BRANDON, S.D. — Sheldon Haudenschild was tired of finishing second.
Three times in a row he’d finished runner-up entering Friday’s BillionAuto.com Huset’s High Bank Nationals prelim including the first two nights of the lucrative event. Three times the KCP Racing/NOS Energy Drink No. 18 had finished one spot shy of victory. Three times watching someone else celebrate on the frontstretch.
Not on Friday.
A motivated Haudenschild lined up fifth but slipped back to seventh in the opening laps. The charge began just before the halfway point as he ripped from sixth to third in only four circuits. Six laps later the Wooster, Ohio, native took over the second spot and set his sights on a distantly leading Logan Schuchart.
The gap shrank and shrank until Haudenschild capitalized on the bottom with six laps to go as Schuchart struggled with traffic. Donny Schatz roared to life in the closing stages and battled Haudenschild all the way to the checkered, but he managed to hold off the 10-time World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car champion to snag the checkered flag and bank $20,000.
Even though the win snapped the string of second-place finishes, Haudenschild wasted no time putting focus on Saturday’s grand prize.
The BillionAuto.com Huset’s High Bank Nationals finale is set to send the champion home with a series record $300,000 check.
“It feels great,” Haudenschild said. “I don’t know. I’m just focused on tomorrow, man. That’s all I want to win but tonight was great. I lost a couple spots there early and just kind of had to ride it out and be patient and just see where those guys were going and try to sneak under them. I got under the 17 (Spencer Bayston). I got under the 28 (Conner Morrell). 17B (Bill Balog) was pretty committed to the top, and I’m so glad he didn’t move down. Once I got to second, I never saw the 1S (Logan Schuchart). I knew I just had to hit my marks. I nailed them and nailed them and finally got to him then I feel like I missed it a few times in a row but still pulled it off.”
Haudenschild’s third win of the season is the 49th of his career. His next will make him the 19th different driver to reach 50 with The Greatest Show on Dirt.
Four of those victories have now come at Huset’s Speedway, which makes him the fifth winningest driver at the Brandon, SD track in Series history. Most importantly, Haudenschild and his KCP Racing crew sit atop the points entering Saturday’s finale.
That’ll line them up on the pole of the opening Heat Race, and if Haudenschild can win it, he’ll be guaranteed a front row starting spot to go chase more than a quarter of a million dollars.
Donny Schatz brought the CJB Motorsports No. 15 home second after nearly stealing the win in the closing laps. He’s second in event points and in prime position to pursue his 14th career six-figure payday on Saturday.
Logan Schuchart rounded out the podium after leading the opening 29 laps in the Shark Racing No. 1S.
David Gravel and Spencer Bayston rounded out the top five.
The finish:
Feature (35 Laps): 1. 18-Sheldon Haudenschild[5]; 2. 15-Donny Schatz[4]; 3. 1S-Logan Schuchart[1]; 4. 2-David Gravel[8]; 5. 17-Spencer Bayston[7]; 6. 77-Giovanni Scelzi[6]; 7. 83-Michael Kofoid[20]; 8. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[11]; 9. 23-Garet Williamson[12]; 10. 7S-Chris Windom[19]; 11. 28M-Conner Morrell[3]; 12. 10-Ryan Timms[17]; 13. 17B-Bill Balog[2]; 14. 21-Brian Brown[9]; 15. 2C-Cole Macedo[18]; 16. 5-Parker Price Miller[10]; 17. 27-Emerson Axsom[22]; 18. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[15]; 19. 16C-Skylar Gee[16]; 20. 25-Jy Corbet[23]; 21. 27W-Weston Olson[14]; 22. 64-Andy Pake[24]; 23. 33-Scotty Broty[13]; 24. 9-Daison Pursley[21]