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World of Outlaws Don Mack Classic
River Cities Speedway | Grand Forks, North Dakota
Friday, June 07, 2024
Race Recap  

GRAND FORKS GLORY: Gio Scelzi Outduels Sheldon Haudenschild in Traffic for River Cities Victory

Hot Sauce picks up his second win of the season in only his third ever start at the North Dakota track (Trent Gower Photo)

Giovanni Scelzi grew up racing on the bullrings of California. He ripped around the tracks often characterized by tight confines and tacky conditions in his teenage years. And that experience sure came in handy on Friday night at River Cities Speedway.

Mother Nature threw a wrench in the evening right before the start of the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Feature. A shower delayed the conclusion to the Don Mack Classic and dropped plenty of moisture on the North Dakota quarter mile. The result? A fast, cowboy up racing surface for the 40-lap main event.

Scelzi started on the pole of the Feature, carefully worked his way through thick lapped traffic, and bested Sheldon Haudenschild in a battle for the checkered flag. In only his third ever appearance at River Cities, “Hot Sauce” took the KCP Racing #18 to Victory Lane.

“I heard Donny (Schatz) on those restarts,” Scelzi said. “I didn’t know if it was just momentum building as he got going on the top. It worked for me in the Dash, but the track was obviously way wetter there. Kudos to the track crew for sticking this out. Whoever had the idea to add dirt to the racetrack was brilliant. It kind of helped it dry out a bit, but what a great show. The stands are packed. I got to meet some of you guys last time, so this is pretty cool.”

The victory bumped Scelzi up to eight in his career with The Greatest Show on Dirt. It gave KCP Racing double digit wins as the Des Moines, IA-based team climbed to 10 World of Outlaws triumphs. The Fresno, CA native became the 14th different driver to top a World of Outlaws race at River Cities.

The green flag dropped with Scelzi and Schatz leading the way. Scelzi grabbed the early advantage and opted for the bottom, but Schatz looked high and kept his left-front tire right behind the right-rear rubber of Scelzi’s machine.

An early caution set the stage for a restart and one of the race’s wildest moments. Garet Williamson came together with David Gravel as the green lights came back on. The contact stacked up the field as Bill Balog connected with Gravel and flipped, and Gage Pulkrabek also got collected and went over. The point leader Gravel was left with significant damage but managed to return to the track after a trip to the Federated Car Care Work Zone.

On the next restart Scelzi pulled ahead, and Schatz again kept him within sight for the first few circuits. When traffic became a factor, Carson Macedo used a lapped car as a pick to roll by Schatz for second on Lap 10. Sheldon Haudenschild followed Macedo by Schatz to take third on the same circuit. And then only two laps later the surging Haudenschild, who started seventh, drove around Macedo to take over the runner-up spot.

It didn’t take long for Haudenschild to drive the Stenhouse Jr.-Marshall Racing #17 right up to the tail tank of Scelzi. The Wooster, OH native pressured Scelzi in traffic, and then on Lap 19 he blasted around Scelzi on the top side to take the lead.

Gio Scelzi races ahead of Sheldon Haudenschild at River Cities Speedway
Giovanni Scelzi (#18) held off Sheldon Haudenschild (#17) for the win on Friday at River Cities (Trent Gower Photo)

But Scelzi refused to be rattled. It took him hardly any time to respond as two trips around the track later he snuck back around Haudenschild on the low line to regain the lead.

From there it became a game of cat and mouse through traffic. Haudenschild refused to let Scelzi get away, but Scelzi also refused to let Haudenschild alongside again. Haudenschild would close in as they navigated traffic, but then Scelzi would clear a slower car for breathing room. The gap between the two was close for many laps. But ultimately Scelzi managed to hold on for his second World of Outlaws win of 2024 and first since mid-March at Cotton Bowl Speedway.

“We freed up there a little bit during the rain and then left it after the Hot Lap session,” Scelzi said. “And our Hot Lap session was really kind of drying the racetrack out. 40 laps is a long time to run here and have the racetrack blow off, but it never really changed a whole lot. Definitely got tighter as I went, but the car was phenomenal.”

Sheldon Haudenschild brought the NOS Energy Drink machine home second after his fierce charge from seventh. He knew he had a car capable of winning, but the battle for victory came down to minimizing mistakes.

“I don’t think I needed anything out of my car. It was really good,” Haudenschild explained. It was a winning car for sure. (Kyle) Ripper had her dialed in. I could run Gio down there in a lap pretty quick, and then he kind of got behind David and David was trying things. And then I got to David and really couldn’t do anything with him. I think Gio made one mistake and I got him, and I made a mistake, and he got me back.”

Completing the podium at River Cities was Donny Schatz. The 10-time champion improved his already incredible résumé at the facility located in his home state. He’s now up to 23 top threes in 32 races at the North Dakota bullring.

