World of Outlaws drivers look to top last year's dramatic finish in Silver Cup at Lernerville

In a 2020 World of Outlaws season that had plenty of close finishes, last year’s Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup was near the top of the highlight reel.

Ten-time series champion Donny Schatz, two-time defending champion Brad Sweet and Kyle Larson waged a battle over the last 15 laps. Schatz went from third to first on the final lap, executing a slide job on Sweet in turn two to steal the win.

The Outlaws will look to put on a show again when they arrive at Lernerville Speedway in Buffalo Township on Tuesday for the 30th annual Silver Cup. The winner of the feature will take home $25,000.

“It was truly one of the greatest Silver Cups in history, and the battle between Sweet and Schatz for the lead and the way it finished kept everyone in the stands, and pits, on their feet. It will probably remain as one of the greatest for years to come,” Lernerville PR Director Gary Heeman said. “The three of them left it all on the track, and that’s as much as anyone can ask for: hard, clean racing to the checkers.

“With Christopher Bell in attendance plus others who are announcing their intentions to race as we get closer, the battles at the top should be nearly as good and maybe even better this year.”

Bell, who races for Joe Gibbs Racing in NASCAR, is slated to race in the Swindell Speed Lab No. 39 entry Tuesday. It won’t be Bell’s first trip to Lernerville, as he raced there in the mid 2010s for Rick Ferkel in the famous “Ferkel Circle” No. 0 car in his formative years of 410 sprint car racing.

Larson, who leads NASCAR with four victories in his Hendrick Motorsports No. 5 car, has raced the Silver Cup each of the last three years and won in 2018. He is fresh off winning $175,000 at the Kings Royal at Eldora (Ohio) Saturday night.

Sweet leads the World of Outlaws points standings and is tops in the series with 13 wins. He has not won a Silver Cup, but has two wins at Lernerville at the Commonwealth Clash that traditionally runs in September.

Carson Macedo is second in points and is fresh off winning two of the four races contested at Eldora over the weekend. He has not won at Lernerville.

David Gravel is third in points and is a two-time Silver Cup champion. Schatz has only one victory on tour this year and is fourth in points, but he is one of the most successful Outlaws drivers in Lernerville history as a seven-time Silver Cup winner. Tim Shaffer, an Aliquippa native, has won the Silver Cup twice and is expected to be in attendance.

Sheldon Haudenschild will look for his first World of Outlaws feature win at Lernerville. He dominated the Commonwealth Clash last season only to suffer a flat right rear tire with two laps remaining.

Other invaders that are expected to be in attendance are Tyler Courtney, who won the makeup Kings Royal on Saturday that was canceled last year due to the covid-19 pandemic, and Central Pennsylvania standout Danny Dietrich, who finished second to Courtney at Eldora.

Local drivers have had some success against the Outlaws this season at other venues.

Apollo native Sye Lynch leads the point standings at Lernerville and is coming off a 12th-place finish at Eldora. He made the Dash when the Outlaws came to Sharon (Ohio) in May. Evans City native Brandon Spithaler made the dash when the Outlaws ran at Attica (Ohio) in May and had the outside pole for the main event before an accident relegated him to a 17th-place finish.

“It’s an amazing feeling watching drivers like Sye and Brandon not just hold their own, but challenge and compete with some of the top drivers in the world, as well as watching AJ Flick and what he’s been able to accomplish at Port Royal Speedway the last few years against a field with deep talent and resources to boot,” Heeman said. “Throw in a resurgent Brandon Matus, who’s found speed in bunches in 2021, and the always fast Carl Bowser and George Hobaugh, who have made dashes at the All Star sprint car level and have raced either weekly or semi-weekly at Lernerville over the years, and it shows that it’s a deep and talented pocket of drivers from a local standpoint.

“We wish them all luck and know if the breaks can go their way, they’ll have a good opportunity to stand out on the national stage and open even more sets of eyes.”

Local drivers will have even more incentive Tuesday with a bonus of more than $1,600 going to the highest local finisher thanks to a grassroots campaign on Twitter started by Matt Aland and Bill Steinbach of “The A-Main Podcast.”

“That was totally organic, thanks to Matt Aland and Bill Steinbach III who decided to lead and organize the campaign,” Heeman said. “I believe they’ve got donations from businesses such as Valencia Donut and Mobile Bail Bonds, drivers like Sye Lynch and Jack Sodeman Jr., various fans and media. It was a complete effort on their part, and the drivers have been very enthusiastic and appreciative of it.”