By T.J. Buffenbarger
KNOXVILLE, Iowa (August 15, 2020) — David Gravel showed the audience Friday at Knoxville Raceway why he was the winner of the 2019 edition of the Knoxville Nationals with the Jason Johnson Racing team by holding off the hottest driver in the country the past several months, Kyle Larson, to win Friday’s feature event during “the One and Only” at Knoxville Raceway.
While the box score showed Gravel from Watertown, Connecticut started on the front row and led all 25 laps in route to the victory it was far from easy as Larson pressured Gravel throughout the closing laps. Gravel held off Larson by .203 seconds at the finish.
Afterwards Gravel was quick to point out that his team led by crew chief Phillips Dietz is as tough as anyone when they are on their game.
“All I have to say is Paul Silva and Kyle Larson are really good, but when Phillip Dietz and David Gravel are on, we can compete with the best and tonight it shows,” said Gravel in the post-race interview. “Kyle’s a good friend, he’s making us step up our game. It’s been a struggle this year to get a balance. Tonight, we felt really, really good.”
Gravel took the lead at the start of the feature with Rico Abreu, Larson, and Brian Brow in tow. Larson tried to pull a slide job on Abreu for the second position on the third lap but could not make the pass. Larson tried again to pass Abreu using the bottom of the racetrack in turns three and four on lap five, but Abreu was able to hold off Larson’s advances.
The first caution flag of the event came out on lap six when Brian Brown slowed with a flat right rear tire. Brown’s crew was able to make repairs to rejoin the race at the tail of the field.
During the ensuing restart Larson caught the berm coming off turn four, shot up the racetrack, and contacted Spencer Bayston on the front stretch. Larson managed to continue with the right side of his wing panel bent while Bayston managed to guide his car to the infield berm without contact from other competitors while the caution flag came out. After going to the work area Bayston’s crew was unable to finish repairs in time for the restart.
Gravel pulled away during the restart while Larson continued to pressure Abreu for second without success. Finally, on lap seven Larson got a run down the front stretch to take second from Abreu. 10th starting Brad Sweet followed Larson through the same opening and dropped Abreu to fourth position.
As Gravel entered slower traffic on lap 15 Larson began to close. The gap shrunk over the final laps until Larson was right on Gravel’s back bumper. Even with mistakes on lap 17 missing the bottom in turns three and four and almost getting over the cushion in turn four on lap 21, Larson was able to recover to close on Gravel’s back bumper.
With the white flag in the air it appeared Larson would slide Gravel for the lead, but the slower car of Daryn Pittman was in Larson’s path as Gravel was able to squeak by. Even with two slower cars holding up Gravel’s progress on the final lap he was able to hold off Larson for the victory. Sweet held on for third while Abreu and Shane Golobic rounded out the top five.
“It was definitely intense there. Those lapped cars, who knows where they were going,” said Gravel of the final laps through traffic. “Phillip has been busting his butt working on two cars. Clyde and Nate, Dee, everyone that is making this possible. It feels good. I know Kyle was close there at the end. I know I had a good last lap, but I was getting tight on the curb. My wing kind of came back a little bit, so I had to move it forward and stay on top of that.”
Larson seemed content where his second-place finish positioned him for the $50,000 to win event on Saturday.
“The race car was good. Especially when I get to traffic, I feel really good,” said Larson. “David just did a little better job than me in some points when we got to traffic. One and two were so good you could go just about anywhere, and I couldn’t make up enough ground to stay close to him off of two. We will take a second. It’s a good points night and should line us up in the top four in points for the dash tomorrow. I’m happy about that and we’ll try again tomorrow.
Gravel’s victory put him on top of the event points and locked him into Saturday’s dash along with Larson, Aaron Reutzel, and Logan Schuchart.
Ten time World of Outlaws champion Donny Schatz picked up hard charger honors in Friday’s feature after having to take a provisional moving up from 25th starting spot to finish 11th.