“I was just too tight from the word go,” Schatz said. “The only shot I had really was on the restart trying to get around Gio on the outside and then obviously traffic. I don’t know what happened in traffic there. We lost a bunch of spots. I went in, got under someone, and I guess I got freight trained for a little bit, but I was able to make some spots back up.”

Carson Macedo and Mark Dobmeier rounded out the top five.

A huge 25th to seventh drive earned Buddy Kofoid the KSE Racing Hard Charger.

Carson claimed his sixth Simpson Quick Time of 2024 and the 39th of his career in Sea Foam Qualifying.

NOS Energy Drink Heats One, Three, and Four went to Carson Macedo (126th Heat Race win of career), Garet Williamson (second of career), and Nick Omdahl (first of career). Milton Hershey School Heat Two belonged to Sheldon Haudenschild (109th of career).

Giovanni Scelzi topped the Toyota Racing Dash.

Brock Zearfoss won the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown.

The Smith Titanium Brake Systems Break of the Race went to Bill Balog.

UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars head to Minnesota’s Ogilvie Raceway for the Big O Showdown presented by Wagamon Brothers on Saturday, June 8. For tickets, CLICK HERE.

If you can’t make it to the track, catch every lap live on DIRTVision.

FEATURE RESULTS:

NOS Energy Drink Feature (40 Laps): 1. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[1]; 2. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[7]; 3. 15-Donny Schatz[2]; 4. 41-Carson Macedo[3]; 5. 13-Mark Dobmeier[13]; 6. 1S-Logan Schuchart[10]; 7. 83-Michael Kofoid[25]; 8. 7S-Landon Crawley[5]; 9. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[21]; 10. 2-David Gravel[11]; 11. 22K-Kaleb Johnson[4]; 12. 64-Andy Pake[18]; 13. 0-Nick Omdahl[8]; 14. 70-Kraig Kinser[22]; 15. 23-Garet Williamson[6]; 16. 17Z-Zach Omdahl[20]; 17. 4-Brendan Mullen[19]; 18. 3-Tim Kaeding[9]; 19. 6-Bill Rose[24]; 20. 8-Jack Croaker[23]; 21. 17B-Bill Balog[14]; 22. G5-Gage Pulkrabek[17]; 23. 14T-Tim Estenson[12]; 24. 4Y-Colton Young[15]; 25. 26-Blake Egeland[16]

For complete results, CLICK HERE.

