MECHANICSBUG, PA (October 2, 2020) — David Gravel made the most of his 600th career World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series start at Williams Grove Speedway Friday night.
He won the opening night of the National Open – his sixth win of the season and second in a row at the historic half-mile – took home the $10,000 check and made big gains for Jason Johnson Racing in the team championship.
His path to victory consisted of a dominate reign out front, leading all 25 laps and crossing the finish line by 2.5 seconds ahead of Kyle Larson.
David Gravel / Trent Gower photo
“I had a couple of close calls,” said Gravel, of Watertown, CT. “I had no idea what kind of lead I had. When I passed a lap car, they poked their nose at me, and I didn’t think that was a very good corner. It was a lot of work up there on the curb. It started getting built up pretty big. I knew I just had to attack, attack, attack. When Kyle (Larson) is behind you, know who you have to run all 25 laps hard.”
Riding the high of his win at Lernerville Speedway last week, Gravel – who already had seven wins at Williams Grove, including his Summer Nationals win in July – showed his strength early by setting Quick Time in his qualifying flight. He then won his Drydene Heat Race and went on to finish second in the DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash behind PA Posse member Freddie Rahmer.
However, the runner-up finish proved to benefit Gravel more than the win did for Rahmer. By starting on the outside pole for the 25-lap Feature, Gravel got the jump on Rahmer at the start and ran away like a thief out of a bank.
In the first five laps of the Feature, Gravel had already pulled ahead of Rahmer by 2.2 seconds. Lap traffic came into play the next lap but had no hinderance on the Mesilla Valley Transportation #41. Keeping his foot to the floor, Gravel gained tenths every lap on Rahmer. And while he pulled away, Rahmer found himself under attack by Larson.
Rahmer and Larson waged war throughout the final half of the race for the runner-up spot. There was no consideration for space between the two cars. Larson closed to Rahmer’s tail tank in the corners, but Rahmer could pull ahead down the straightaways. Then came the dance of slide jobs. Larson would dive underneath him and Rahmer would slide him back. It wasn’t until Lap 23 that Larson finally completed the pass and looked to run down Gravel.
Larson ran out of time to do so, though. He cut about a second off of Gravel’s lead in three laps but had to settle for the runner-up spot.
Kyle Larson (left) races Freddie Rahmer (right) / Trent Gower photo
“He (Gravel) was really fast,” Larson said. “He’s been really fast here at Williams Grove no matter what team he’s with. He got a good start there and got the lead and set the pace. He picked off some lappers and didn’t get hung up at all. It didn’t allow us to close on him. I felt really really good. I feel like if I cleared Freddie (Rahmer) the first time I tried I would have been able to run Gravel down.”
Rahmer – the current track points leader at Williams Grove – rounded out the podium. The PA Posse has now lost eight straight Series races in Pennsylvania to the Outlaws.
“The big part of the race is trying to get the lead on the start, and I didn’t get a good start,” Rahmer said. “I didn’t bring them around at a fast-enough pace for how our car fired off. And he got through lap cars better than us. I didn’t think Larson was that much better than I was. We were running each other pretty hard. He just got by me at the end.”
With Gravel’s win tonight, and points leader Brad Sweet finishing 11th, Jason Johnson Racing is now only four points behind Sweet’s Kasey Kahne Racing team for the team championship points lead.
For the driver championship, Sweet was able to gain points again on Logan Schuchart, who finished 17th. Sweet now holds a 52-point lead over Schuchart and a 90-point lead over 10-time Series champion Donny Schatz, who sits third in points.
Tomorrow, Gravel will compete for his third National Open title at Williams Grove and the illustrious $75,000 top prize.
“It’s all about putting yourself in position,” Gravel said. “You’re not going to win every time from the front row, but you like your chances.”
