Logan Schuchart and Giovanni Scelzi Win Double Down Duels

Donny Schatz, Logan Schuchart and Brad Sweet in Victory Lane after competing at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. (Photo: High Limit Racing Media)

ROSSBURG, Ohio — To kick off the King’s Royal weekend at Eldora Speedway, High Limit Racing held twin 25-lap, $12,000-to-win races called “Double Down Duel$”.

Double Down Duel 1

Garet Williamson and Logan Schuchart paced the field for the first race. Almost immediately, Schuchart was side-by-side with Williamson, looking for a gap to get into that first place position to win the kick-off race at Eldora.

After a restart due to Cole Macedo flipping in Turns 1 and 2, Schuchart saw an opportunity to slide into the lead and took it. Going into Turn 3, Schuchart went low and came out in front of Williamson to claim the spot. Justin Peck lingered back in third.

Williamson slid in front of Schuchart going into Turn 2, but Schuchart returned the favor, reclaiming the coveted position. Peck, noticing what was going on, went down low into Turn 4 and passed Williamson for second. Now, instead of Peck looking hungrily at his competitors, it was Brad Sweet. Sweet ended up getting by Williamson for third by going low coming out of Turn 3.

Ten laps in, the battle for the lead began. Schuchart found himself on the back bumper of the last lapped traffic car as he crossed the line to start Lap 11. Peck saw this and jumped right up beside Schuchart going down the back stretch. Going into Turn 3, they were side-by-side and then, out of nowhere, Sweet joined the party. 

Sweet dove in between Schuchart and Peck and slid down in front of Peck to take over second. Not stopping there, Sweet continued his charge on the bottom by stealing the lead from Schuchart as well. To put the icing on the cake, he slid up in front of Schuchart to close the door…or so he thought.

Coming off of Turn 2, Schuchart ran the middle lane and got back in front of Sweet for the lead. Peck, using the draft method, followed right behind Schuchart in second place, also passing Sweet. However, this did not deter Sweet because he jumped right back into the battle with no hesitation. Going into Turn 4, Sweet went in the middle of the two drivers again, thus creating another three-wide scenario. 

As Schuchart, Peck and Sweet spaced themselves out a little bit but still remained three-wide, Donny Schatz came up to say hello as well, getting dangerously close to the top three while remaining in fourth. 

With only seven laps remaining, the stakes for second heated up. Sweet went after Peck hard and swapped places with him multiple times. Sweet finally got by Peck coming out of Turn 2 when Peck drifted up extremely high and had to slow down ever so slightly.

It took Peck four more laps, but he got right next to Sweet again. This time though, another competitor by the name of Schatz was applying some pressure. 

Peck threw a slider and managed to get in front of Sweet for a little while before Sweet got him back, but Schatz took to the bottom and passed Peck for third. Schatz now had Sweet in his direct line of fire and chased after him. 

Schatz got right next to Sweet coming off of Turn 4 and stayed there all down the front chute and through the first corner, but as they came off that corner, Schatz went low and slid up in front of the “Big Cat”, taking over second. Now, Schatz only had a little less than half of the track left to make a move on Schuchart.

And make a move he did. He went back down to the bottom and shot forward into the corner and got side-by-side with Schuchart. Throughout the corner, they were neck-and-neck with each other, but Schuchart pulled away on the straightaway and was able to claim the win.

Giovanni Scelzi in Victory Lane after winning at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. (Photo: Brent Smith Photography)

Double Down Duel 2

Giovanni Scelzi and Sye Lynch were the two pole-sitters for this feature. Scelzi took off like a rocket on the initial start and Lynch faded back a bit.

A few laps into the race, Kyle Larson and Tyler Courtney raced side-by-side. Larson got into the side of Courtney and nearly shoved him into the wall backwards. This put Larson ahead of Courtney while “Sunshine” was still trying to get his bearings together and figure out what happened. Luckily, Courtney kept it going the right way and stayed in the race.

With 17 laps remaining, Courtney had finally righted himself and went after Lynch, who was now in fourth. Lynch was running the bottom-most lane, so Courtney had to race the line directly above it. It panned out for him though, because he claimed fourth at the line to start Lap 7.

Meanwhile, Larson worked on Brian Brown in second. Coming out of Turn 2, Larson was on the bottom and Brown up top. Brown shot away from Larson coming out of the corner and held him off for a few more laps until Larson short-slid him going into Turn 2 with 12 laps left.

Scelzi managed to keep the lead to win his first ever feature at Eldora, even though Larson was gaining fast and cut down his over five-second lead down to nearly one second. Rounding out the top five were Courtney, David Gravel and Spencer Bayston.

High Limit Racing continues their King’s Royal weekend kickoff on Thursday night with the Joker’s Jackpot. Same track, same time, but with $100,000 on the line.