In the past four World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series races held in California, a home-state native has made a trip to victory lane.
As the series ventures to Bakersfield Speedway on Friday night, the national tour outsiders will have two more chances to break that streak early in the season.
That anticipation of a win is creeping up for Kasey Kahne Racing’s Brad Sweet, who is trying to avoid going winless through the opening 10 races for the first time in his career.
Sweet, who is riding a 24-race winless streak, earned runner-up finishes in each of the past two events with the tour. As a native of Grass Valley, California, he’ll have his opportunities.
The Cali kids in Gio Scelzi, Kyle Larson and Carson Macedo, have already secured wins in the state this month, though – each of them kicking off their season in different schedule disciplines with big wins early on.
That’s a good sign for each of them, as a win in the opening months could speak dividends in way of momentum.
It sprung Macedo up to third in the standings for the series and put him as the high wins-getter in a tie at two with Sheldon Haudenschild.
While Scelzi won’t race the entirety of the World of Outlaws season schedule, he’s gotten himself up to seventh in the points through eight races of action.
Aside from the aforementioned Californians, Dominic Scelzi, Shane Golobic, Cory Eliason, Colby Copeland, Tanner Carrick, Corey Day and Mitchell Faccinto are each expected to race this weekend.
Points leader David Gravel will try to ruin the party.
Through the first seven races, the Watertown, Conn. native earned top 10’s in each A-Main and also corralled six top 5’s, nearly staying perfect to wrap up every race near the front.
Although he had to make a trip to the work area in the last race at Merced, Gravel has been electric so far this season. If he can get back on track, look for him to establish a grasp on the top spot in the points.
Friday’s action at Bakersfield is scheduled to start at 8:30 p.m. CT with hot laps. The race will be streamed live on DirtVision.com.