the One and Only
World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series
Knoxville Raceway
Knoxville, Iowa
Friday August 15, 2020
Qualifying
1. 1A-Jacob Allen, 15.718
2. 21-Brian Brown, 15.723
3. 41-David Gravel, 15.811
4. 15H-Sam Hafertepe, 15.825
5. 19-Shane Stewart, 15.833
6. 71-Spencer Bayston, 15.834
7. O9-Matt Juhl, 15.854
8. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 15.883
9. 17W-Shane Golobic, 15.886
10. 49-Brad Sweet, 15.891
11. 83-Daryn Pittman, 15.893
12. 15-Donny Schatz, 15.909
13. 33M-Mason Daniel, 15.916
14. 39M-Anthony Macri, 15.942
15. 12N-Joey Saldana, 15.952
16. 24-Rico Abreu, 15.979
17. 18-Gio Scelzi, 15.987
18. 26-Cory Eliason, 16.005
19. 17X-Josh Baughman, 16.007
20. 48-Danny Dietrich, 16.009
21. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 16.013
22. 83J-Lynton Jeffrey, 16.015
23. 57-Kyle Larson, 16.021
24. 2M-Kerry Madsen, 16.024
25. 14-Parker Price-Miller, 16.054
26. 9-James McFadden, 16.055
27. 49J-Josh Schneiderman, 16.065
28. 13-Paul McMahan, 16.082
29. 3-Ayrton Gennetten, 16.086
30. 7BC-Tyler Courtney, 16.091
31. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 16.091
32. 2-Carson Macedo, 16.112
33. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss, 16.124
34. 7-Tim Kaeding, 16.146
35. 4-Terry McCarl, 16.152
36. 49X-Tim Shaffer, 16.167
37. 41S-Dominic Scelzi, 16.169
38. 5C-Colby Copeland, 16.172
39. 88-Kyle Offill, 16.183
40. 2KS-Brooke Tatnell, 16.212
41. 42-Sye Lynch, 16.231
42. 44S-Trey Starks, 16.242
43. 7S-Jason Sides, 16.259
44. 55-Hunter Schuerenburg, 16.265
45. 39-Sammy Swindell, 16.266
46. 5-Ian Madsen, 16.293
47. 2C-Wayne Johnson, 16.311
48. 3P-Sawyer Phillips, 16.35
49. 17A-Austin McCarl, 16.364
50. 27-Tucker Klaasmeyer, 16.394
51. 70-Cale Thomas, 16.408
52. 99-Skylar Gee, 16.436
53. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 16.439
54. 56N-Davey Heskin, 16.469
55. 9W-Ryan Giles, 16.489
56. 35-Zach Hampton, 16.5
57. 6-Bill Rose, 16.505
58. 7TAZ-Tasker Phillips, 16.507
59. 44-Chris Martin, 16.553
60. 14K-Tori Knutson, 16.88
61. 56-Joe Simbro, 17.085
62. 2K-Kevin Ingle, 17.303
63. 94-Jeff Swindell, NT
DRYDENE Heat #1 (10 Laps)
Top 5 Transfer
1. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [3]
2. 7S-Jason Sides [1]
3. 14-Parker Price-Miller [4]
4. 41S-Dominic Scelzi [2]
5. 17X-Josh Baughman [5]
6. 17A-Austin McCarl [9]
7. 1A-Jacob Allen [8]
8. O9-Matt Juhl [7]
9. 33M-Mason Daniel [6]
10. 9W-Ryan Giles [10]
11. 56-Joe Simbro [11]
DRYDENE Heat #2 (10 Laps)
Top 5 Transfer
1. 5C-Colby Copeland [2]
2. 9-James McFadden [4]
3. 2-Carson Macedo [3]
4. 39M-Anthony Macri [6]
5. 21-Brian Brown [8]
6. 87-Aaron Reutzel [7]
7. 48-Danny Dietrich [5]
8. 55-Hunter Schuerenburg [1]
9. 27-Tucker Klaasmeyer [9]
10. 35-Zach Hampton [10]
11. 2K-Kevin Ingle [11]
DRYDENE Heat #3 (10 Laps)
Top 5 Transfer
1. 39-Sammy Swindell [1]
2. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [3]
3. 41-David Gravel [8]
4. 1S-Logan Schuchart [5]
5. 17W-Shane Golobic [7]
6. 49J-Josh Schneiderman [4]
7. 12N-Joey Saldana [6]
8. 70-Cale Thomas [9]
9. 88-Kyle Offill [2]
10. 6-Bill Rose [10]
11. 94-Jeff Swindell [11]
DRYDENE Heat #4 (10 Laps)
Top 5 Transfer
1. 2KS-Brooke Tatnell [2]
2. 7-Tim Kaeding [3]
3. 24-Rico Abreu [6]
4. 13-Paul McMahan [4]
5. 49-Brad Sweet [7]
6. 5-Ian Madsen [1]
7. 15H-Sam Hafertepe [8]
8. 83J-Lynton Jeffrey [5]
9. 7TAZ-Tasker Phillips [10]
10. 99-Skylar Gee [9]
DRYDENE Heat #5 (10 Laps)
Top 5 Transfer
1. 57-Kyle Larson [5]
2. 2C-Wayne Johnson [1]
3. 4-Terry McCarl [3]
4. 19-Shane Stewart [8]
