On Friday night, Logan Schuchart became the third winner of preliminary racing for the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Huset’s High Bank Nationals with enough accumulated points to make him a favorite for Saturday night’s $250,000-to-win A Main win. The quarter of a million dollar prize will be the richest in the 47-year history of the series.
Friday night’s win was the second of the 2023 season for Schuchart and 37th of his career. With that victory came a $20,000 payday. Schuchart beat Michael “Buddy” Kofoid in second and Spencer Bayston in third. Points’ leader Brad Sweet in fourth and his closest championship challenger David Gravel rounded out the top five.
“Happy we were able to hold on; $20,000 is a lot of money, but we’re focused on $250,000 tomorrow,” Schuchart said in a press release. “I feel like I roll this racetrack really good right now when everything is right. I feel like we have as good of a shot as anybody. For any big race, it feels good to roll into [it] with confidence.”
Over three preliminary nights, Schuchart has gotten progressively stronger. He finished sixth in Night 1 after starting 10th and moved up one position in Night 2 to finish fourth, which was his first top-five on the 0.375-mile, high-banked dirt track that has hosted the Outlaws senior series periodically since 1995.
Starting on the outside pole, Schuchart trailed Spencer Bayston for five laps. Once he claimed the top spot, he held off a charge from Michael “Buddy” Kofoid to earn a guaranteed spot in the “King of the Hill” that will set the first four rows of the Main.
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“It’s huge,” Schuchart said of being atop the standings. “We want to be able to be there at the end of the night, put ourselves in position. If you’re starting 10th or 15th or wherever it’s going to be tough, but we have a great shot.”
Participation in the King of the Hill sprint was based on points and wins. Points were awarded for the best two nights of feature and qualification races.
Schuchart will face a hungry Sheldon Haudenschild, last year’s winner of the High Bank Nationals. The 2022 edition of this race featured an intense run from sixth for Haudenschild with five laps remaining. This time around, Haudenschild has not yet earned a top-five at in the High Bank Nationals.
Carson Macedo faded from the lead to finish fifth in those same five laps as wholesale positions were swapped.
Schuchart joined Night 1’s Kyle Larson and Night 2’s James McFadden as preliminary winners.
Larson’s win came ahead of David Gravel and Rico Abreu. McFadden beat Gravel and Kofoid, giving those two drivers almost as much momentum as Schuchart with their pair of podiums.