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PRELIM POUNCE: Brad Sweet Tops Tyler Courtney at Lakeside Speedway, Racing for $50K on Saturday

The stars were out in full force as Shane Stewart's Heartland of America Showdown opened on Friday night at Kansas City's Lakeside Speedway with 39 of the nation's best beginning their quest for a $50,000 payday.

Altoona, Iowa's Austin McCarl earned the pole position by winning the FK Rod Ends Dash and was joined by Parker Price-Miller on the front row of the 25-lap A-Main. McCarl led the opening five circuits before it became a three-way battle for the lead and things really heated up.

Third-starting Tyler Courtney officially took the lead on Lap 6 and promptly brought fifth-starting Brad Sweet with him as the duo split McCarl and formed their own fight for control of the field. Officially, "Sunshine" and "The Big Cat" only swapped the lead four times - but there were countless exchanges and slidejobs that won't go down in the box score.

Courtney controlled the next three laps before Sweet edged ahead, then Country cruised back to lead another four before Sweet finally stole it for good on Lap 14. The Kasey Kahne Racing, NAPA Auto Parts #49 ran off into lap traffic and officially won by a 2.818-second margin of victory.

Sweet's third win of the year ties him with Corey Day as the winningest driver with Kubota High Limit Racing in 2024.

Championship leader Tyler Courtney claimed his eighth podium win the opening 11 races as the Clauson-Marshall Racing, NOS Energy Drink #7BC finished P2 behind Sweet.

Kyle Larson began his double duty weekend with a strong 12th-to-3rd bid in Paul Silva's #57 - his first podium with Kubota High Limit Racing since winning the season opener. He'll Qualify his Hendrick Motorsports #5 at Kansas Speedway tomorrow, then haul back to Lakeside Speedway to chase a $50,000 win.

Brent Marks kept his streak alive with his 11th top-10 in the 11th race of the year, finishing 4th aboard the Murray-Marks Motorsports #19. Marks, along with Sweet, Courtney and Larson, is locked-in for Saturday's Heat Races as a top-four preliminary finisher.

Rounding out the top-10 at Lakeside was Austin McCarl, Parker Price-Miller, Sam Hafertepe Jr, Spencer Bayston from 23rd, Rico Abreu, and Kasey Kahne.

THE ALL-IN NOTEBOOK (5/3/24)
Lakeside Speedway (Kansas City, KS)

Capitol Custom Trailers QuickTime - Tyler Courtney (14.738 seconds)
TJ Forged Heat One Winner - Kaleb Johnson
DMI Heat Two Winner - Austin McCarl
BR Motorsports Heat Three Winner - Joe B. Miller
Winters Performance Heat Four Winner - Brad Sweet
FK Rod Ends Dash Winner - Austin McCarl
B-Main Winner - Chris Windom
Jake's Golf Carts Fastest Lap Award - Tyler Courtney (14.866 seconds)
Hard Charger - Spencer Bayston +15, 23rd-to-8th
Lap Leaders - McCarl 1-5; Courtney 6-8; Sweet 9; Courtney 10-13; Sweet 14-25

Kubota A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 49-Brad Sweet[5]; 2. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[3]; 3. 57-Kyle Larson[12]; 4. 19-Brent Marks[7]; 5. 88A-Austin McCarl[1]; 6. 9P-Parker Price Miller[2]; 7. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[9]; 8. 5-Spencer Bayston[23]; 9. 24-Rico Abreu[11]; 10. 9-Kasey Kahne[6]; 11. 51B-Joe B Miller[8]; 12. 1A-Jacob Allen[14]; 13. 14-Corey Day[17]; 14. 21-Brian Brown[19]; 15. 13-Justin Peck[18]; 16. 5T-Ryan Timms[24]; 17. 88-Tanner Thorson[13]; 18. 26-Zeb Wise[15]; 19. 83-James McFadden[10]; 20. 55-Chris Windom[21]; 21. 1-Brenham Crouch[25]; 22. 12X-Paul Nienhiser[20]; 23. 5B-Karter Sarff[22]; 24. 22K-Kaleb Johnson[4]; 25. 19H-Hunter Schuerenberg[16]

Updated Championship Standings (After 11/57 Races):

1. Clauson-Marshall Racing #7BC - Tyler Courtney (751 PTS)
2. Kasey Kahne Racing #49 - Brad Sweet (-12 PTS)
3. Murray-Marks Motorosports #19 - Brent Marks (-57 PTS)
4. Jason Meyers Racing #14 - Corey Day (-69 PTS)
5. CJB Motorsports #5 - Spencer Bayston (-139 PTS)

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6. Shark Racing #1A - Jacob Allen (-165 PTS)
7. Rico Abreu Racing #24 - Rico Abreu (-165 PTS)
8. PPM Racing #9P - Parker Price-Miller (-184 PTS)
9. Roth Motorsports #83 - James McFadden (-214 PTS)
10. Buch Motorsports #13 - Justin Peck (-222 PTS)
11. Rudeen Racing #26 - Zeb Wise (-226 PTS)
12. Rod Gross Motorsports #88 - Tanner Thorson (-243 PTS)
13. Kasey Kahne Racing #9 - Kasey Kahne (-258 PTS)
14. Ridge & Sons Racing #8 - Cory Eliason (-275 PTS)
15. Vermeer Motorsports #55 - Chris Windom (-308 PTS)
16. Crouch Motorsports #1 - Brenham Crouch (-324 PTS)

UP NEXT: Shane Stewart's Heartland of America Showdown will conclude tomorrow, Saturday, May 4, with a $50,000-to-win, $2,000-to-start purse for Kubota High Limit Racing at Kansas City's Lakeside Speedway. Tickets are available for purchase at HighLimitRacing.com.

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