Brad Sweet and the NAPA AUTO PARTS No. 49 team started the weekend off with a rain out Friday night at Terre Haute Action Track. That allowed the Kasey Kahne Racing (KKR) team to load up and head west to Knoxville Raceway. They find themselves back at Knoxville Raceway in a couple of weeks, but getting any extra laps you can around there before the Knoxville Nationals in August is good.
31 410’s were in attendance and the NAPA AUTO PARTS No. 49 timed in fourth quick overall with a lap time of 15.391. Knoxville weekly shows invert six in heat race action, lining up Sweet in the fifth starting position. After eight laps around the famous half-mile, he advanced one position to finish fourth. Sweet and the KKR team put together a perfect 25-lap main event, picking up Sweet’s seventh career victory at Knoxville Raceway from the fourth starting spot.
“I think we found something really good there. We have been struggling on the half-miles lately so this was a good run for us. It was nice to be able to come here and not have points on our mind. It was a solid field of cars tonight and wasn’t an easy win.” Sweet said.
Monday night, the NAPA AUTO PARTS No. 49 was back with the World of Outlaws at Lawrenceburg Speedway in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. Sweet and the KKR team has had success at Lawrenceburg Speedway previously, picking up a win in 2018. Sweet went out seventh in the qualifying order with 25 cars in attendance. He stopped the clock at 12.113, qualifying seventh overall.
Sweet was scheduled to start third in heat race action. When coming to green, the No. 49 and another car made contact, causing Sweet to flip upside down. He headed straight to the trailer where the crew was hard at work getting a backup car ready. Per World of Outlaws rule book, if you are forced to a backup car, you start the main event from the tail. 35 laps was the distance and Sweet earned KSE Hard Charger award, advancing 17 positions to finish seventh.
Through adversity, the NAPA AUTO PARTS team rebounded with a decent main event finish, giving them a 66 point advantage over David Gravel.
Looking ahead to this weekend, the NAPA AUTO PARTS No. 49 heads west. Friday night, they will be at River Cities Speedway, a 3/10 high-banked bullring. Sweet finished fifth the last time they were in attendance on August 21, 2020. Saturday, they run Granite City Motor Park in Sauk Rapids. In June of 2019, Sweet earned a $10,000 payday with a win there.
Start/Finish
Saturday- Knoxville Raceway
Qualifying- 4th
Heat- 5th/4th
Feature- 4th/1st
Monday- Lawrenceburg Speedway
Qualifying- 7th
Heat- 3rd/8th (DNF)
Feature- 24th/7th
Points Standings- 1st (3,792 points) +66
Next Races-
Friday, June 4- River Cities Speedway, Grand Forks, ND
Saturday, June 5- Granite City Motor Park, Sauk Rapids, MN
Team Website- www.kaseykahneracing.com
Watch live- www.dirtvision.com