in all four shows.
Tuesday night, the World of Outlaws attended Attica Raceway Park for the 33rd Annual Brad Doty Classic. 49 cars were in attendance and the No. 49 went out late in flight B of qualifying. Even with a bad pill draw, the team was able to capitalize and time in fifth quick overall in flight B with a lap time of 12.984. Sweet started third in Drydene heat race number three and finished second, transferring the KKR team into the Fast Pass Dash.
Sweet pulled out the number five pill out of the NOS Energy Drink can. After eight laps around Attica Raceway park, he crossed the finish line in fourth. 40 laps was the distance for the feature event with $10,000 on the line. Sweet started fourth and finished on the podium with a second place run.
Wednesday night, the team traveled to Eldora Speedway to compete in the Jokers Wild event. There were 57 cars at Eldora for the first night of action and the NAPA AUTO PARTS No. 49 qualified fifth in flight A with a lap time of 12.940. Eight laps was the distance in Drydene heat race one and Sweet started third and finished third. With another $10,000 payday on the line and 25 laps being the distance for the main event, Sweet started ninth and went on to finish 11th.
On Thursday, Sweet qualified 21st with a time of 13.815. Luckily, the ‘Wheel of Misfortune’ that was spun went into the No. 49’s favor with an invert of four. The KKR team was scheduled to start on the pole of heat three. The 38th Annual King’s Royal was postponed after completing qualifying and one heat race to Saturday during the day after too much precipitation.
Friday night’s ‘The Knight Before’ race also got postponed due to mother nature and was made up on Sunday. That resulted in a double King’s Royal header on Saturday for the 37th and 38th annual.
Saturday during the day, the drivers saw much different track conditions than they are used to with it being a day show. The Grass Valley, Calif, native won heat three, which put them starting fourth in the 40- lap, $175,000 main event. Sweet was up to second on lap one, when the red flag came out and they had a complete restart. That didn’t phase the No. 49 team as they went back to green and Sweet was back up to second within a lap again. Sweet then took the lead from Tyler Courtney. On lap 21, the KKR No. 49 team suffered a flat RR tire, causing Sweet to come to the work area and then restart from the back. The NAPA AUTO PARTS team rebounded with a ninth place run.
Saturday night, they competed for the 37th Annual King’s Royal. The No. 49 qualified third overall, stopping the clock at 13.204. The ‘Wheel of Misfortune’ was spun and yet again landed on the four. WIth a four car invert, the NAPA AUTO PARTS car started fourth in heat three. Sweet was penalized a row at the start for “jumping” when he went fourth to the lead in one lap. A penalty didn’t stop the team from transferring into the main event, infact Sweet went from sixth to second in one lap again and then took the lead on lap five from Kyle Larson. The No. 49 won the heat race and lined up fourth for the 37th Annual King’s Royal. Sweet went three-wide for the lead on lap one, before battling with several drivers for the laps after. The No. 49 spun battling for position, but was able to keep going so they restarted 10th. The NAPA AUTO PARTS, KKR team came home with a fifth place run.
The team had to put the heartbreak aside and compete at Eldora Speedway again on Sunday for ‘The Knight Before.’ With only 29 cars in attendance, Sweet qualified 12th and started fourth in heat race competition. The No. 49 finished third and transferred straight into the main event. The team went ninth to third to end the week in Ohio.
“The one positive I can take away from this weekend is that this NAPA AUTO PARTS No. 49 was fast. We had speed all week long and we just needed some luck on our side that just wasn’t there.” Sweet said regarding Eldora Speedway.
Looking ahead to this upcoming week, the series travels to Pennsylvania for three nights of racing. Tuesday night, the World of Outlaws compete at Lernerville Speedway for the $25,000 to win Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup. Sweet picked up his 50th career World of Outlaws win at Lernerville Speedway in 2019. Friday and Saturday night the No. 49 will compete at WIlliams Grove Speedway for $20,000 to win Summer Nationals.
Start/Finish
Tuesday- Attica Raceway Park
Slick Woody’s Qualifying- 5th
Drydene Heat- 3rd/2nd
Fast Pass Dash- 5th/4th
Feature- 4th/2nd
Wednesday- Eldora Speedway
Slick Woody’s Qualifying- 5th
Drydene Heat- 3rd/3rd
Feature- 9th/11th
Thursday/Saturday- Eldora Speedway
Slick Woody’s Qualifying- 21st
Drydene Heat- 1st/1st
Feature- 4th/9th
Saturday (37th Annual)- Eldora Speedway
Slick Woody’s Qualifying- 3rd
Drydene Heat- 4th/1st
Feature- 4th/5th
Sunday- Eldora Speedway
Slick Woody’s Qualifying- 12th
Drydene Heat- 4th/3rd
Feature- 9th/3rd
Points Standings- 1st (5,772 points) +132
Next Races-
Tuesday, July 20th- Lernerville Speedway, Sarver, PA
Friday, July 23rd- Williams Grove Speedway, Mechanicsburg, PA
Saturday, July 24th- Williams Grove Speedway, Mechanicsburg, PA
Team Website- www.kaseykahneracing.com
Watch live- www.dirtvision.com