The World of Outlaws Sprint Cars return to 81 Speedway in Park City, Kansas, this Saturday for the Tallgrass Tussle.
Speedway Media will preview the event by taking a look at five drivers who are good here and who may have a shot at the victory by the end of the 30-lap main event Saturday night.
Last year, the World of Outlaws Late Model Series was originally scheduled to race on this same weekend. Unfortunately, high winds ultimately forced the difficult decision to postpone the race until October. Just three heat races were completed before the announcement. The winners of those races were two-time Sprint Car Outlaw Champion David Gravel in Heat 1, Gio Scelzi in Heat 2, and Carson Macedo for Jason Johnson Racing in Heat 3. However, due to the weather-shortened race, none of these heat winners will count in their overall results.
As the World of Outlaws returned in October to complete the event, weather once again impacted the series, and the event was ultimately canceled. Despite the heat races being completed last year, it will be the first time in two years, since 2024, that the Outlaws will contest in a full event. And we’ll also see several different faces since the last time the tour raced there.
Before we preview the five World of Outlaw drivers who could win here, it is important to note that Rico Abreu, who won the last two races in 2023 and 2024 is no longer racing on the tour. So there will be a new event winner. Before the 2023 race, the last two races occurred in 2017 and in 2006. Both were won by Sprint Car legend, Donny Schatz. Giovanni Scelzi will also not be racing in this event as he is currently competing on a different tour.
Here are our picks to win the World of Outlaws race:
- Sheldon Haudenschild – Despite starting the 2026 season out with a rough patch of races at Volusia Speedway Park with finishes of 23rd, 15th and 11th, Haudenschild returned to the venue for race four and five with some solid finishes including a win in the fourth race of the season at Volusia after starting on the pole and leading all 25 laps, and again started on the pole in the fifth race but finished eighth overall.
Following those races, he had a runner-up at the Talladega Short Track, a finish of fourth at Lawton Speedway and seventh at Creek County Speedway last weekend.
At 81 Speedway, however, Haudenschild has been consistent with his finishes. In two recent races at the track (2024 and 2023), he placed fourth in Heat 1 before finishing fourth in the A feature in 2024. In 2023, he won Heat 3 and finished in seventh place after starting sixth in the main feature as well. He recently contested here in 2017 in the series and finished 12th overall. Before that, he attempted two races in 2016 with the NCRA NSL 360 Region Series, but failed to qualify. Look for Haudenschild and his new KCP Racing team to be a contender Saturday night. - Carson Macedo – Macedo and the Jason Johnson Racing team have started off the 2026 season hot thus far through the early part of the year. He had a runner-up finish at the season-opening race at Volusia and remained consistent throughout consecutive events, placing on the podium multiple times. In fact, Macedo has also won a few heat races this year as well.
The Jason Johnson Racing driver fared well in the two recent races at 81 Speedway by finishing ninth in 2024, following his second-place finish in the first heat race that year. He also came close to winning the event back in 2023, after finishing second to race winner Rico Abreu. In the 2023 outing, Macedo won the second heat race and also won the six-lap dash feature that saw him obtain the pole for the A-feature. Additionally, he set a new track record in the ‘24 event with a lap time of 13.023 seconds, breaking a 20-year-old record. There’s no question that Macdeo is consistent at this track. - David Gravel – The 2024 and 2025 Outlaw Sprint Car Champion, David Gravel, is also great here at 81. In fact, he’s one of the few active drivers who competed here back in 2017 as well with Haudenschild. In three races, he has a best finish of second in the most recent outing in 2024, where he finished second to event winner Abreu. Gravel finished third in the two other outings in 2023 and 2017. Furthermore, he has won two consecutive heat races here in back-to-back years. The two-time champ just might finally get over the hump to victory lane at 81 Speedway. Gravel has momentum by winning the two races down in Oklahoma last weekend.
- Donny Schatz – In his new No. 15 CJB Motorsports entry, Schatz has plenty of reasons to look forward to coming back here. The longtime Sprint Car veteran has two track victories, with the most recent in 2017 and also in 2006. The Fargo, North Dakota, native is also consistent with his heat finishes. In 2024, Schatz placed third in heat 4, finished fifth in 2023 in heat 1, and wound up in second in the third heat back in 2017. If Schatz has a fast car this Saturday, he just might be in contention to win. It is also Interesting to note that Schatz recently broke a 74-race winless streak a few weeks ago at the Talladega Short Track.
- Michael “Buddy” Kofoid – Kofoid might be a dark horse here at 81 Speedway. He finished fifth in the A-feature after starting second and won heat 1 in the 2024 race. In 2023, he secured a third-place finish in the fourth heat race and finished 11th overall. It is interesting to note that Kofoid is coming off a career year in 2025 after winning 12 races in 69 starts and earning six career poles with 334 laps led. As for the 2026 season, Kofoid won the Friday portion of the Federated Auto Parts Dirtcar Nationals at Volusia.
Other entries to keep an eye on are Ryan Timms, Spencer Bayston, Logan Schuchart, Cole Macedo, Blake Hahn, Zach Daum, Chris Windom, Brian Brown, and Bill Balog.
Pit gates open at 2 p.m. CT with regular gates opening at 5 p.m. CT. Motor heat takes place at 6 p.m. CT. Hot laps are scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT, followed by qualifying and eventually three heat races of eight laps each. There could be a fourth heat race if needed. Also taking place is a 10-lap C-Main if needed, and an eight-lap dash event to determine the pole sitter. The stage is then set for a 30-lap A-main feature to end the night. Action can be seen live on Dirtvision.
