Inside Line Promotions
– SARVER, Pa. (Sept. 27, 2021) – Big Game Motorsports and driver David Gravel reached the double-digits wins mark during World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series competition this season thanks to a victory last Saturday during the Commonwealth Clash at Lernerville Speedway.
In fact, the team swept the night – setting quick time in qualifying before winning a heat race, the dash and the main event – for the second time this season. The triumph was the 13th of the season overall and 10 th of the year with the World of Outlaws.
“It’s really cool,” Gravel said. “I think last year I won nine races and one year at CJB I won nine races. When you’re one win away you’re super motivated. Ten is a hard number to attain. To do it in the first year with this team feels really good. We’ve won races a lot of different ways this year. It’s one of those things where you appreciate every win and it’s motivating to get that next one.”
Although Gravel was victorious every time he hit the track, it wasn’t until two thirds of the way through the 35-lap main event that he took the lead.
“I didn’t get the greatest jump on the start and Wayne (Johnson) protected,” he said. “It took the air off my car. I was riding in second and felt I could pass Wayne. I was trying to bide my time. Brad (Sweet) had a really good car as well and he was going off what I was doing. He was able to make a move to get by me and then pass Wayne. I thought that’d lower my chances to win the race. I was able to get to second. I thought Brad had a good pace. He caught some lapped cars and I was catching him. When the caution came out I tried to nail the restart as best as I could. He protected and I had a big run in turns one and two.”
As Sweet dropped to the bottom groove on the restart of Lap 23, Gravel railed the top side in turns one and two. His momentum propelled him down the backstretch and he dove to the bottom entering turn three. Gravel then slid up in front of Sweet to take the lead and he led the remainder of the race.
“He came down the track quite a bit and I probably surprised him I was there that much and got that low,” Gravel said. “It all worked out and was what I had to do to win the race. I knew I had to get up on the wheel.”
The team also competed on Friday at Eldora Speedway near Rossburg, Ohio, during the BeFour the Crowns Showdown. Gravel was efficient at the track as he set quick time during qualifying before winning a heat race to advance into the dash. Unfortunately, he pulled the highest number – eight – to line up last in the dash.
“Drawing the eight is never good, but I’d rather draw an eight at Eldora than some other tracks we race at,” he said. “I felt we had a pretty good car.”
Gravel picked up a pair of positions to finish sixth, which lined him up on the outside of the third row for the A Main.
“We weren’t great at the beginning of the feature,” he said. “We rode around for a bit. I put my wing all the way back and had to figure out what worked for me. Once we got the wing back we were racing with three other cars and went from sixth or seventh to third in a lap or two. At the end of the race I felt we were the best car in turns three and four and maybe not as good in turns one and two, but if things went our way maybe we had a shot to win the race.”
Gravel produced a third-place result, which was his 40th top five of the season.
Next up for the team is the Champion Racing Oil National Open this Friday and Saturday at Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pa. Gravel is a two-time winner of the prestigious event.
“We haven’t won at Williams Grove this year so I’m motivated to get that done,” he said. “We’ve had some issues at the big paying races. I’m motivated to try to get this big money this weekend. After the weekend we just had we have good confidence going in and we’ve had good speed at Williams Grove. We’ll focus on putting ourselves in a good position and then hopefully taking advantage.”
QUICK RESULTS –
Sept. 24 – Eldora Speedway near Rossburg, Ohio – Qualifying: 1; Heat race: 2 (1); Dash: 6 (8); Feature: 3 (6).
Sept. 25 – Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa. – Qualifying: 1; Heat race: 1 (1); Dash: 1 (2); Feature: 1 (1).
SEASON STATS –
73 races, 13 wins, 41 top fives, 60 top 10s, 69 top 15s, 72 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Friday and Saturday at Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pa., for the Champion Racing Oil National Open with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series
MEDIA LINKS –
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BigGameMotorspt