World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series
Williams Grove National Open – Night #1
Williams Grove Speedway
Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania
Friday October 2 2020
Qualifying Flight-A
1. 71-Shane Stewart, 16.111
2. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 16.371
3. 39M-Anthony Macri, 16.403
4. 51-Freddie Rahmer, 16.404
5. 2M-Kerry Madsen, 16.416
6. 11-T.J. Stutts, 16.448
7. 26-Cory Eliason, 16.518
8. 14-Parker Price-Miller, 16.524
9. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 16.543
10. 21P-Brian Montieth, 16.544
11. 49-Brad Sweet, 16.612
12. 1-Logan Wagner, 16.723
13. 13-Paul McMahan, 16.725
14. 91-Kyle Reinhardt, 16.726
15. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss, 16.733
16. 1X-Chad Trout, 16.787
17. 99M-Kyle Moody, 16.806
18. 1W-Matt Campbell, 16.843
19. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg, 16.917
20. 6X-Ryan Smith, 16.94
21. 19M-Landon Myers, 16.964
22. 5-Brent Marks, 16.982
23. 12-Brent Shearer, 17.009
24. 83-Spencer Bayston, 17.068
25. 49H-Bradley Howard, 17.149
26. 2C-Wayne Johnson, 17.191
27. 73B-Brett Michalski, 17.559
28. 12W-Troy Fraker, 17.946
29. 39-Justin Peck, NT
Qualifying Flight-B
1. 41-David Gravel, 16.419
2. 57-Kyle Larson, 16.5
3. 1A-Jacob Allen, 16.594
4. 9-James McFadden, 16.671
5. 69K-Lance Dewease, 16.682
6. 18-Gio Scelzi, 16.699
7. 15-Donny Schatz, 16.745
8. 72-Daryn Pittman, 16.771
9. 11Z-Zeb Wise, 16.82
10. 5C-Dylan Cisney, 16.85
11. 21-Brian Brown, 16.905
12. 24-Lucas Wolfe, 16.913
13. 7S-Jason Sides, 16.926
14. 17X-Ian Madsen, 16.951
15. 48-Danny Dietrich, 16.986
16. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 17.015
17. 55K-Robbie Kendall, 17.049
18. 2-Carson Macedo, 17.052
19. 17BX-Steve Buckwalter, 17.072
20. 91F-Tony Fiore, 17.145
21. 17B-Bill Balog, 17.182
22. 3-Jac Haudenschild, 17.216
23. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 17.243
24. 19-Troy Wagaman, 17.26
25. 33M-Mason Daniel, 17.631
26. 35-Zach Hampton, 17.677
27. 6-Bill Rose, 17.745
28. 54-Zach Newlin, 17.78
Non-Qualifier (8 Laps):
1. 12-Brent Shearer [11]
2. 17B-Bill Balog [2]
3. 83-Spencer Bayston [3]
4. 3-Jac Haudenschild [3]
5. 49H-Bradley Howard [5]
6. 2C-Wayne Johnson [7]
7. 73B-Brett Michalski [9]
8. 35-Zach Hampton [12]
9. 33M-Mason Daniel [10]
10. 54-Zach Newlin [14]
11. 6-Bill Rose [13]
12. 12W-Troy Fraker [11]
13. 19-Troy Wagaman [8]
14. 11K-Kraig Kinser [6]
DRYDENE Heat Race #1 (8 Laps):
1. 71-Shane Stewart [1]
2. 39M-Anthony Macri [2]
3. 2M-Kerry Madsen [3]
4. 26-Cory Eliason [4]
5. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [5]
6. 49-Brad Sweet [6]
7. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [8]
8. 13-Paul McMahan [7]
9. 99M-Kyle Moody [9]
10. 19M-Landon Myers [10]
11. 12-Brent Shearer [11]
DRYDENE Heat Race #2 (8 Laps):
1. 87-Aaron Reutzel [1]
2. 51-Freddie Rahmer [2]
3. 21P-Brian Montieth [5]
4. 5-Brent Marks [10]
5. 11-T.J. Stutts [3]
6. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [7]
7. 1X-Chad Trout [8]
8. 14-Parker Price-Miller [4]
9. 1-Logan Wagner [6]
10. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [9]
11. 17B-Bill Balog [11]
DRYDENE Heat Race #3 (8 Laps):
1. 41-David Gravel [1]
2. 1A-Jacob Allen [2]
3. 15-Donny Schatz [4]
