Sheldon Haudenschild won the WoO feature at Ogilvie Saturday (Trent Gower Photo) (Video Highlights from DirtVision.com)
Haudenschild slides Macedo and holds off Kofoid for seventh win of 2024
OGILVIE, MN (June 9, 2024) - Every now and then Sprint Car Racing delivers a moment that race fans will never forget. And that’s exactly what occurred Saturday night at Ogilvie Raceway.
The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars rolled into the Minnesota oval for the second time ever for the Big O Showdown presented by Wagamon Brothers. Mother Nature offered up a picturesque evening. The entire grandstands filled before Hot Laps began. The stage was set for the massive crowd to see a show. And they got one they’ll be talking about for a long time.
In a bid to win the first two races in Series history at Ogilvie, Carson Macedo led nearly the entire race. He rocketed ahead early, sliced through traffic, and looked like he was on his way to Victory Lane.
Then the white flag flew, and a wild last lap followed.
Second running Sheldon Haudenschild cleared Macedo with a huge slide job in Turns 1 and 2 as Michael “Buddy” Kofoid got a run on both of them down the back straightaway. Kofoid then threw a slide job in the final set of corners, but Haudenschild narrowly held him off to claim a thrilling victory.
“We hounded him (Macedo) the whole race there, and it was just a deal where it was better to be running second, I think,” Haudenschild said. “I was just kind of able to see what he was doing and also the lappers. When we got to them, they were ripping the top and racing, too. He had to change his line up right there on the white. I was just able to pull a slide job there in (Turns) 1 and 2 and hoped to clear him down the backstretch and be able to pinch him enough into (Turn) 3 that he couldn’t get back there.”
The exciting win bumped Haudenschild up to seven in 2024 and 41 for his career, equaling him with fellow full-time driver Logan Schuchart for 19th on the all-time win list. He’s pulled within one of David Gravel for the most checkered flags this season. Ogilvie is the 25th different track where the Stenhouse Jr.-Marshall Racing driver has visited Victory Lane.
A fresh track rework set up a fast surface that evolved throughout the 30-lap Feature. Macedo owned the pole for the main event and took off when the green flag flew.
The early stages of the race were controlled by Macedo. The Jason Johnson Racing pilot pulled ahead and worked expertly through traffic. Behind him, battles broke out all over the place within the top 10.
Haudenschild and Kofoid faced off for the second spot with Kofoid claiming it early in the finale. But Haudenschild kept him well within sight as the race neared the halfway point. On the 17th circuit, Haudenschild found the run he needed to clear Kofoid with a tight slider in traffic in Turns 3 and 4. Then his sights locked on Macedo.
Haudenschild struggled to close in on Macedo upon first claiming the runner-up spot. In fact, Macedo pushed the advantage north of a second on the 21st circuit. But then Haudenschild went to work on slashing into the gap.
With two laps remaining Macedo was less than half a second ahead. And then as the white flag waved Haudenschild built a huge run down the front straightaway. He pounced on the opportunity with a Turn 1 slider that narrowly cleared. Macedo looked to cross back over, but Kofoid filled the gap and closed on Haudenschild heading into Turn 3. Kofoid pulled alongside Haudenschild but couldn’t quite slide ahead. As the two leaders slid toward the top, Macedo turned off the cushion toward the bottom and drove back around Kofoid, but up ahead Haudenschild crossed the finish line to put the punctuation on a wild conclusion that wowed the capacity crowd.
“Hats off to (Kyle) Ripper, Luke (Vaughn), and Steve (Kinzer Dussel),” Haudenschild said. “They’ve been putting the work in, and we ‘ve been fast through the whole night on all of these nights… I think we’ve been there all year.”
Carson Macedo, who has led all but one of the 60 Feature laps the World of Outlaws have contested at Ogilvie, didn’t mask the heartbreak after the race. Haudenschild’s last lap move to take the win left the Lemoore, CA driver puzzled when all was said and done. On the bright side, Macedo pushed his streak of top fives to 16 in a row, and he’s only 10 markers behind Gravel for the points lead.
“That was honestly devastating,” Macedo admitted. “I took the white and did feel like maybe I was starting to catch Brock (Zearfoss) and the other lapper, but I didn’t think that peeling off of the top with one to go was the thing to do. I guess I could’ve just ran the bottom in (Turns) 1 and 2. I don’t know. That was just really disappointing.”
After nearly driving from third to steal the victory on the final lap, Buddy Kofoid settled for a third place finish in the Roth Motorsports No. 83. Nearly getting the win left a slightly sour taste in the rookie’s mouth, but he came away satisfied overall with the strong showing.
“It’s frustrating because I feel like I had a chance,” Kofoid said. “We were right there and just as fast as them, but you can’t hang your head about it. Those two (Haudenschild and Macedo) are a couple of the best right now.”
Donny Schatz and Giovanni Scelzi completed the top five.
A 15th to eighth drive earned Garet Williamson the KSE Racing Hard Charger.
Sheldon Haudenschild earned his second Simpson Quick Time of 2024 and the 31st of his career in Sea Foam Qualifying.
NOS Energy Drink Heats One and Three went to Sheldon Haudenschild (110th Heat Race win of career) and Brock Zearfoss (19th of career). Milton Hershey School Heat Two belonged to Giovanni Scelzi (48th of career).
Carson Macedo topped the Toyota Racing Dash.
Brooke Tatnell won the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown.
UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars head to Knoxville Raceway for the Premier Chevy Dealers Clash on June 14-15, giving the teams their final chance to prepare for August’s NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Store. For tickets, CLICK HERE.
If you can’t make it to the track, catch every lap live on DIRTVision.
FEATURE RESULTS:
NOS Energy Drink Feature (30 Laps): 1. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[2]; 2. 41-Carson Macedo[1]; 3. 83-Michael Kofoid[3]; 4. 15-Donny Schatz[9]; 5. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[4]; 6. 2-David Gravel[7]; 7. 1S-Logan Schuchart[5]; 8. 23-Garet Williamson[15]; 9. 17B-Bill Balog[8]; 10. 22K-Kaleb Johnson[13]; 11. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[6]; 12. 70-Kraig Kinser[14]; 13. 13-Mark Dobmeier[20]; 14. 23W-Scott Winters[18]; 15. 7S-Landon Crawley[12]; 16. 11M-Brendan Mullen[16]; 17. 3-Tim Kaeding[11]; 18. 24T-Christopher Thram[10]; 19. 14T-Brooke Tatnell[19]; 20. 17Z-Zach Omdahl[22]; 21. G5-Gage Pulkrabek[17]; 22. 199-Ryan Bowers[21]; 23. 33-Scott Broty[23]; 24. 6-Bill Rose[24]