By DDR Motorsports PR
Watertown, Conn.—Oct. 31, 2012 — What began for David Gravel in February down in Georgia and encompassed over 70 races at 34 tracks in 14 states and one Canadian province, will culminate this week, as he adds one more track to the list of venues he has competed at in 2012, with a trip to The Dirt Track at Charlotte in Concord, N.C.
Gravel will have a special paint scheme on his No. 89G to help promote Breast Cancer awareness during the Sixth Annual PEAK Motor Oil World of Outlaws World Finals Presented by NAPA Auto Parts, which open on Thursday, Nov. 1, with two rounds of time trials. The first round of qualifying will be used to set the heat race lineups for the Friday, Nov. 2, race program, while the second round of qualifying will set the fields the heats on Saturday, Nov. 3. The finale of the World Finals will air live on SPEED beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern.
“It’s been too long since we last raced and I am ready to get back in the car,” said Gravel. “Hopefully I’m not rusty. We ran pretty strong in our last Outlaws race at Rolling Wheels at the beginning of the month, so we hope to carry some momentum from that race into this weekend. We definitely want to end the year on a strong note.”
Gravel made his first trip to the World Finals in 2010, racing his way into the A-Feature of the finale of the event. He was 18th in time trials for the Saturday portion of the event just two spots shy of making the heat race inversion. Gravel finished fifth in the second heat race to punch his ticket into the 25-lap season-ending main event, where he would finish 22nd.
“The World Finals is always a very competitive event,” he stated. “It seems to be getting bigger and bigger each year with more cars in attendance. Being on TV as well makes it a big event. You have to put all of that to the side and treat it like any other race though, because it really is just another race. I think I have a better outlook and mindset going into it this year. We’ve been running strong all year, especially with the Outlaws, so we just have to keep that up.”
In the opener of the 2010 World Finals, the native of Watertown, Conn., turned the 33rd-fastest time in qualifying of the 55 entries. He finished eighth in the first eight-lap heat race, which put him in the B-main. He would work his way from the 13th starting spot in the B-main to finish eighth, coming up just four spots shy of transferring to the 25-lap main event.
Last season in the World Finals, Gravel came up just two positions short of making the A-Feature on the opening night. He began that contest by turning the 35th-fastest lap in qualifying of the 55 drivers in attendance. He finished seventh in the fifth heat race, which put him in the C-main. He won the C-main to earn the 15th starting spot in the B-main, where he sliced his way through the field to finish sixth. In the finale of the 2011 World Finals, Gravel was 30th in time trials. He finished fifth in the fifth heat race, with the Top-four transferring to the main event. He would end the night ninth in the B-main.
“Charlotte is a pretty unique track,” he noted. “You have to take each track one-at-a-time, because something you may have tried at a track last time you were there won’t work this time. The main thing is to go in there with an open mind. Tyler (Swank) and Kyle (Ripper) have been working hard the last few weeks, so they’ll have the car ready and we should be good when we unload.”
The 20-year-old made his debut at The Dirt Track in Charlotte in the spring of 2009 with the World of Outlaws, finishing 19th in the 30-lap A-Feature. He finished sixth in the first eight-lap heat race that night, after opening the night as the 22nd-fastest driver in time trials.
“Our first goal for this week is to qualify well and make it into the feature for both main events,” Gravel said. “If we can make it in the dash each night and get a couple of Top-10 finishes without tearing anything up that would be a great weekend for us. We’ll give it everything we got each night.”
Gravel heads into the World Finals having finished third in points with the UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions, where he scored one win and picked up 28 Top-10 finishes this year. With the World of Outlaws in 2012, he has earned 10 Top-10 finishes, of which eight are top-five performances in a limited number of starts. Gravel has been fastest in time trials with the World of Outlaws on four occasions this season, which is fifth-best with the series.
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.