NASCAR’s off-weekend saw a great number of its drivers and alumni take time off, but there were still those within the ranks that scored weekend hardware.
Sheldon Creed
The Xfinity Series regular enjoyed his strongest preliminary performance of the Millbridge Speedway season Wednesday (June 14), winning both his heat race and the pole dash for the wingless micro division. All that speed went out the window mid-feature though, when Creed misjudged a lap car trying to keep up with leader Jade Avedesian and spun out (4:59 of the below reel).
Creed continued to finish the race but could only make it back to 11th.
Stewart Friesen
The Truck Series regular had about as bipolar a week as he’ll ever have behind the wheel of a modified. Tuesday night saw Friesen make a rare appearance with the Super DIRTcar Series and endure the rarer feat of missing a race – Friesen spun unassisted during the first Last Chance Showdown and failed to finish the event.
After getting rained out at Fonda Speedway on Friday, Friesen returned to form Sunday night at Devil’s Bowl Speedway in Vermont, scoring the feature win on a very rough track surface as contender after contender fell to the wayside with mechanical issues.
Friesen sounded almost incredulous in victory lane, as he finished too far back in his heat race to make the redraw, meaning he had to come from outside the top 12 to win the Slate Valley 50 feature.
Kasey Kahne
The former Cup Series regular returned to regular duty with the World of Outlaws tour this weekend, finishing 11th and 12th across the two features at Beaver Dam Raceway in Wisconsin Friday and Saturday nights.
Ken Schrader
The former Cup Series regular put some serious miles on his hauler this weekend, racing four consecutive days up north. After winning a heat race at 141 Speedway in Wisconsin Wednesday night, Schrader qualified for and finished 16th in the King of the Creek A-main at the track.
Schrader stayed in Wisconsin on Friday, finishing 12th at Outagamie Speedway Friday. The weekend closed with Schrader scoring a runner-up finish at Silver Bullet Speedway in Michigan Saturday.
Schrader has a longer-duty trip up ahead this weekend, as he heads to Alaska for weekend racing.
Austin Wayne Self
The former Truck Series regular continued to be a terror in the crate modified ranks, winning quick time in qualifying and then the Mid-East Modified feature at Carolina Speedway Friday night.
Self’s victory was his fifth of the 2023 season. Self also finished fifth with the Mid-East mods in their race at Cherokee Speedway in South Carolina Saturday night.
Kenny Wallace
The former Cup Series regular raced all three nights of the weekend, starting with a heat race win and second-place finish on the Hell Tour at his home track, Tri-City Speedway in Illinois Friday night.
Wallace also scored runner-up finishes in his UMP modified at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 Saturday and Adams County Speedway in Illinois on Sunday.