FERGUSON: First Patriot Nationals could become new Memorial Day Tradition

Memorial Day Weekend is something special in the motorsports world.

Sunday is packed full of racing with Formula 1 at Monaco, the Indianapolis 500, and NASCAR’s yearly stop at their home track in Charlotte.

This year, the NOS Energy Drink World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series is trying something new and this thing could take off.

FERGUSON: First Patriot Nationals could become new Memorial Day Tradition

On Friday and Saturday, the Outlaws will take to the dirt track at Charlotte for what is being tabbed as the Patriot Nationals. It’s a pair of back-to-back races that each pay $15,000 to win and $1,000 to start the features.

This is the first time the series has gone to the famed North Carolina track for multiple events in May.

With on-track action at Charlotte Motor Speedway being exclusively on Thursday night and Saturday afternoon, it opens up the spotlight to shine completely on the dirt.

With the uniqueness of the event comes an opportunity for a driver to earn a historic win, and there are a lot of names that could end up taking home the trophy – which looks dope, by the way.

Thank you race fans for making our first Fan Day event bigger than we expected!

Now it’s World of Outlaws @NosEnergyDrink Sprint Car Series race time @TheDirtTrack tomorrow and Sat. for the inaugural @UnitedRentals #PatriotNats!

Get tickets here 🎟: https://t.co/7KwMKpXeNx pic.twitter.com/JJqkfRWE6Y

— World of Outlaws (@WorldofOutlaws) May 23, 2019

Donny Schatz comes into Charlotte with the points lead after having a strong week in Pennsylvania and finishing just shy of a win on Tuesday at Bridgeport.

As he is at nearly every track he races on in the series, Schatz will be a big threat to win this weekend. The North Dakota native earned victories in both the final race of the 2018 season at Charlotte and also during the May visit to the track last season.

Behind him – for now – is Brad Sweet. The two have been going back and forth for the lead all season, but neither has been able to eclipse the three-win mark held by the red hot David Gravel.

Gravel has finished in the top three in four of the past six races, while also managing a fourth-place finish in one of the six. His worst finish in the past calendar month was ninth.

This should be a fun event to watch and hopefully it starts a new tradition in what is already an action packed weekend.