[Read More]
Results  
Feature Results
POSStart+/-#DriverLapsBehindLedStatusPointsMoney
11018Giovanni Scelzi 400.00038Running150$12,000
27+517Sheldon Haudenschild 40-1.0842Running146$8,000
32-115Donny Schatz 40-2.290Running144$5,000
43-141Carson Macedo 40-3.087Running142$3,200
513+813Mark Dobmeier 40-3.449Running140$2,800
610+41SLogan Schuchart 40-6.410Running138$2,600
725+1883Michael Kofoid 40-7.514Running136$1,500
85-37SLandon Crawley 40-8.650Running134$2,300
921+123ZBrock Zearfoss 40-9.518Running132$2,200
1011+12David Gravel 40-10.521Running130$2,000
114-722KKaleb Johnson 40-21.813Running128$1,800
1218+664Andy Pake 39-1 LapsRunning126$1,600
138-50Nick Omdahl 39-1 LapsRunning124$1,400
1422+870Kraig Kinser 39-1 LapsRunning122$1,200
156-923Garet Williamson 39-1 LapsRunning120$1,200
1620+417ZZach Omdahl 38-2 LapsRunning118$1,200
1719+24Brendan Mullen 36-4 LapsDNF116$1,200
189-93Tim Kaeding 35-5 LapsDNF114$1,200
1924+56Bill Rose 24-16 LapsDNF112$1,200
2023+38Jack Croaker 24-16 LapsDNF110$1,200
2114-717BBill Balog 3-37 LapsDNF108$1,200
2217-5G5Gage Pulkrabek 3-37 LapsDNF106$1,200
2312-1114TTim Estenson 2-38 LapsDNF104$1,200
2415-94YColton Young 1-39 LapsDNF102$1,200
2516-926Blake Egeland 0-40 LapsDNF102$1,200
KSE Hard Charger: Michael Kofoid
Last Chance Showdown 1 Results
POSStart+/-#DriverLapsBehindLedStatusPointsMoney
13+23ZBrock Zearfoss 120.00012Running0$0
22070Kraig Kinser 12-5.580Running0$0
34+18Jack Croaker 12-6.099Running0$0
46+26Bill Rose 12-8.478Running0$0
55052Adam Sobolik 12-9.987Running90$500
67+110Alex Truscinski 12-10.741Running90$400
78+19Dominic Dobesh 12-1.980Running90$350
811+391Reed Allex 10-2 LapsRunning90$300
91-883Michael Kofoid 0-12 LapsDNF90$0
109-114Tom Egeland 0-12 LapsDNF90$300
1110-110SJosh Swangler 0-12 LapsDNF90$200
Dash 1 Results
POSStart+/-#DriverLapsBehindLedStatusPointsMoney
12+118Giovanni Scelzi 80.0008Running0$0
21-115Donny Schatz 8-1.440Running0$0
34+141Carson Macedo 8-2.746Running0$0
43-122KKaleb Johnson 8-4.408Running0$0
58+37SLandon Crawley 8-5.873Running0$0
66023Garet Williamson 8-6.255Running0$0
77017Sheldon Haudenschild 8-7.100Running0$0
85-30Nick Omdahl 8-9.504Running0$0
Heat 1 Results
Pos.Start+/-#DriverLaps CompletedBehindLaps LedStatus
11041Carson Macedo 100.00010Running
24+222KKaleb Johnson 10-1.440Running
32-13Tim Kaeding 10-4.665Running
45+113Mark Dobmeier 10-5.494Running
53-2G5Gage Pulkrabek 10-6.403Running
6603ZBrock Zearfoss 10-7.407Running
7706Bill Rose 10-8.578Running
88014Tom Egeland 9-1 LapsRunning
Heat 2 Results
Pos.Start+/-#DriverLaps CompletedBehindLaps LedStatus
12+123Garet Williamson 100.00010Running
21-17SLandon Crawley 10-2.081Running
3301SLogan Schuchart 10-2.298Running
44017BBill Balog 10-4.905Running
56+164Andy Pake 10-5.552Running
65-170Kraig Kinser 10-8.081Running
77010Alex Truscinski 10-8.593Running
88010SJosh Swangler 10-17.412Running
Heat 3 Results
Pos.Start+/-#DriverLaps CompletedBehindLaps LedStatus
11017Sheldon Haudenschild 100.00010Running
22018Giovanni Scelzi 10-0.934Running
3302David Gravel 10-1.862Running
47+34YColton Young 10-6.241Running
54-14Brendan Mullen 10-6.693Running
65-18Jack Croaker 10-7.818Running
76-19Dominic Dobesh 10-11.366Running
88091Reed Allex 9-1 LapsRunning
Heat 4 Results
Pos.Start+/-#DriverLaps CompletedBehindLaps LedStatus
12+10Nick Omdahl 100.00010Running
21-115Donny Schatz 10-1.540Running
33014TTim Estenson 10-2.740Running
45+126Blake Egeland 10-4.428Running
56+117ZZach Omdahl 10-6.179Running
67+152Adam Sobolik 10-7.799Running
74-383Michael Kofoid 0-10 LapsDNF
Qualifying Flight 1 Results
POSStartCarDriverHometownTimeDifference
11241Carson Macedo Lemoore, CA9.7770.000
2197SLandon Crawley Benton, AR9.864-0.087
32817Sheldon Haudenschild Wooster, OH9.874-0.097
41815Donny Schatz Fargo, ND9.936-0.159
5163Tim Kaeding San Jose, CA9.943-0.166
62323Garet Williamson Columbia, MO9.944-0.167
72918Giovanni Scelzi Fresno, CA9.955-0.178
8240Nick Omdahl East Grand Forks, MN9.975-0.198
913G5Gage Pulkrabek East Grand Forks, MN9.976-0.199
1071SLogan Schuchart Hanover, PA9.989-0.212
1152David Gravel Watertown, CT10.016-0.239
122714TTim Estenson Fargo, ND10.040-0.263
131522KKaleb Johnson Sioux Falls, SD10.048-0.271
143017BBill Balog North Pole, AK10.094-0.317
15174Brendan Mullen Grand Forks, ND10.103-0.326
16983Michael Kofoid Penngrove, CA10.132-0.355
171113Mark Dobmeier Grand Forks, ND10.173-0.396
18370Kraig Kinser Bloomington, IN10.179-0.402
19148Jack Croaker East Grand Forks, MN10.207-0.430
202526Blake Egeland Climax, MN10.243-0.466
21103ZBrock Zearfoss Jonestown, PA10.253-0.476
22164Andy Pake Felton, MN10.254-0.477
23269Dominic Dobesh Brookings, SD10.269-0.492
242117ZZach Omdahl East Grand Forks, MN10.305-0.528
2566Bill Rose Plainfield, IN10.400-0.623
262210Alex Truscinski Greenbush, MN10.438-0.661
2724YColton Young Devils Lake, ND10.615-0.838
283152Adam Sobolik Grand Forks, ND10.637-0.860
292014Tom Egeland Climax, MN10.786-1.009
30410SJosh Swangler Detroit Lakes, MN10.882-1.105
31891Reed Allex St. Cloud, MN11.000-1.223
Hot Laps Results
POSStartCarDriverHometownTimeDifference
11522KKaleb Johnson Sioux Falls, SD10.1060.000
21815Donny Schatz Fargo, ND10.195-0.089
3163Tim Kaeding San Jose, CA10.201-0.095
42323Garet Williamson Columbia, MO10.239-0.133
52817Sheldon Haudenschild Wooster, OH10.250-0.144
61241Carson Macedo Lemoore, CA10.253-0.147
7197SLandon Crawley Benton, AR10.279-0.173
82918Giovanni Scelzi Fresno, CA10.337-0.231
91113Mark Dobmeier Grand Forks, ND10.356-0.250
103017BBill Balog North Pole, AK10.416-0.310
1152David Gravel Watertown, CT10.473-0.367
12983Michael Kofoid Penngrove, CA10.560-0.454
13174Brendan Mullen Grand Forks, ND10.576-0.470
142210Alex Truscinski Greenbush, MN10.579-0.473
15240Nick Omdahl East Grand Forks, MN10.595-0.489
162714TTim Estenson Fargo, ND10.601-0.495
1771SLogan Schuchart Hanover, PA10.626-0.520
18370Kraig Kinser Bloomington, IN10.646-0.540
19148Jack Croaker East Grand Forks, MN10.659-0.553
202526Blake Egeland Climax, MN10.739-0.633
212117ZZach Omdahl East Grand Forks, MN10.741-0.635
22269Dominic Dobesh Brookings, SD11.022-0.916
23103ZBrock Zearfoss Jonestown, PA11.204-1.098
2413G5Gage Pulkrabek East Grand Forks, MN11.256-1.150
2524YColton Young Devils Lake, ND11.362-1.256
263152Adam Sobolik Grand Forks, ND11.405-1.299
2766Bill Rose Plainfield, IN11.688-1.582
282014Tom Egeland Climax, MN11.701-1.595
29164Andy Pake Felton, MN11.865-1.759
30410SJosh Swangler Detroit Lakes, MN12.029-1.923
31891Reed Allex St. Cloud, MN13.029-2.923
DIRTVision Highlights  
Event Info  

