Column By: DYLAN TERRY / RPW – BEAVER FALLS, NY – Ladies and gentlemen, it is now the month of March.
The best winged Sprint Car drivers in the world have been able to knock the rust off after a seemingly quick off-season.
The new wrap designs have been unveiled, new alliances have been formed, and even a new national series has made its debut.
After one of the most exciting February kickoffs in recent memory, I figured I would try to create a power rankings list amongst drivers that have participated in a national touring series event so far.
I plan on doing this after every month, so stay tuned for more updated lists in the coming months.
Here are my initial Top 20 Power Rankings now that the “Southern Swing” for each national series has concluded:
1) Tyler Courtney – What more can you say about Courtney and the Clauson-Marshall Racing team? In their first 8 races with a new chassis and new motor program, they have earned 3 wins (1 WOO, 2 High Limit), and 2 runner-up finishes. The team has only had one finish outside the Top 10, which was a 13th place run during the High Limit opener at East Bay. They have an average finish of 4.87, which is only slightly behind David Gravel and Giovanni Scelzi, but they have participated in twice as many races. The 7BC team is firing on all cylinders right now and have put the sprint car world on notice that they will be a force to be reckoned with this season.
2) David Gravel – Gravel started out the World of Outlaws season as good as he would have hoped, securing another Big Gator title, tying him for the most all time. In the 4 Outlaw shows at Volusia, Gravel had a win, 2 Top 5’s and a 6th place finish. Their average finishing position is #1 in the entire country, at an astounding 3.75 clip in their first four races. It’s evident that David and the Big Game Motorsports team have that first career World of Outlaws title in their sights and are going to do everything in their power to bring it home.
3) Giovanni Scelzi – The man known as “Hot Sauce” has certainly had a spicy start to the season. He demonstrated a model of consistency at Volusia, posting finishes of 7th, 4th, 4th and 4th. This was a complete 360 from his DIRTcar Nationals performance last year, in which he struggled. KCP returns most of their crew from the past couple of seasons, so the existing chemistry that they have established looks like it is going to pay dividends for the 18 team this season. If they can keep this consistency going, Gio might even be able to give Gravel a run for his money for the World of Outlaws championship.
4) Brad Sweet – Sweet has kind of flown under the radar in his first 8 races this season. Aside from winning the Outlaws opener at Volusia, he hasn’t really been the most dominate car like we’ve seen in years prior. He’s still been very consistent though, as he bolsters a 5.12 average finish in his 8 starts combined with HL and the Outlaws. The 49 team has shown that they are arguably the best team in the country when it comes to “point racing” over the past five seasons. It’s pretty hard to have them outside the Top 5 in my initial rankings, considering only Sunshine, Gravel, and Scelzi have a better average finishing position than Brad has had so far this year.
5) Brent Marks – Marks and the #19 team have been one of the most consistent teams to start the season. In his 8 combined starts with the Outlaws and High Limit, the “Myerstown Missile” has tallied 6 Top 10 finishes. He also established the new track record at Golden Isles Speedway for a 410 sprint car. Expected to be a favorite to land a charter position for High Limit, Marks has been living up to those expectations so far and hopes to continue to his early season success. While he doesn’t have a win quite yet, it will come. Marks is one of the winningest drivers in the country over the past few seasons. It’s only a matter of time before Brent makes a return visit to victory lane.
6) Donny Schatz – The longtime veteran looks to put the rumor mill to bed this season, as he has opened the season with a Top 10 finish in all four starts. He has an average finish of 6.00, which is only behind Gravel and Scelzi amongst the full-time WOO teams. He has passed a ton of cars during features too, passing 29 of them in his four appearances. Only Logan Schuchart has passed as many cars this season. If the Tony Stewart Racing team can develop a better baseline qualifying package, then Donny wouldn’t have to play catch up every night during the feature. If they can resolve this issue, it very well could provide Schatz the opportunity to compete for his 11th WOO title.
7) Rico Abreu – Coming off the best season of his career in 2023, all signs pointed to Rico being a competitor on a nightly basis every time he hit the track in 2024. So far however, this hasn’t necessarily been the case. The team still demonstrated they are amongst the best in the country, but haven’t really been in contention for any victories yet this season. What he does have is a bunch of solid performances. He has 3 Top 5’s (T-2nd most) and 6 Top 10’s. It very well could have been 7 Top 10 finishes for Rico, but he pulled a “hail mary” slide job attempt on the final lap during one of the features at East Bay and ended up on his lid. If he starts competing for more victories like everyone initially thought he would, look for Abreu to climb up my rankings.
