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(Photo by Hunter Schuerenberg)

PERRIS, Calif. – Though Hunter Schuerenberg will be driving a winged 410 sprint car for the majority of 2015, he kicked off his outdoor season with two wingless events this past week: the USAC Southwest vs. West Coast Sin City Showdown “Grudge Series” event in the Josh Ford Motorsports wingless #73 machine at the Dirt Track at Las Vegas on March 5, and then the USAC/CRA season-opening Sokola Shootout at Perris Auto Speedway on March 7.

Thursday night at Vegas, “Hunter Percent” drew the “1” pill, putting him on the pole of the first heat race. He’d quickly jump out to the heat race lead, and easily take the win by nearly four seconds. The top six in passing points were inverted for the feature lineup, and Schuerenberg again had luck on his side, sitting sixth in passing points and thus garnering the pole position for the 30-lap event.

Running the high side in turns one and two, Schuerenberg would pull away from the field, but get reeled back in through turns three and four, where slowly rolling the bottom was the fastest way around. Once the rear tires started to get too hot, his lead started slipping with it, and he relinquished the top spot on lap 22. Schuerenberg was trying his hardest to hold on for a top-five, and his efforts did pay off, finishing in the fifth spot.

Saturday night’s Sokola Shootout featured qualifying instead of pill draws for heat race lineups. Schuerenberg logged the fourth-fastest lap, and with the top six in each heat race being inverted, he was set to start fifth in the first of three heats. He’d improve one spot to fourth, locking himself into the feature as well as guaranteeing him a spot in the six-car inversion for the main event.

The fastest six drivers from qualifying all transferred directly to the feature race, so the feature inversion consisted of those six drivers. Schuerenberg would line up on the inside of the second row. He fell to seventh in the early going, but did a great job of maintaining that spot for the rest of the feature race, bringing the #73 home in seventh. Schuerenberg commented, “Just getting through the clicking process [with the Ford team], really,” adding that he’ll return to Perris on May 23 to again pilot the JFM entry.

Following the two races for JFM, Schuerenberg will return to his New Whiteland, Indiana shop to put the finishing touches on his #20n Roof Bolt Express/Nolen Racing sprint car, which he’ll first compete in on Friday, April 3 at Lincoln Speedway in Illinois for the Midwest Open Wheel Association’s first race of 2015. The following weekend, he’ll return to MOWA competition, this time at Jacksonville Speedway on April 10, and then he’ll cross the Mississippi River for the following night’s event with the National Sprint League at 34 Raceway in Burlington, Iowa. After one more MOWA weekend in Illinois at Tri-City and LaSalle Speedways, he has a weekend open on his schedule to round out the month of April.

To start off May, he’ll race his Mach 1/ Rider entry with the “Greatest Show on Dirt,” the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars for two nights. The Sikeston, Missouri native will race at I-55 Raceway in Pevely, Missouri, less than two hours from his hometown, on May 2, and following the event there, Sunday night action at Haubstadt, Indiana’s Tri-State Speedway will cap off the weekend.

Sticking to the WoO trail for another weekend, the #20n will make a two-night appearance on May 8 and 9 at one of the fastest dirt tracks in the world: Tony Stewart’s Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. While the Outlaws continue on to Pennsylvania following the Eldora dates, Schuerenberg will take his second crack at Jacksonville Speedway for a MOWA/NSL co-sanctioned event on May 15.

A busy six nights of racing in nine days will commence on Friday, May 22 at Indiana’s Plymouth Speedway with the All Star Circuit of Champions. Immediately after, Schuerenberg will catch a flight to the west coast for aforementioned USAC/CRA race at Perris Auto Speedway on May 23 in the Josh Ford Motorsports #73. Sunday, he’ll travel home to prepare for the Memorial Day World of Outlaws event at Lawrenceburg Speedway in Indiana. Schuerenberg then gets two days to regroup before undertaking the NSL’s special “March Through Missouri,” a two-night affair that first invades St. Francois County Raceway in Farmington on Thursday, May 28, then closes out with Randolph County Raceway in Moberly the following night. On the way back to Indiana, he’ll catch the MOWA event at Spoon River Speedway in Lewistown, Illinois on May 30.

Schuerenberg’s schedule is yet to be determined from June forward, and will be released at a later date.

Schuerenberg would like to thank Roof Bolt Express, Nolen Racing, Mach 1 Chassis, CSI Shocks, AFCO Racing Products, ButlerBuilt Professional Seat Systems, Hinchman Racing Uniforms, Keizer Wheels, High Side Design, and Ron Gorby’s Howard Johnson, as well as all of his fans for their continued support.

Quick Results

March 5 – Las Vegas, NV – 360ci Wingless Sprint – Heat: 1 (1); Feature: 5 (1)
March 7 – Perris, CA – 410ci Wingless Sprint – Qualifying: (4); Heat: 4 (5); Feature: 7 (3)

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