Column By: BRIAN WALKER / WORLD OF OUTLAWS – JACKSON, MN – Jackson Motorplex will host the AGCO Jackson Nationals for the 44th time this year, but on new dates – Thursday-Saturday, Aug. 18-20.
Now taking place the weekend after the Knoxville Nationals, the Jackson Nationals’ new date gives fans and drivers a second consecutive weekend of marquee racing with another big purse.
44th Annual AGCO Jackson Nationals – Thursday-Saturday, Aug. 18-20
Track: Jackson Motorplex
Location: Jackson, MN
Track Record: 12.580 sec. set by Kerry Madsen on 7/27/19
2021 Winner: Logan Schuchart
Logan Schuchart has mastered the 4/10-mile state-of-the-art track the last two years, becoming the first back-to-back 410 Sprint Car winner since Terry McCarl accomplished the feat in 2003-2004. With one win currently this year, Schuchart and his Shark Racing team will be hungry for a history-making third consecutive Jackson Nationals win.
David Gravel, driver of the Big Game Motorsports #2 car – owned by Tod Quiring, who also owns Jackson Motorplex – will be searching for his first Series win at the track this year. And while he’s yet to win there, Gravel still holds impressive stats at the facility. He hasn’t finished outside the top five in the last six events there, including his second-place finish in the Jackson Nationals last year.
Before Schuchart’s dominance of the event, three-time and defending Series champion Brad Sweet and 10-time Series champion Donny Schatz traded the title of Jackson Nationals champion. Sweet claimed it in 2017. Schatz took it in 2018 and then Sweet returned to the throne in 2019. Sweet and his Kasey Kahne Racing team finished third last year while Schatz and his Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing team suffered a mechanical issue.
2016 Jackson Nationals winner Kerry Madsen looked to be a favorite to win the Nationals last year, after sweeping the two preliminary nights but had to settle for a fourth-place finish in the main event. He’ll be behind the wheel of the Roth Motorsports #83JR car this year to attempt the full weekend sweep.
Skagit Nationals triple header to kick off September
The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series will kick off September with more big money on the line at the second annual Sage Fruit Skagit Nationals.
One driver will have the chance to take home more than $40,000 between the three nights of racing (Thursday to Saturday, Sept. 1-3) with Thursday and Friday’s events paying $10,000 to win and Saturday’s finale paying $25,000 to win.
The event will also commence the fall West Coast Swing for the Series, making its first stop in Washington before venturing south to California.
SAGE FRUIT SKAGIT NATIONALS – Thursday to Saturday, Sept. 1-3
Track: Skagit Speedway
Location: Burlington, WA
To Win: $10,000 (Thursday & Friday), $25,000 (Saturday)
Track Record: 10.718 sec. set by Daryn Pittman on Aug. 8, 2013
2021 Winner: Carson Macedo
Carson Macedo, of Lemoore, CA, won the inaugural Sage Fruit Skagit Nationals last year. It was also his first win at the 3/10-mile track, having to wrangle the victory away from previous Skagit winners James McFadden and Logan Schuchart.
McFadden won with Kasey Kahne Racing at Skagit last year, but this year he’ll have a new task of trying to win with Roth Motorsports. Since switching to the California-based team – which still has tight connections with KKR – McFadden has been unable to find Victory Lane again. But with his past success at Skagit, it could be the track that turns his season around in the final stages of the season.
While Schuchart has won this year, he and his Shark Racing team are still looking for the magic they once had of collecting multiple wins throughout a season. West Coast tracks have always suited the Pennsylvania native well, winning up and down the coast, and he’ll be poised to keep that streak going when the West Coast Swing starts at Skagit.
Kasey Kahne, of Enumclaw, WA, returns home to try and claim his first World of Outlaws victory during the Skagit Nationals. He finished eighth in the event last year while driving for Roth Motorsports. Swapping with McFadden, Kahne has been behind the wheel of his own KKR #9 machine this year, earning a best finish of third so far.