By DDR Motorsports PR
Watertown, Conn.—Sept. 20, 2012 — David Gravel recorded Top-Five finishes earlier this season with the World of Outlaws at both Eldora Speedway and Lernerville Speedway, which marked career-best showings at each of those venues with the series. But that is not quite enough for the ultra-competitive 20-year-old, as those strong runs left him longing for more as he returns to the pair of tracks this weekend looking to move up a few spots and contend for a couple of victories.
Gravel will take to the track at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, on Friday, Sept. 21 for the World of Outlaws portion of the 4-Crown Nationals weekend. He’ll then make the trek to Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa., on Saturday, Sept. 22 for the Commonwealth Clash.
“With the season winding down, it’s good to have another two race weekend,” said Gravel. “We’ve been pretty fast and strong at both Eldora and Lernerville this year and should have a good set-up right off the bat. We’ll have a good engine in the car as well, and both of those places take some horsepower. Hopefully things go smooth both nights and we have a good weekend.”
Gravel has made four appearances at Eldora this season, all with the World of Outlaws. During the Goodyear Outlaw Thunder Weekend in May, he was fastest in time trials on both nights. He was battling for the lead in the opener of that two-night event before contact with another car ended his night. He rebounded the next night and finished fourth. Gravel returned to Eldora for the Kings Royal weekend in July, and was quickest in qualifying for the third straight time with the World of Outlaws at the half-mile. He finished 12th in the Knight Before the Kings Royal and just missed qualifying for the Kings Royal by two spots in the B-main. Gravel finished 12th during the 4-Crown Nationals last season.
“The first three times we went to Eldora this year, we used three different engines and were fastest in qualifying each time, so that definitely shows how strong the Mopar engines that Paul Kistler builds for us are,” he stated. “We kind of struggled during the Kings Royal and missed making the heat race invert by one spot, so hopefully we can make up for that this weekend. As with all the Outlaws races, time trials are very important, as well as making it into the dash.”
At Lernerville in the opener of the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup Twin 30s with the World of Outlaws back in July, Gravel came home fifth. He began that night by turning the sixth-fastest lap in time trials of the 40 drivers that took to the track. Gravel finished fourth in the second heat race and lined up 12th for the first 30-lap main event, quickly working his way forward. In the UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions event at the high-banked four-tenths-mile over Labor Day weekend, Gravel finished seventh.
“Lernerville is a track that I’m pretty comfortable at,” noted the East Coast racer. “We’ve run well there this year with both the Outlaws and the All Stars, so we’ll look to continue that this weekend. Lernerville is always a racy track where you can move around, and with the strong field that will be there, you have to have your car working all around the track.”
Gravel’s best overall career finish at Lernerville came in 2011 with the All Stars, when he came home second. He also has one fast time award at the track, as he stopped the clocks first in 2010 during an All Stars event at the track located just outside of Pittsburgh. Gravel made his debut at Lernerville in 2009.
The native of Watertown, Conn., who is currently third in points with the All Stars, has nine Top-10 finishes with the World of Outlaws this season, with seven of those being Top-Five performances. He has stopped the clocks first in qualifying four times with the series, which puts him fourth on the leaderboard in that category.
“We’ve been running pretty solid lately, so hopefully we can to keep that ball rolling here at the end of the season,” shared Gravel. “Every night we are looking to get the best finishes that we can and end on a good note. We have some big races here at the end of the year, and we’ll do our best to be running up front in them.”
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.
Keep up-to-date with David Gravel and DDR Motorsports by visiting www.DavidGravel89.com. Follow David on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/DavidGravel89g. Like David on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/David-Gravel-Racing/143538695709198.