Stretching from July 16 to August 10, the NOS Energy Drink World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series’ Month of Money provides four weeks of the most intriguing motor sports of the year.
Combining iconic tracks with sizeable purses in the heart of the season, the Month of Money is where the best racing of the year comes together.
Beginning with the $175,000-to-win Kings Royal at Eldora Speedway and stretching to the near $1 million purse at the NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals, this month has potential to be the biggest ever.
To make sure we cover the racing with the attention that it deserves, we’ve set up this central location with all of the Month of Money content that will be regularly update each and every day.
Thanks for following along.
The Happenings
Here, we will be posting all of our content for the month, as well as on the site where it can normally be found.
The month started off with a cancellation at Attica Raceway Park for the annual Brad Doty Classic. With the rain date being used for the back end of #LetsRaceTwo, we’ll hop right into Eldora Speedway to kick things off.
Looking ahead to Eldora following A Rain-out at Attica
http://lastwordonmotorsport.com/2019/07/17/looking-at-the-world-of-outlaws-week-at-eldora/
Donny Schatz kicked off the Month of Money where he left off at Eldora Speedway, capturing his sixth win in nine races at the famed Rossburg, OH track.
Schatz will look to continue his success at the track, with three more race days in a row coming up.
https://lastwordonmotorsport.com/2019/07/19/donny-schatz-reigns-supreme-as-king-of-eldora/
Brad Sweet countered Donny Schatz’ win with a victory of his own, holding off the No. 15 as the pair shared the front row on Thursday.
Sweet led the whole way en route to his 10th victory of the season.
https://lastwordonmotorsport.com/2019/07/19/sweet-counters-schatz-with-jokers-wild-win/
As Sweet countered Schatz, though, we continued to go back and forth.
Schatz led all 30 laps of Friday night’s event and turned his eyes to Saturday.
Before the $175,000-to-win race would be kicked off, a new record was already set for the oldest pole-sitter in the event’s history.
Sammy Swindell would lead the field to green on Saturday night.
https://lastwordonmotorsport.com/2019/07/20/sammy-swindell-on-the-pole-for-2019-kings-royal/
While Schatz was the favorite coming into the Kings Royal, he started P2 and wouldn’t lead a lap in the entire 40-lap main event.
Instead, Logan Schuchart and none other than Brad Sweet battled for the big bucks and the lead.
https://lastwordonmotorsport.com/2019/07/21/the-summer-of-sweet-continues-big-cat-wins-kings-royal/
As the summer rolls on, the big story has been about how the NAPA Auto Parts team and Brad Sweet have been able to maintain the pace that is usually set by Donny Schatz at this point in the season.
I talked with the WoO points leader over the phone about how this summer has come together for him.
https://lastwordonmotorsport.com/2019/07/23/the-summer-of-the-big-cat-and-how-it-came-about/
On Tuesday at Lernerville, David Gravel ended the run set by the top two points-getters, taking the 40-lap feature at the Pennsylvania track.
https://lastwordonmotorsport.com/2019/07/24/david-gravel-says-put-me-in-the-points-race/
Gravel kept his momentum going, put couldn’t quiet get the win on Friday night at Williams Grove, succumbing to the ‘Steel City Outlaw’ Tim Shaffer.
In the finale to the Champion Racing Oil Summer Nationals, the momentum went back to Schatz, and he closed in again on the series points lead.
It’s now down to just eight points.
Month of Money Schedule
[Winner] – Date – Race – Track – (Pays to win)
[Donny Schatz] July 17 | #LetsRaceTwo @ Eldora ($10,000)
[Brad Sweet] July 18 | Jokers Wild @ Eldora ($10,000)
[Donny Schatz] July 19 | Knight Before @ Eldora ($12,000)
[Brad Sweet] July 20 | Kings Royal @ Eldora ($175,000)
[David Gravel] | Silver Cup @ Lernerville ($25,000)
[Tim Shaffer] | Summer Nationals @ Williams Grove ($8,000)
[Donny Schatz] | Summer Nationals @ Williams Grove ($20,000)
Aug. 02 | Night Before the Ironman @ I-55 ($8,000)
Aug. 03 | Ironman 55 @ I-55 ($20,000)
Aug. 07 | Knoxville Nationals Qualifying Night 1 ($12,000)
Aug. 08 | Knoxville Nationals Qualifying Night 2 ($12,000)
Aug. 09 | Knoxville Nationals Hard Knox Night ($4,000)
Aug. 10 | 59th Annual Knoxville Nationals ($150,000)
Series Standings
| World of Outlaws Sprint Car Standings | |||
| Position | Driver | Points | Behind |
| 1 | Brad Sweet | 6130 | |
| 2 | Donny Schatz | 6122 | -8 |
| 3 | David Gravel | 6024 | -106 |
| 4 | Daryn Pittman | 5898 | -232 |
| 5 | Logan Schuchart | 5834 | -296 |
| 6 | Carson Macedo | 5696 | -434 |
| 7 | Shane Stewart | 5670 | -460 |
| 8 | Ian Madsen | 5574 | -556 |
| 9 | S. Haudenschild | 5436 | -694 |
| 10 | Brent Marks | 5346 | -784 |
*Updated following Williams Grove 7/27
