By DDR Motorsports PR
Watertown, Conn.—Sept. 6, 2012 — When the final checkered flag waves on the 2012 season for David Gravel, he will have taken to the track nearly 80 times. Of all those races, only twice in a main event, will he circle the track for 50 laps. The first of those was last month in the 52nd Annual Goodyear Knoxville Nationals at the famed Knoxville Raceway in Iowa, and the other will be this weekend in the historic Tuscarora 50 at Port Royal Speedway in Pennsylvania.
Gravel will open the AB Auto Glass 45th Annual Tuscarora 50 weekend with the UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions on Friday, Sept. 7, with a full racing program, culminating with a 30-lap main event that pays $5,000-to-win. On Saturday, Sept. 8, another complete show is in order, with a 50-lap $11,000-to-win A-Feature capping the weekend at the half-mile.
“We were pretty good there in the spring, so I’m excited to head back this weekend,” said Gravel. “These will be the last two races of the Eastern Region season, so hopefully we can end that on a good note. We’ve been working hard this week and I think have found a few things recently that have helped us get back closer to where we need to be.”
The native of Watertown, Conn., has made two trips to Port Royal this season. He finished third with the All Stars on April 28, in the Bob Weikert Memorial. He opened that night as the sixth-fastest driver in time trials, with a strong 38-car field in attendance. Gravel started fifth in the second eight-lap heat race and finished in that same position, which earned him a spot in the dash. The dash ran six laps, and he started on the inside of the front row and won to earn the pole position for the 30-lap main event.
“Port Royal is a big track and 50 laps is a lot of laps,” he noted. “You definitely have to concentrate every single lap and get settled in during the yellows to be there for the end. The first half of the race is not overly important, as long as you can keep the leaders in your sight for the end. A lot can happen in 50 laps, so you have to take care of your car and tires as well.”
Gravel made his first appearance of 2012 at track located at the Juanita County Fairgrounds on March 31, in a weekly show. He finished third in the third heat race that night to earn a spot in the main event. He started eighth in the feature, and quickly gained a couple of positions at the start, when the red flag flew for a multi-car incident. While the track crew was cleaning up the accident, rain began to fall, forcing the drivers to the pit area. Officials wound up having to cancel the remainder of the evening of racing.
“You face every single scenario possible at a track like Port Royal, so experience definitely helps there,” explained Gravel. “Having laps there is important, especially in figuring out what the track is going to do and how to approach it and adapt to it. We’ll try out best to put ourselves in a good position at the beginning of the night in time trials.”
The 20-year-old made his most recent trip to Central Pennsylvania with the All Stars at the beginning of June. He finished ninth on the first night of that trip at Williams Grove Speedway, and competed at Lincoln Speedway the following evening, where he was second-fastest in time trials
Gravel is currently third in both the UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions national standings and the Eastern Region points. He has one victory this season, along with 24 Top-10 finishes and has been quickest in time trials on six occasions with the series.
“By the time we get to Port Royal, we’ll have had five days between races, so we’ll be ready to go for sure,” he said. “We were on smaller tracks last weekend and this week it’s a big track, but you have to treat them all the same. Every track presents unique challenges, and we feel like we are pretty good at adapting and being ready.”
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.