Dale Blaney, 61, Becomes Oldest Outlaws Winner In History

Dale Blaney (right) and brother Dave Blaney in Sharon Speedway victory lane Saturday night. (Tyler Carr photo)

HARTFORD, Ohio – Even with how much history the Blaney family has made at Sharon Speedway through the decades, Saturday night’s World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series stop at the venerable dirt track might have topped it all.

At the facility his brother Dave and nephew Ryan co-own, driving his brother’s iconic red No. 10 sprint car, 61-year-old Dale Blaney showed that he had at least one more memorable moment in his Hall-of-Fame career.

Blaney snapped a decade-long World of Outlaws winless drought Saturday night in the Federated Auto Parts Showdown, driving from fifth to first to become the oldest feature winner in series history in a stunning upset.

Against a track-record 54-car field, Blaney topped his hot-lap group, led his qualifying flight, and won his heat race before a fifth-place finish in the dash lined him up on the inside of row three for the 30-lapper.

From there, Blaney jumped to third on the opening lap, wrapping the bottom groove in the way that earned him the ‘Low Rider’ nickname early in his racing career. He passed Buddy Kofoid for second on lap seven, then snookered polesitter Cole Macedo in traffic on lap 11 for the race lead.

Once he got out front, Blaney never gave up control, leading the rest of the way for his first win with the Outlaws since July 21, 2015, during the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup opener at Pennsylvania’s Lernerville Speedway.

It was a moment that sent the Sharon Speedway crowd into a frenzy and put an ear-to-ear, emotional smile on the face of the elder Blaney brother when he climbed atop the wing to celebrate.

“I had the feeling that I was never going to win an Outlaw race ever again,” Blaney said. “I don’t race much. This is our sixth race this year. I haven’t run in seven weeks. The car was awesome. We just got it back together this week. I don’t know what to say. It’s great and cool to win this at Sharon Speedway. It’s the only place I’ve run this year. We’d love to get this car to a couple different places and see what it does. But this is a special freaking night. I know that.

“There are so many good young race car drivers out here, but to win a race at 61 (years old) is awesome. The racetrack had to be a certain way. It was a little slicker and slower, but I’m pretty good when it gets like that,” he continued. “My car is excellent when it gets like that. Starting fifth, I didn’t know if I could pass those guys … but I knew where I wanted to run, and we made it work.”

A late caution for Trey Jacobs set up a six-lap shootout with Kofoid behind Blaney and hoping that traffic would play enough of a factor in the final moments to give the Roth Motorsports No. 83 a chance.

But slower cars at the white flag didn’t quite hold Blaney up enough for Kofoid to make a charge, and the California young gun had to settle for runner-up honors by .136 seconds.

“I wanted traffic. My car is usually amazing in traffic,” Kofoid said following his fifth consecutive podium finish. “He slipped up, and then I kind of got in his air and it got me slipped up. When I got to the cushion, it straightened me out. I think a lapper moved in his lane into (turn) three, and then he moved up, and then I got there and hit the wall too many times and couldn’t get all the way to his outside to block him out.

“I hit the wall coming to the checkered, and it shot me down the track. I tried to send it and was close. But I’m just happy for Dale and Dave. That’s really cool for them in a race like this.”

Another Ohio native in Sheldon Haudenschild finished third ahead of defending series champion David Gravel and Logan Schuchart.

Cole and Carson Macedo, Ryan Turner, Donny Schatz, and Bill Balog closed out the top 10.

Statistically, Dale Blaney tops brother Dave – who won at Sharon in 2021 to take the record in similar fashion – as the Outlaws’ oldest winner at 61 years, seven months, and 28 days old, making him the 15th different driver to win on tour this season.

Saturday night marked the elder Blaney’s 13th career World of Outlaws sprint car score, but it will go down in history as perhaps the most storybook of them all, coming at his family’s house and showing that the old guard can still get the job done when the chips are down.

The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series season continues Oct. 3-4 with the crown jewel, $75,000-to-win J&S Classics National Open at Pennsylvania’s Williams Grove Speedway.

Carson Macedo is the defending National Open winner. Every lap will be streamed live on DIRTvision.

The finish:

NOS Energy Drink Feature (30 Laps): 1. 10-Dale Blaney [5]; 2. 83-Michael Kofoid [2]; 3. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [4]; 4. 2-David Gravel [3]; 5. 1S-Logan Schuchart [6]; 6. 2C-Cole Macedo [1]; 7. 41-Carson Macedo [9]; 8. 15T-Ryan Turner [7]; 9. 15-Donny Schatz [16]; 10. 17B-Bill Balog [8]; 11. 32-Bryce Lucius [10]; 12. 1A-Ashton Torgerson [13]; 13. W20-Greg Wilson [19]; 14. 38-Leyton Wagner [14]; 15. 49X-Cale Thomas [12]; 16. 15S-Kerry Madsen [18]; 17. 18-Emerson Axsom [25]; 18. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [23]; 19. 99-Skylar Gee [17]; 20. 98-Ricky Peterson [11]; 21. 28M-Conner Morrell [26]; 22. 23-Garet Williamson [24]; 23. 33W-Cap Henry [20]; 24. 3JJ-Trey Jacobs [15]; 25. 11-Carl Bowser [22]; 26. O8-Danny Kuriger [21].