World of Outlaws Don Mack Classic
Friday, June 07, 2024
River Cities Speedway
2300 Gateway Dr
Grand Forks, North Dakota 58203 

Event Description
The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series honors legendary North Dakota racer and promoter Don Mack with this special event where Mack was a hero to many.

Series Racing
World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series

To Win Amount
$12,000.00

Event Schedule

2PM Pit Gates open
3PM Grandstand Gates open
6:30PM Hot Laps/Qualifying
7:30PM Opening Ceremonies
Racing to follow


*All times Central

Ticket Options  
Options And Prices
Adult Pit Combo $52 (Pit pass and reserved seat purchased in advance)
Child Pit Combo (Ages 12-under): $28
Adult Reserved: $49
Child Reserved: $25
Adult General Admission: $45
Child (6-12) General Admission: $25
Kids 5 and under FREE GA
Race Day Adult Pit Pass $50
Race Day Child Pit Pass $35

TICKET INFO

Discounts
None

Grandstand Type
Select rows in main grandstand have seat back

Reserved Seating
Yes

Family Section Location
no

Handicapped Seating Location
Bottom row of main covered grandstands

Pit Pass Price
Adult: $50
Child (12 & under): $35

Pit Age Requirement
NO age restriction for pits. 17 and under must be accompanied by a parent/ guardian with signed Minor Waiver.

Pit Gate Location
East side of the track

Parking Cost
Free

Handicapped Parking Location
Front gate

Camping Availability
electric hookup, onsite

Camping Cost

$20 with water; Contact track for reservations



Frequently Asked Questions  
To Win Amount
$12,000.00

Reserved Seating
Yes

Type of Grandstand
Select rows in main grandstand have seat back

Handicapped Seating
Bottom row of main covered grandstands

Handicapped Parking
Front gate

Pit Age Limit
NO age restriction for pits. 17 and under must be accompanied by a parent/ guardian with signed Minor Waiver.

Pit Gate Location
East side of the track

Personal Coolers
No coolers allowed

ATMs
1

Alcohol Sales
Alcohol is sold on site, including beer and malt beverages.

Smoking Policy
No smoking in grandstands. Smoking is only permitted in designated areas.

Family Section
no

Parking Cost
Free

Camping Availability
electric hookup, onsite

Camping Cost

$20 with water; Contact track for reservations



Track Info  

River Cities Speedway
2300 Gateway Dr
Grand Forks, North Dakota 58203 

Track Phone
(701) 780-0999

Track Email
[email protected]

Track Size
0.25

Closest Airport
Grand Forks Int'l

Other Airport
Fargo

Pit Gate Location
East side of the track

Track Map
Competitor Info  

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