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BRANDON, S.D. (June 7, 2021) – David Gravel enjoyed one of his best weekends of the season, which yielded a pair of feature victories to give the Big Game Motorsports driver six triumphs this year.
The action began last Friday at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, N.D., for the Gerdau Presents the 1st Leg of the Northern Tour. Gravel set quick time during qualifying for the eighth time during World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series competition this season before rain wiped out the remainder of the program.
Granite City Motor Park in Sauk Rapids, Minn., hosted the GMC Select Dealers of Minnesota Presents the World of Outlaws on Saturday. Gravel qualified sixth quickest, but he won a heat race after starting third to advance into the dash.
“The leader clipped a tire and that got me into second,” he said. “I was able to get the jump on the start and won the heat. We drew the No. 4 out of four for the dash draw. That didn’t seem to matter too much. We ran fourth in the dash.
“The race played out in my favor. I was able to get to third. On a restart I was able to hit the bottom good to get to the lead. Then I could control the race running the bottom good. The lapped cars held me up a little and I heard Sheldon (Haudenschild) ripping the top. Around Lap 28 or Lap 29 I heard him and moved to the top the rest of the race. I don’t think it was a better lane; it was just an open lane because lapped cars were down there.”
Gravel led Lap 15 and then the final 19 laps of the 35-lap feature for his fifth World of Outlaws win of the season and 63rd of his career.
The team ventured to Huset’s Speedway on Sunday for I-29 RV SuperCenter Night. Gravel set quick time during qualifying and advanced from fourth to second place during a heat race. He made the feature redraw and pulled the No. 3 to line up on the inside of the second row for the 25-lap A Main.
“I was able to qualify good so we just had to finish in the top five in the heat to qualify for the feature redraw,” he said. “We got a good redraw and started third. We got to second early. It was really fast around the top. (Shane) Golobic is a good short track racer and it’s hard to pass him. He made a mistake in traffic and I was able to slide him. If that hadn’t happened I don’t know if I would have been able to get by him.”
Gravel ran second for a majority of the race before capturing the lead with six laps remaining. The victory was his first ever at the track.
“We had a very strong weekend,” he said. “I don’t know what the peak is, but I feel as a team we had a successful weekend and we’re on the same page. It felt really good and accomplishing.”
Gravel returns to World of Outlaws action this Friday and Saturday at Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa, during the Brownells Big Guns Bash.
“Knoxville is a whole different animal, a whole different beast,” he said. “I feel it’s important to get laps at Knoxville. It’s a tricky place. It’s one of those things we need to see where we stack up. I know we have good running motors. We need to make the car right and hopefully we can run up front.”
QUICK RESULTS –
June 5 – Granite City Motor Park in Sauk Rapids, Minn. – Qualifying: 6; Heat race: 1 (3); Dash: 4 (4); Feature: 1 (4).
June 6 – Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, S.D. – Qualifying: 1; Heat race: 2 (4); Feature: 1 (3).
SEASON STATS –
31 races, 6 wins, 17 top fives, 26 top 10s, 31 top 15s, 31 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Friday and Saturday at Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa, for the Brownells Big Guns Bash with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series
MEDIA LINKS –
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BigGameMotorspt
THE SHOWDOWN –
THE SHOWDOWN is one of the biggest weeks of racing for winged sprint car drivers. The action begins on June 20 with a $6,000-to-win 410ci winged sprint car event followed by two days of the Huset’s 50. All three nights are hosted by Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, S.D., before Jackson Motorplex in Jackson, Minn., showcases the famed AGCO Jackson Nationals June 24-26. The final five nights of THE SHOWDOWN are World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series races with a total purse exceeding $500,000. Additionally, if a driver is able to win the final night of the Huset’s 50 and the AGCO Jackson Nationals he or she will bring home a whopping $180,000.
TICKET LINK –
Advanced tickets for THE SHOWDOWN can be purchased at https://mpv.tickets.com/schedule/?agency=JKMV_PL_MPV&orgid=55369#/?view=list&includePackages=true