WORLD OF OUTLAWS MISSISSIPPI / LOUISIANA SWING

Two of last year’s early-season favourites are back on the schedule for the 2022 World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprintcar Series.

Following a weekend off after the 51^st DIRTcar Nationals (February 10-12) at Volusia Speedway Park, the Series will venture to Mississippi and Louisiana with the lofty goal of topping two of the best races in 2021.

The “Dirty South” weekend begins on Friday, February 25 with a stop at Magnolia Motor Speedway in Columbus, MS. The fifth-year combination of Sheldon Haudenschild and Stenhouse Junior Marshall Racing will enter as defending winners at the place they call “The Mag.”

After that, the Outlaws head south on Saturday, February 26 to The Rev in Monroe, LA, where it was truly The Greatest Show on Dirt last year. Fans of country music star Dylan Scott’s promotion will have high hopes following a battle between David Gravel and Brad Sweet, which was a race of the year contender last year.

Both tracks hosted their first-ever World of Outlaws Sprintcar Series event last year and both did it in spectacular fashion.

Magnolia saw Sheldon Haudenshchild use a late-race lap traffic move on Shark Racing’s Logan Schuchart to score the win, while The Rev witnessed 13 unofficial lead changes as David Gravel earned his first of 11 wins (and counting) with Big Game Motorsports.

While Haudenschild and Gravel will look to extend their records to two-for-two, Brad Sweet and Kasey Kahne Racing are seeking a breakthrough after being the only team to finish on the podium at both races. The good news for the three-time and defending Series champions is that Sweet won a whopping seven of his 16 wins last year on 3/8-mile tracks, more than double anyone else.

“I think a lot of us are excited to get back down to these tracks,” Sweet said. “Most of us had never been to these places, but we learned how neat they were last year and got to put on some incredible racing. It’s always special when you find new markets and meet new fans because that gives us a great opportunity to continue growing our sport.”

Along with Sweet, Haudenschild, and Schuchart,Donny Schatz also finished top-five at both southern staples. Schatz’s 302 career victories are spread between 29 American states and three Canadian provinces, but the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing #15 pilot has yet to win in either Mississippi or Louisiana with the Series.

Kasey Kahne, who is set for his first full-time season with the World of Outlaws in 2022, is another driver chomping at the bit to get back to these tracks. Last year he tied his career-best finish with a marvellous 23rd-to-fifth charge at The Mag and then started on the pole before finishing up sixth at The Rev.

Kahne will be joined by Lebanon, Indiana’s Spencer Bayston in the CJB Motorsports #5 & Mounds, Oklahoma’s Noah Gass in the #20G amid the Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year battle.

Championship contender Carson Macedo in the Jason Johnson Racing #41, veteran racers Kraig Kinser, Jason Sides, Jacob Allen and sophomore runners James McFadden (Australia) and Brock Zearfoss round out the star-studded line-up of 14 full-time drivers.

By the end of the “Dirty South” swing, the Series will have completed five races in an epic 90 + race season. These early events will set the stage of who the top contenders for the year will be and form an early shape of what is sure to be another exciting championship battle.