5. 83-Daryn Pittman [7]
6. 3-Ayrton Gennetten [4]
7. 18-Gio Scelzi [6]
8. 11K-Kraig Kinser [9]
9. 44-Chris Martin [10]
10. 42-Sye Lynch [2]
DRYDENE Heat #6 (10 Laps)
Top 5 Transfer
1. 3P-Sawyer Phillips [1]
2. 44S-Trey Starks [2]
3. 26-Cory Eliason [6]
4. 71-Spencer Bayston [8]
5. 49X-Tim Shaffer [3]
6. 2M-Kerry Madsen [5]
7. 15-Donny Schatz [7]
8. 56N-Davey Heskin [9]
9. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [4]
10. 14K-Tori Knutson [10]
DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash (6 Laps)
1. 41-David Gravel [1]
2. 24-Rico Abreu [2]
3. 21-Brian Brown [4]
4. 57-Kyle Larson [8]
5. 17W-Shane Golobic [3]
6. 26-Cory Eliason [5]
7. 19-Shane Stewart [7]
8. 71-Spencer Bayston [6]
D-main (8 Laps)
Top 4 Transfer
1. 99-Skylar Gee [2][]
2. 27-Tucker Klaasmeyer [1][]
3. 7TAZ-Tasker Phillips [3][]
4. 44-Chris Martin [4][]
5. 35-Zach Hampton [6][$125]
6. 9W-Ryan Giles [5][$125]
7. 14K-Tori Knutson [8][$125]
8. 6-Bill Rose [7][$125]
9. 56-Joe Simbro [9][$125]
10. 2K-Kevin Ingle [10][$125]
11. 94-Jeff Swindell [11][$125]
C-Main (10 Laps)
Top 4 Transfer
1. 49J-Josh Schneiderman [1][]
2. 41S-Dominic Scelzi [2][]
3. 83J-Lynton Jeffrey [7][]
4. 2C-Wayne Johnson [3][]
5. 49X-Tim Shaffer [6][$350]
6. 33M-Mason Daniel [4][$350]
7. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [8][$300]
8. 17A-Austin McCarl [10][$250]
9. 3-Ayrton Gennetten [5][$200]
10. 5-Ian Madsen [9][$150]
11. 11K-Kraig Kinser [15][$150]
12. 56N-Davey Heskin [16][$150]
13. 70-Cale Thomas [14][$150]
14. 99-Skylar Gee [17][$150]
15. 7TAZ-Tasker Phillips [19][$150]
16. 44-Chris Martin [20][$150]
17. 42-Sye Lynch [13][$150]
18. 88-Kyle Offill [11][$150]
19. 27-Tucker Klaasmeyer [18][$150]
20. 55-Hunter Schuerenburg [12][$150]
Last Chance Showdown (12 Laps)
Top 4 Transfer
1. 1S-Logan Schuchart [3][]
2. O9-Matt Juhl [1][]
3. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [4][]
4. 2-Carson Macedo [8][]
5. 14-Parker Price-Miller [2][$800]
6. 18-Gio Scelzi [12][$750]
7. 7-Tim Kaeding [6][$725]
8. 13-Paul McMahan [9][$700]
9. 12N-Joey Saldana [10][$675]
10. 15-Donny Schatz [7][$650]
11. 48-Danny Dietrich [16][$625]
12. 44S-Trey Starks [13][$600]
13. 83J-Lynton Jeffrey [19][$575]
14. 17X-Josh Baughman [5][$550]
15. 4-Terry McCarl [11][$525]
16. 49J-Josh Schneiderman [17][$500]
17. 2M-Kerry Madsen [15][$400]
18. 7S-Jason Sides [14][$400]
19. 41S-Dominic Scelzi [18][$400]
20. 2C-Wayne Johnson [20][$400]
NOS Energy Drink Feature (25 Laps)
1. 41-David Gravel [1][$10,000]
2. 57-Kyle Larson [4][$7,500]
3. 49-Brad Sweet [10][$5,000]
4. 24-Rico Abreu [2][$4,500]
5. 17W-Shane Golobic [5][$4,000]
6. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [14][$3,500]
7. 26-Cory Eliason [6][$3,250]
8. 19-Shane Stewart [7][$3,000]
9. 1S-Logan Schuchart [21][$2,800]
10. 87-Aaron Reutzel [15][$2,600]
11. 15-Donny Schatz [25][$1,400] *
12. 9-James McFadden [13][$2,200]
13. 2-Carson Macedo [24][$2,000]
14. O9-Matt Juhl [22][$1,800]
15. 39M-Anthony Macri [9][$1,600]
16. 21-Brian Brown [3][$1,500]
17. 39-Sammy Swindell [19][$1,400]
18. 83-Daryn Pittman [12][$1,300]
19. 1A-Jacob Allen [11][$1,200]
20. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [23][$1,100]
21. 15H-Sam Hafertepe [16][$1,000]
22. 3P-Sawyer Phillips [20][$1,000]
23. 2KS-Brooke Tatnell [18][$1,000]
24. 5C-Colby Copeland [17][$1,000]
25. 71-Spencer Bayston [8][$1,000]
Lap Leaders: David Gravel 1-25
KSE Hard Charger Award: 15-Donny Schatz[+14]
* Donny Schatz took a provisional which earned him World of Outlaw season points and not event points during the A-Main.