Brad Sweet
We just came off a great week for Kasey Kahne Racing. We were at the Eldora Speedway in Ohio for the “4-Crown Nationals,” one of the biggest dirt-track weekends in the Midwest. On Friday there’s a World of Outlaws Sprint Car race, and on Saturday there’s a three-part USAC program for Sprints, Silver Crown cars, and the Mopar® Midget National Championship Series. I was able to get the first USAC Sprint Car win ever for KKR, and in the Midget feature I finished third, with my teammate, Brady Bacon, right behind me in fourth. On top of that, Joey Saldana drove the KKR/Mopar World of Outlaws car to a dominant win on Friday night.
Eldora is one of the coolest tracks anywhere. It’s a high-banked half-mile, and you pretty much know you’ll be running all-out, right up against the fence. There’s a lot of history there, and it has always been considered a track where the very best guys have won. Because of all that, it’s a place where any driver would love to win.
The funny thing is, I was more excited about the Midget than the Sprint Car. We’ve been pretty hot with the Midget on the fast dirt tracks, and there were times when we’ve struggled with the Sprints. Obviously, we got both cars going pretty good at Eldora.
Our Midgets were best at the end of the race. J.J. Yeley and Dave Darland, who finished first and second, were very aggressive early on, and I really thought saving our stuff until the end was the smart thing to do. Even though the feature was only 25 laps, Eldora can be very hard on equipment. The way it worked out, Brady and I made a run at those guys at the end, but we just couldn’t quite get there.
Now, the Sprint race was a different story. My car was phenomenal. Willie Kahne and Davey Jones nailed the setup, and we ended up leading all 30 laps. When you’re out front it’s hard to know exactly how good you are compared to the others, because we don’t have mirrors or radios. Well, there was a red-flag period on lap 11, and my guys told me I’d already had a straightaway lead. I knew right then that we were in good shape, as long as I didn’t make any mistakes with the lapped traffic. When you’re running that good, it feels like you can almost coast. I barely broke a sweat in that race, even though Eldora can be very physical.
Anytime Eldora hosts a two-day race, there’s a ton of people camping and it’s a real party. For us it’s more serious, of course, but you still get caught up in the atmosphere. That place draws the really hardcore fans who absolutely love dirt-track racing. There was an autograph session for the USAC drivers on Saturday, and I couldn’t believe how many people were standing in line. Those fans seemed to enjoy meeting all of us. I enjoyed it, too.
It has been a great season for me. Between Mopar and Kasey Kahne Racing, we’ve built some good momentum lately, and I can’t wait to go racing again!