8) Kyle Larson – It’s really strange that a full-time NASCAR Cup Series driver has as many sprint car starts as any World of Outlaws full-timer after the month of February. What’s even weirder? He’s only had 1 Top 5 finish in those 4 starts. While that effort did result in a victory, Larson just hasn’t looked like his normal self so far this year. Outside of his opening night win, Larson has just looked good, but not the great he has been accustomed to. He got upside down during the second night at East Bay, and then failed to even register a dash appearance at Golden Isles. The lack of success in Georgia was very surprising considering he was the only driver in the field to have ran laps (granted it was in a late model) at the facility prior to High Limit’s debut there. You know Larson will turn up the wick as the season goes on, but it’s been a surprising start nonetheless for the Paul Silva 57 machine.
9) Logan Schuchart – Schuchart has kind of started off the season a little bit disappointing on his terms. Coming off a Big Gator win last year, it’s no secret that one of Logan’s best tracks is Volusia. While he did tally one Top 5 and two Top 10’s, he also had a 12th place finish. Similar to Schatz, it hasn’t looked like the Shark Racing machine has had the same speed during qualifying or heat races. When it comes to feature time, the team has performed exceptionally well, passing 29 cars during the opening week. Like Donny, if the 1S team can create a better package to start the nights out better, Logan would be right in the hunt on a nightly basis as well.
10) Justin Peck – I’ve said it NUMEROUS times over the past few seasons, that Peck is the unluckiest driver in all of motorsports. 2024 has been no different so far. He has 3 Top 5’s so far in 8 starts combined, but also has 2 DNF’s. Both of those DNF’s were just a matter of circumstances, as they both were not of his doing. He looked to have the car to beat in the High Limit opener at East Bay, before ending up upside down at the hands of lapped cars. What could have been a 1st place finish turned into to a 26th place result in a matter of seconds. He qualified a bit poorly on the second night at East Bay, starting in 15th. In what’s became a common theme this season, he was a victim of another incident not of his doing which occurred just as the green flag waved that evening. He had to spin his car out to avoid making contact with other cars which stacked up in front of him. Because of that, it sent him to the tail of the field. Restarting 26th, he still drove back through the field to finish 12th netting him +3 positions in that feature. If he had ANY luck whatsoever this season, Peck would not only be sitting in the Top 5 in points for High Limit, but also very well could have the most podium finishes out of every driver in the country thus far.
11) Anthony Macri – The first driver that is running a “true outlaw” schedule on this list, Macri has been solid every night out thus far. He’s qualified for every show he’s attempted, which is something that a lot of non full-time drivers cannot say this season. He had one really good night at Volusia, as he finished runner up to Sheldon Haudenschild on the final night of DIRTcar Nationals. He has an average finish of 9.50 during his 8 starts, which is the 10th best amongst all drivers who’ve made at least one appearance with either WOO or HL. Doing more traveling than ever before, Macri looks to be a threat to make some serious bank this season. He also added longtime JJR tire guy Nate Repetz as car chief this season, to complement crew chief Joe Mooney who also has a wealth of knowledge from his days as a crewman for the KKR 49. Be on the lookout for the 39M to be in contention no matter where he decides to show up to this season.
12) Corey Day – It’s not every day that a kid that has yet to graduate high school is on a national touring series, but yet here we are. Day looked to be very comfortable at East Bay with High Limit, as the facility has a lot of similarities to the bullrings that he grew up racing on the west coast. In those races he finished 6th and 2nd, which had him tied with Brad Sweet atop the standings after that weekend. Bigger tracks prove to be a learning curve for the 18 year old though, but he was able to qualify for every Outlaw show at Volusia, and was able to manage salvageable finishes of 12th and 13th at Golden Isles. If he can continue to develop his craft at the larger facilities, I have no doubt in my mind that he can be a title contender. He certainly has the talent and tools, he just needs a little bit more experience.
13) Parker Price Miller – Reunited with his good friend Bernie Stuebgen on the wrenches for his first title run since the ASCOC, PPM has looked pretty decent so far. After showing up on the final night of Volusia, the 9P used it as essentially a “shake down” night. While Parker did not qualify, the team apparently learned some things about their car because they have looked like a threat every night out with High Limit. He bolsters an average finish of 8.25 with HL, with one Top 5 and 2 Top 10’s. It’s been a pleasant start for Price Miller, and signs are pointing to the previous success he had with Stuebgen during their Indy Race Parts #71 days.
