By DDR Motorsports PR
Watertown, Conn.—April 29, 2012— Connecticut may be David Gravel’s home state, but this weekend he could have passed for a Pennsylvanian. In two starts with the UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions in the Keystone State, Gravel brought home a third-place finish at Port Royal Speedway in the Bob Weikert Memorial on Saturday, April 28 and a 12th-place finish at the famed Williams Grove, which had close to 50 cars in attendance on Friday, April 27
On Friday night, at the track that is simply known as “The Grove,” Gravel qualified in the 16th position. In preliminary action he won the fourth heat race from the third starting position, out battling Pennsylvania legends Fred Rahmer and Don Kreitz Jr., along with three-time and defending All Stars Champion Tim Shaffer, before facing the night’s feature event.
At the beginning of the feature, Gravel lined up in the 10th position. During the 30-lap battle on the legendary half-mile, the 20-year old held strong. He raced into the top-10 and was running in the ninth position when the final caution came out. On the restart the No. 89G did not get an optimal jump and lost a few positions, but Gravel was able to hold on to finish in the 12th position.
“We should have finished a little better on Friday,” explained Gravel. “We lost a few positions during that late race restart. You get into the race and sometimes those restarts hurt your rhythm. There were a lot more cars there than when we last ran at ‘The Grove,’ so a 12th-place finish meant more than it did in the weekly show.”
On Saturday night at Port Royal Speedway the native of Watertown, Conn., was ready to take on the Bob Weikert Memorial. Gravel had a solid qualifying effort, turning in the sixth quickest lap of the night. He went on to finish fifth in the second heat race to qualify for the feature. The young driver won the dash to earn the pole for the feature with a new six-lap track record at the half-mile with a time of 1:40.595.
From the pole, Gravel took off in the main event in his Kistler-powered J&J. He led the first circuit of the race, before Greg Hodnett used a slidejob in the first corner to take the top spot on the second circuit. The red flag was unfurled for the first time on the night on that lap. On the ensuing restart, Gravel battled for the second spot for several laps before Danny Holtgraver took it away on lap-11, after a spirited duel. At the end of the 30-Lap event, Gravel recorded a solid third-place finish while Hodnett went on to record the win.
“Greg Hodnett had the dominant car here tonight,” Gravel stated. “We were not great at the beginning of the race and Holtgraver got by us. At the end the car started to handle better. A third- place finish is definitely something that we cannot complain about. Hodnett could run where ever he wanted and he was fast. For me, the bottom was the place to be early in the race but towards the end I was able to go high and have that line work for me.”
David Gravel and DDR Motorsports would like to thank: J&J Chassis, JRC Transportation, Kistler Engines, Musco Fuels and P&M Transportation for their continued support.