At A Glance: Hoosier Havoc Weekend
The World of Outlaws Craftsman® Sprint Car Series will battle at Plymouth (Ind.) Speedway on Friday, May 13 and Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, Ind. on Saturday, May 14
CONCORD, N.C. – May 10, 2016 – This weekend the World of Outlaws Craftsman® Sprint Car Series will enter the Hoosier State for the first time in 2016 as the series makes its inaugural trip to Plymouth (Ind.) Speedway on Friday, May 13 and returns to Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, Ind. for the 13th consecutive year and 27th year overall on Saturday, May 14.
The Brownsburg Bullet
Brownsburg, Ind. -native Joey Saldana will be returning to his home state this weekend, as he is the only World of Outlaws regular from Indiana. In 2015, Saldana captured the pole position at two of the three races held in the Hoosier State, while also scoring a victory at Kokomo (Ind.) Speedway on June 3.
Saldana rides a hot streak into the “Hoosier Havoc Weekend,” as he has scored two of his three series wins in the last two weeks, with one coming at Devil’s Bowl Speedway on April 22 and the other at Jacksonville Speedway on May 4. Before last weekend’s action at Eldora Speedway, Saldana only had one finish outside of the top five since the beginning of April.
Hoosier Daddy
Speaking of hot streaks, Paul McMahan will be carrying his own into this weekend. In 2015, McMahan dominated the state of Indiana as he captured the victory at Tri-State Speedway for the second year in-a-row on May 3, and also won at Lawrenceburg (Ind.) Speedway on Oct. 16. McMahan only missed out on one checkered flag in the Hoosier State, as he finished eighth at Kokomo Speedway.
Speaking recently on his return to Tri-State, McMahan said:
“One sure win I would love to have this year is at Tri-State. It would be a cool win because it’s a place that I won at the last two years and have been really good at in the past, and I just love going there.”
Cashing In
This weekend Brad Sweet has a chance to become the first World of Outlaws driver to cross the $100,000 winnings mark in 2016. Currently, Sweet sits at $98,300 which puts him only $1,700 away from the six-digit money mark. Both of this weekend’s races have $10,000 to-win purses, which means Sweet can finish in the top 11 at either race to cross the threshold.
Seven-time World of Outlaws champion Donny Schatz also has a chance to cross the illustrious $100,000 mark, as he sits second on the season winnings list at $93,400.
Point Guard
It’s fair to say Daryn Pittman has had the best view of the green flag this season. Pittman leads the Outlaws in feature pole positions with seven, with one of those coming in last weekend’s action at Eldora Speedway. The next closest competitor for pole positions is Joey Saldana, who has three with his most recent coming last Wednesday at Jacksonville Speedway.
Pittman will need his recent qualifying success heading into this weekend’s action, as last year his best starting position in the three Indiana races was a fourth, to go with a 21st and 17th in the other two races. In those same three races the winner started from inside the top five in all three.