4. 69K-Lance Dewease [3]
5. 21-Brian Brown [6]
6. 11Z-Zeb Wise [5]
7. 48-Danny Dietrich [8]
8. 7S-Jason Sides [7]
9. 17BX-Steve Buckwalter [10]
10. 55K-Robbie Kendall [9]
11. 83-Spencer Bayston [11]
DRYDENE Heat Race #4 (8 Laps):
1. 57-Kyle Larson [1]
2. 9-James McFadden [2]
3. 18-Gio Scelzi [3]
4. 72-Daryn Pittman [4]
5. 1S-Logan Schuchart [8]
6. 24-Lucas Wolfe [6]
7. 2-Carson Macedo [9]
8. 5C-Dylan Cisney [5]
9. 17X-Ian Madsen [7]
10. 3-Jac Haudenschild [11]
11. 91F-Tony Fiore [10]
DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash (6 Laps):
1. 51-Freddie Rahmer [1]
2. 41-David Gravel [2]
3. 57-Kyle Larson [4]
4. 71-Shane Stewart [3]
5. 39M-Anthony Macri [6]
6. 9-James McFadden [5]
7. 1A-Jacob Allen [8]
8. 87-Aaron Reutzel [7]
D-main (8 Laps):
1. 2C-Wayne Johnson [2][-]
2. 49H-Bradley Howard [1][-]
3. 73B-Brett Michalski [3][$125]
4. 33M-Mason Daniel [5][$125]
5. 54-Zach Newlin [6][$125]
6. 19-Troy Wagaman [9][$125]
7. 35-Zach Hampton [4][$125]
8. 12W-Troy Fraker [8][$125]
9. 6-Bill Rose [7][$125]
10. 11K-Kraig Kinser [10][$125]
11. 6X-Ryan Smith [11][$125]
12. 1W-Matt Campbell [12][$125]
13. 39-Justin Peck [13][$125]
C-Main (10 Laps):
1. 99M-Kyle Moody [1][-]
2. 17BX-Steve Buckwalter [2][-]
3. 19M-Landon Myers [5][$150]
4. 17X-Ian Madsen [4][$150]
5. 3-Jac Haudenschild [8][$150]
6. 55K-Robbie Kendall [6][$125]
7. 12-Brent Shearer [9][$125]
8. 91F-Tony Fiore [12][$125]
9. 49H-Bradley Howard [14][$125]
10. 2C-Wayne Johnson [13][$125]
11. 1-Logan Wagner [3][$125]
12. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [7][$125]
13. 83-Spencer Bayston [10][$125]
14. 17B-Bill Balog [11][$125]
Last Chance Showdown (12 Laps):
1. 14-Parker Price-Miller [1][-]
2. 49-Brad Sweet [3][-]
3. 11Z-Zeb Wise [2][-]
4. 48-Danny Dietrich [6][-]
5. 2-Carson Macedo [8][$300]
6. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [7][$250]
7. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [5][$225]
8. 24-Lucas Wolfe [4][$200]
9. 13-Paul McMahan [11][$200]
10. 1X-Chad Trout [9][$200]
11. 17BX-Steve Buckwalter [14][$200]
12. 99M-Kyle Moody [13][$200]
13. 5C-Dylan Cisney [12][$200]
14. 7S-Jason Sides [10][$200]
NOS Energy Drink Feature (25 Laps):
1. 41-David Gravel [2][$10,000]
2. 57-Kyle Larson [3][$5,000]
3. 51-Freddie Rahmer [1][$3,000]
4. 87-Aaron Reutzel [8][$2,700]
5. 39M-Anthony Macri [5][$2,500]
6. 71-Shane Stewart [4][$2,200]
7. 15-Donny Schatz [10][$2,000]
8. 69K-Lance Dewease [14][$1,800]
9. 9-James McFadden [6][$1,600]
10. 2M-Kerry Madsen [9][$1,450]
11. 49-Brad Sweet [22][$1,300]
12. 5-Brent Marks [15][$1,200]
13. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [17][$1,100]
14. 18-Gio Scelzi [12][$1,000]
15. 21P-Brian Montieth [11][$950]
16. 2-Carson Macedo [25][$200]
17. 1S-Logan Schuchart [20][$850]
18. 48-Danny Dietrich [24][$750]
19. 26-Cory Eliason [13][$725]
20. 72-Daryn Pittman [16][$700]
21. 1A-Jacob Allen [7][$700]
22. 11-T.J. Stutts [19][$700]
23. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [26][$]
24. 14-Parker Price-Miller [21][$700]
25. 11K-Kraig Kinser [29][$]
26. 11Z-Zeb Wise [23][$700]
27. 7S-Jason Sides [30][$]
28. 21-Brian Brown [18][$700]
29. 83-Spencer Bayston [27][$]
30. 24-Lucas Wolfe [28][$]
Lap Leaders David Gravel 1-25
KSE Hard Charger Award: 49-Brad Sweet[+11]