By Alex Nieten
BARBERVILLE, FL (March 3, 2025) – David Gravel and Big Game Motorsports are on another level right now.
The 2024 World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car title was something they worked hard for. It eluded them for three seasons straight. But they have no plans of taking their foot off the gas after finally capturing the championship. They want to go on a run for the record books. Not just one title, but many.
The easiest path toward winning a championship is winning races, and that’s exactly what they did this week at Volusia Speedway Park.
First, it was Sunday’s dominant drive when Gravel led every lap. Monday dished out more of a challenge to the Watertown, CT native. He lined up third and slipped back to fourth on the opening circuit, but it didn’t matter. Gravel methodically worked the Cody Jacobs-prepared No. 2 forward. Back to third on Lap 5. Up to second on Lap 11. And ripping the lead away from Giovanni Scelzi on Lap 15. That was all she wrote. Gravel opened up the lead, survived heavy traffic, and took the checkered flag with nearly a two-second advantage to sweep the Bike Week Jamboree.
“Confidence has been high,” Gravel said. “All off-season it was high. After DIRTcar Nationals, it was high. To sweep the weekend feels really, really good. Now we’re going to a lot of different places, different sizes, places we haven’t been very often. It’s going to be a wildcard. It’s going to be a battle and fight every night no matter what.”
It was a significant victory for Gravel. His second straight elevated his career total with The Greatest Show on Dirt to 105, equaling him with Joey Saldana for seventh most all-time. It was also his seventh World of Outlaws triumph at Volusia, tying him with Brad Sweet for the second most.
It’s early, but Gravel has already built up a 44-point advantage over Logan Schuchart as he looks to defend his title. He and Tod Quiring’s team want to put together a stretch of Sprint Car racing that won’t be forgotten, and they look to be well on their way. They have two wins, five podiums, and a 2.33 average finish through six races in 2025.
“For us, we’re trying to build a point lead early, and so far we’re doing that,” Gravel said. “I’m really excited for this season. I think it’s going to be pretty special. We did a lot of special things last year, but we keep wanting to do special things.”
Behind Gravel it was a wild battle for second as the race wound down. Logan Schuchart eventually emerged over Giovanni Scelzi and Carson Macedo. It was he and the Shark Racing team’s third podium of the year, which already equals their total from the entire 2024 campaign. They came out ready for a rebound season, and so far they’ve delivered.
“I felt really good there,” Schuchart said. “Had a cool little race with Gio (Scelzi) and Carson (Macedo), and I actually felt like we were catching David there at the end, definitely aggressive. Very happy for our team. I felt like we learned a lot here in Florida to start the year. Definitely a much better start than last year, and I feel like we have some speed.”
Scelzi slipped to third after leading the opening 14 circuits aboard the KCP Racing No. 18. The Fresno, CA native didn’t want to see a potential win slip away, but his spirits were still high with his first podium of the season after struggling last month at “The World’s Fastest Half Mile.”
“I saw it getting dirtier in (Turns) 1 and 2 especially across the middle, which means the bottom is obviously throwing up to the middle,” Scelzi said. “I didn’t really go down there until I got in traffic behind David and stuck with him for a bit and then kind of just made a block move on myself and let Logan by me. Just proud of my guys. This is a huge rally from DIRTcar (Nationals) to here. I’m proud. It’s easy to get discouraged early in the year. It is a long year, but Charlotte creeps up on you.”
Carson Macedo and Jacob Allen completed the top five.
Chris Windom took the Sides Motorsports No. 7S on a 22nd to 10th run to claim KSE Racing Hard Charger honors.
David Gravel claimed his second straight Simpson Quick Time and the 124th of his career in Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying.
NOS Energy Drink Heats One, Two, and Four belonged to David Gravel, Hunter Schuerenberg, and Jacob Allen. WIX Filters Heat Three went to Carson Macedo.
Giovanni Scelzi topped the Toyota Dash.
Anthony Macri won the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown.
The Smith Titanium Brake Systems Break of the Race went to Creed Kemenah.
UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars head to the “Dirty South” to take on Eastaboga, AL’s Talladega Short Track on Friday, March 7 and Columbus, MS’s Magnolia Motor Speedway on Saturday, March 8. For tickets. CLICK HERE.
If you can’t make it to the track, catch every lap live on DIRTVision.
