Wingin' It in Wayne County: #FantasyDirt Analysis for Sheldon Haudenschild's High Limit Buckeye Brawl

$32,022 up top on a Tuesday?!?! As we get more and more big money shows during the week, this song rings through my head often.

Tonight, we get the opportunity to watch some of the best sprint car drivers in the world put on a show from Wayne County Speedway in Orville, Ohio. On a Tuesday! What a time to be alive!

For its second show ever, High Limit has again drawn an eclectic mix of drivers. We've got Kyle Larson, of course,and he brought some NASCAR drivers with hime, some All Star Circuit of Champions regulars, some Knoxville regulars, some non-winged sprint car drivers, and, hell, maybe even Jimmie Johnson.

With such an interesting field of cars, and more names being added to the list race time approaches, selecting a DirtDraft lineup will be quite fun. Here's what we know headed into tonight to help making those lineup decisions a little easier.

Format: Straight-up
Assuming that the High Limit Open from Lincoln Park was the blueprint for future shows, we can be relatively confident that High Limit is rolling with a straight up show format. Qualifying position correlates to Heat starting position. The top two in each heat heads off to the dash and 3rd and 4th (potentially even 5th, depending on car count) head off to the Feature. Anyone not transferring via Heats heads to the Last Chance Qualifier. Pretty standard show and, thankfully, devoid of any inverts.

Who to Watch:
Rico Abreu ($21,600): Rico checks in as the 4th-highest salary, behind Kyle Larson ($22,000), Sunshine ($21,900), Justin Peck ($21,800), and costing the same as Hot Sauce ($21,600), which isn't too bad for a driver who secured a win and a 4th-place at Eldora this past weekend. Rico has been heating up a bit of late, with 5 ASCoC top-10s in the month of September. Getting him for $400 less than Larson could be a shrewd move.

Buddy Kofoid ($21,500): The only man to win a High Limit Sprint Cars feature checks in as the 6th-highest salary. Add to that win a couple of 4th-place finishes with ASCoC in September, and Buddy looks like a solid value. Kofoid has also taken the checkered flag at WCS back in 2019 with ASCoC. Anything can happen, of course, but a top-5 is certainly in play for Buddy and the 11 car tonight. Getting that type of result for his salary would represent some value.

Justin Sanders ($21,300): Sanders secured a second place finish in the inaugural High Limit Open. Before that, Sanders and the Swindell Speedlab 39 qualified for the Knoxville Nationals. Sanders will again be piloting that gorgeous Swindell Speedlab car around Wayne County tonight. Given the speed they've shown and the results to match, I'll be quick to put Sanders on the roster should his qualifying position match or exceed his 8th place salary.

Aaron Reutzel ($20,700): The reigning Knoxville points champion sports the 13th-highest salary as of publication. This past weekend at Eldora, Reutzel secured a 10th place finish in WoO action, and a 3rd place in ASCoC action. Before that, Reutzel won the Jerry Richert Memorial from Cedar Lake Speedway, another 3/8th mile, over a stout field full of IRA Sprints and Knoxville regulars. Reutzel also owns a win at WCS back in 2019 with ASCoC. Given the speed Reutzel has shown of late, the salary feels a bit low here. I'll be strongly considering the number 8 car tonight, provided there aren't any mechanical gremlins or down right awful qualifying times.

Cole Macedo ($20,500): Macedo took down the Peter Jacobs Memorial at Wayne County on September 19th. That was his second win of the season at WCS. That's a solid resume for the 14th-highest salary. Macedo has struggled a bit this season when stepping up against the touring series, so he does come with a bit of risk.

Cale Thomas ($19,300): The ASCoC regular has fared pretty well at Wayne County this year. Heck, he fared decently well last year too. Back in May, Thomas secured a solid 6th in ASCoC competion. When the series returned again in June, Thomas took home the runner up spot. In 2021, finished 5th in the lone ASCoC stop. Pretty sporty for the 21st-highest salary.

Tim Shaffer ($18,800): Shaffer finished second to Cole Macedo ($20,500) in the Peter Jacobs Memorial at Wayne County on the 17th of this month. Third place was Trey Jacobs ($21,100). If I'm going by nothing other than recent results, Shaffer looks like a steal. Keep an eye on his qualifying, if Shaffer finds himself starting in a transfer position, he might be able to get some solid mid-pack points for a non-qualifier price.

Henry Malcuit ($18,300): Malcuit is the WCS points leader. That alone makes him worth having on the radar going into the evening. Malcuit also has a 17th and 21st in ASCoC competition at WCS this year. He's shown the ability to make the feature and run decently well. Even a bit of luck going his way and we might get top-10 points out of a low-salary driver.

Greg Wilson (N/A): Wilson is confirmed to be in attendance, but isn't yet loaded into DirtDraft. Occasionally, this can result in a slightly skewed salary. If that happens tonight, awesome. If it doesn't, still keep Wilson on the radar. Wilson knows his way around this track, with a 14th and 7th in 2022 ASCoC action there.

Hunter Schurenberg (N/A): Hunterpercent won the May ASCoC stop at Wayne County. That's worth taking notice of as the High Limit field will be comparable to those ASCoC fields. This one does come with a caveat though, if the salary we eventually get slots Schurenberg in top-5, maybe even the top 10, I'd be less inclined to target Schurenberg as he has a few Feature misses this month alone.

Cap Henry (N/A): Henry lost his ride last week. He stepped into one of Rich Farmer's 29 cars and took home a second at Freemont on Saturday. Cap has a 2019 and 2020 ASCoC win at WCS on his resume as well. In 2022 ASCoC action at the track, Cap has a 6th and a 9th. All told, I get the sense Henry will plenty comfortable in his new ride and on this track. Any salary outside the top-10 will put Cap way up on the list of drivers to target.

As always, qualifying position should guide your lineup decisions. We can like a driver or his recent results or his familiarity with a track all we want, but if he's starting back road of a heat the likelihood that driver gets us plus value points is severly diminished. Target drivers who qualify well, as that is the easiest path to a solid finishing position. Good luck tonight!

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