14) Spencer Bayston – The biggest surprise of the High Limit season currently, Bayston finds himself sitting in the 4th position in the point standings. He has had a Top 10 finish in every start with High Limit, with two of those being fifth place efforts. So why is he only 14th in my rankings? Well quite frankly, he had an awful performance at Volusia with the World of Outlaws. He failed to even qualify for three out of four shows, and only finished 24th in the one that he did qualify for. Maybe Volusia is just not one of his best tracks? Maybe he just thrives at new places? I don’t know. What I do know is that he has performed surprisingly well so far when it has counted for him. Maybe the move to HL was just what the doctor ordered for the CJB Motorsports team, as they look to turn things around after mediocre results the past two seasons.
15) Jacob Allen – Like Bayston, Jacob Allen has looked like an entirely different driver during his WOO appearances and his High Limit appearances. Like Bayston, the 1A failed to even qualify for three out of the four Outlaw shows at Volusia, which was a track he had past experience at. Then, at two tracks that were completely new to him and had zero knowledge on, he had a win and two Top 10’s in four races. It’s kind of a refreshing start for Jacob, after having a rough go of things in 2023. He looks to be rejuvenated after this latest win, which was his first checkered flag since the 2022 season. If he can replicate the success that he has had in his High Limit starts, he will undoubtedly make his way up these power rankings.
16) Buddy Kofoid – Kofoid opened his rookie campaign with the Outlaws with a seemingly roller coaster start. He had 2 Top 10 finishes, but also dealt with more mechanical woes with the Toyota Racing Development powerplant on the other two evenings. In what seems like an ongoing battle going back to last season, this always seems to be the question with Roth Motorsports. Volusia is a track in which teams do tend to have motor issues due to the high speeds, (sorry Bill Balog) so maybe this is just an ironic coincidence? Who knows. On the nights they had their stars align, the youngster looked like the gasser we all know he can be. He made his first dash appearance during the final night of the week at Volusia while also scoring his first Top 5 finish. With that being said, the Penngrove, CA native is at least heading into the month of March on a positive note.
17) Zeb Wise – The reigning All Star Circuit of Champions Champion came into 2024 with a ton of momentum. The wind was quickly extinguished from the Rudeen Racing sails in February though. Through their 8 starts, they have only been able to muster up 2 Top 10 finishes, and the team doesn’t look nearly as quick as last year. They have an average finish of 12.75 right now, which to me is very surprising after the breakout campaign they had last year. Zeb hasn’t ran much in the past at Volusia, and never at Golden Isles obviously, so this very well could be the reason for their struggles. Hopefully the team can end up turning things around and blossom into the contender that everybody thought that they would be.
18) Sheldon Haudenschild – Haudenschild did get one victory during the first four Outlaw shows at Volusia, but outside of that, he was nonexistent. In his three other starts during the week, he tallied finishes of 26th, 11th, and 25th. After having prior success at Volusia in his career, it’s safe to say that this year’s edition of the DIRTcar Nationals was a complete letdown for the entire Stenhouse Jr. Marshall Racing team. Will Sheldon and the team be able to bounce back this month? Time will tell, but after seeing their downward spiral in performance last season, plus factoring in Sheldon’s radical driving style, I just don’t see it happening.
19) Carson Macedo – Coming into Volusia as a title contender, Macedo had a devastating performance at Volusia. The Jason Johnson Racing team had to use a provisional on opening night just to start the feature and followed that up having to transfer into the feature via the B Main on the final night. While he has collected two hard charger awards in the four races, the 41 has just looked abysmal this season so far. After having a string of 16 straight Top 10 finishes to start the season in 2023, the team failed to earn one at Volusia in February. The team limped home to finishes of 14th, 12th, 16th, and 14th in each race. Aside from crew chief Phil Dietz returning, the team does have two new crew guys which will need time to become acclimated, having never worked on sprint cars before. Such a disappointing start has already put a huge damper on JJR’s title hopes. Hopefully the 41 team can turn the season around quick, because it will be a LONG season if they do not.
20) Brian Brown – Brownie showed a ton of speed during qualifying each night at Volusia, which set him up very well each night. He went overall QuickTime once, QuickTime for his flight twice, and was second fastest in his flight the other night. It certainly looks like Brian and the 21 team have established an excellent qualifying set up, which will be very beneficial based upon both the Outlaws and High Limit format. Aside from the first night though, Brown went backwards each night during the feature. The most eyebrow raising night was the final night, where he started 14th and finished 21st. If they can adapt and develop a better set up for the feature, Brown could rip off a bunch of victories this season. He’s got the foundations needed to set yourself up in a good position but needs to continue to have speed throughout the entirety of the night.
Just Missed: Dominic Scelzi, Brock Zearfoss, Bill Balog, Sam Hafertepe Jr., Tanner Thorson