FEATURE RESULTS:
NOS Energy Drink Feature (25 Laps): 1. 2-David Gravel[3]; 2. 1S-Logan Schuchart[6]; 3. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[1]; 4. 41-Carson Macedo[2]; 5. 1A-Jacob Allen[5]; 6. 87-Aaron Reutzel[10]; 7. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[4]; 8. 15-Donny Schatz[15]; 9. 83-Michael Kofoid[11]; 10. 7S-Chris Windom[22]; 11. 17B-Bill Balog[8]; 12. 23-Garet Williamson[17]; 13. 14-Spencer Bayston[9]; 14. 39M-Anthony Macri[21]; 15. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[19]; 16. 13-Daison Pursley[16]; 17. 6-Zach Hampton[20]; 18. 27-Emerson Axsom[12]; 19. 44-Chris Martin[23]; 20. 88-Austin McCarl[13]; 21. 28M-Conner Morrell[25]; 22. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[18]; 23. 2C-Cole Macedo[7]; 24. 26-Justin Peck[14]; 25. 15K-Creed Kemenah[24]
MicroLite Last Chance Showdown (12 Laps): 1. 39M-Anthony Macri[1]; 2. 7S-Chris Windom[2]; 3. 44-Chris Martin[4]; 4. 15K-Creed Kemenah[3]; 5. 28M-Conner Morrell[5]; 6. 99-Skylar Gee[7]; 7. 32-Bryce Lucius[9]; 8. 64-Andy Pake[6]; 9. 6S-Tyler Clem[10]; 10. 97UK-Ryan Harrison[8]; 11. 11K-Joshua Kunstbeck[11]; 12. 20D-Stephen Darvalics[12]
Toyota Dash (6 Laps): 1. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[1]; 2. 41-Carson Macedo[3]; 3. 2-David Gravel[5]; 4. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[4]; 5. 1A-Jacob Allen[2]; 6. 1S-Logan Schuchart[6]; 7. 2C-Cole Macedo[7]; 8. 17B-Bill Balog[8]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 2-David Gravel[1]; 2. 2C-Cole Macedo[6]; 3. 14-Spencer Bayston[2]; 4. 88-Austin McCarl[4]; 5. 23-Garet Williamson[3]; 6. 15K-Creed Kemenah[8]; 7. 64-Andy Pake[7]; 8. 39M-Anthony Macri[5]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[2]; 2. 17B-Bill Balog[3]; 3. 87-Aaron Reutzel[1]; 4. 26-Justin Peck[6]; 5. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[4]; 6. 7S-Chris Windom[5]; 7. 99-Skylar Gee[7]; 8. 6S-Tyler Clem[8]
WIX Filters Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 41-Carson Macedo[1]; 2. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[2]; 3. 83-Michael Kofoid[3]; 4. 15-Donny Schatz[4]; 5. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[5]; 6. 44-Chris Martin[6]; 7. 97UK-Ryan Harrison[7]; 8. 11K-Joshua Kunstbeck[8]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 1A-Jacob Allen[2]; 2. 1S-Logan Schuchart[1]; 3. 27-Emerson Axsom[4]; 4. 13-Daison Pursley[5]; 5. 6-Zach Hampton[3]; 6. 28M-Conner Morrell[7]; 7. 32-Bryce Lucius[6]; 8. 20D-Stephen Darvalics[8]
Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying (2 Laps): 1. 2-David Gravel, 00:13.252[12]; 2. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 00:13.336[11]; 3. 41-Carson Macedo, 00:13.339[21]; 4. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 00:13.340[3]; 5. 14-Spencer Bayston, 00:13.349[10]; 6. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg, 00:13.350[14]; 7. 18-Giovanni Scelzi, 00:13.353[8]; 8. 1A-Jacob Allen, 00:13.394[30]; 9. 23-Garet Williamson, 00:13.403[28]; 10. 17B-Bill Balog, 00:13.429[1]; 11. 83-Michael Kofoid, 00:13.438[31]; 12. 6-Zach Hampton, 00:13.445[6]; 13. 88-Austin McCarl, 00:13.454[19]; 14. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss, 00:13.466[5]; 15. 15-Donny Schatz, 00:13.469[9]; 16. 27-Emerson Axsom, 00:13.480[20]; 17. 39M-Anthony Macri, 00:13.486[16]; 18. 7S-Chris Windom, 00:13.492[24]; 19. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 00:13.493[18]; 20. 13-Daison Pursley, 00:13.529[15]; 21. 2C-Cole Macedo, 00:13.608[26]; 22. 26-Justin Peck, 00:13.612[29]; 23. 44-Chris Martin, 00:13.675[27]; 24. 32-Bryce Lucius, 00:13.690[23]; 25. 64-Andy Pake, 00:13.706[7]; 26. 99-Skylar Gee, 00:13.730[17]; 27. 97UK-Ryan Harrison, 00:13.740[4]; 28. 28M-Conner Morrell, 00:13.775[22]; 29. 15K-Creed Kemenah, 00:13.828[25]; 30. 6S-Tyler Clem, 00:14.006[32]; 31. 11K-Joshua Kunstbeck, 00:14.786[13]; 32. 20D-Stephen Darvalics, 00:14.832[2]