By Alex Nieten
NEW RICHMOND, WI (June 26, 2026) – David Gravel was simply perfect Friday night.
Perfect nights don’t come around often with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series. Simply winning a race with the country’s best drivers is an extremely difficult task, let alone being atop the leaderboard every time you hit the track.
But it’s no surprise that the driver and team that pulled it off at Cedar Lake Speedway’s Federated Auto Parts Independence Spectacular opener are the two-time and defending Series champions.
The Big Game Motorsports No. 2 was fastest in Race//Ready Hot Laps, fastest in Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying, won NOS Energy Drink Heat One, pulled the SPA Technique #1 Redraw pill, and won the Toyota Dash. That left only the 35-lap Feature to put the finishing touches on a flawless evening, and Gravel did exactly that. The Watertown, CT driver led every single lap, holding off a charging Michael “Buddy” Kofoid from the fourth row to punctuate the perfect night.
“I’ve got to thank Cody (Jacobs), Pete (Stephens), Zach (Patterson), and Luke (Vaughn),” Gravel said. “This is a brand-new car tonight, first night on this race car. I can’t thank them enough. They bust their butts. Last time we were here we brought out a new car, and there were leaks all over the place. Tonight, we were flawless from the start of the night to the end of the night.” Can’t thank those guys enough. It makes my job so much easier. Hopefully this car will last us through the summer months and win a lot of big races.”
Friday gave Gravel and the Big Game group their second straight win to go along with last Saturday’s $300,000 BillionAuto.com Huset’s High Bank Nationals triumph. They’re up to seven on the season and trail Kofoid and Roth Motorsports by just one for the most in 2026. Gravel is now a three-time Cedar Lake winner, putting him alongside Dave Blaney and Kerry Madsen for the sixth most. He now hasn’t finished off the podium in his last seven tries at the New Richmond, WI track.
Buddy Kofoid took the Roth Motorsports No. 83 from eighth to second and notched his 14th podium of the season.
Bill Balog made his local fans proud by bringing the No. 17B home third, his best World of Outlaws finish at Cedar Lake.
Sheldon Haudenschild and Carson Macedo completed the top five.
NIGHTLY NOTES
David Gravel earned his 11th Race//Ready Hottest Lap of the Night in 2026.
Gravel also clocked his 13th Simpson Quick Time of the season in Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying.
Heat Races belonged to David Gravel (NOS Energy Drink Heat One), Sheldon Haudenschild (TheGreatestStoreonDirt.com Heat Two), and Kelby Watt (WIX Filters Heat Three).
The SPA Technique #1 Redraw went to David Gravel.
Gravel also tapped the Toyota Dash.
Cole Macedo won the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown.
Kasey Jedrzejek wheeled from 21st to 11th to earn the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger and Five Star Bodies Rookie of the Race.
Spencer Bayston was the Tub O’ Towels Seventh Place Finisher.
David Gravel laid down the ACME Trading Company Fast Lap.
The Smith Titanium Brake Systems Break of the Race went to Kelby Watt.
UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars punctuate the Federated Auto Parts Independence Spectacular at New Richmond, WI’s Cedar Lake Speedway on Saturday, June 27. For tickets, CLICK HERE.
Where can you watch every World of Outlaws race? Live on DIRTVision.
Where can you see the World of Outlaws in 2026? Click to see the full schedule.
FEATURE RESULTS:
NOS Energy Drink Feature (35 Laps): 1. 2-David Gravel[1]; 2. 83-Michael Kofoid[8]; 3. 17B-Bill Balog[2]; 4. 18-Sheldon Haudenschild[4]; 5. 41-Carson Macedo[3]; 6. 23-Garet Williamson[7]; 7. 17-Spencer Bayston[16]; 8. 1S-Logan Schuchart[12]; 9. 7S-Chris Windom[6]; 10. 2C-Cole Macedo[19]; 11. 6-Kasey Jedrzejek[21]; 12. 15-Donny Schatz[17]; 13. 51-Ashton Torgerson[13]; 14. 27-Emerson Axsom[10]; 15. 24T-Christopher Thram[11]; 16. 16C-Skylar Gee[14]; 17. 15K-Creed Kemenah[22]; 18. 14-Brooke Tatnell[20]; 19. 33-Scotty Broty[18]; 20. 49-Josh Schneiderman[24]; 21. 1K-Kelby Watt[5]; 22. 28M-Conner Morrell[9]; 23. 23W-Scott Winters[23]; 24. 31-Scotty Thiel[15]
MicroLite Last Chance Showdown (12 Laps): 1. 2C-Cole Macedo[2]; 2. 14-Brooke Tatnell[4]; 3. 6-Kasey Jedrzejek[3]; 4. 15K-Creed Kemenah[1]; 5. 23W-Scott Winters[6]; 6. 49-Josh Schneiderman[5]; 7. 8-Will Gerrits[8]; 8. 26T-Tyler Tischendorf[11]; 9. 47-Todd King[10]; 10. (DNF) 91-Reed Allex[9]; 11. (DNF) 4-Alex Pokorski[7]; 12. (DNS) 22-Riley Goodno
Toyota Dash (8 Laps): 1. 2-David Gravel[1]; 2. 17B-Bill Balog[2]; 3. 41-Carson Macedo[4]; 4. 18-Sheldon Haudenschild[6]; 5. 1K-Kelby Watt[3]; 6. 7S-Chris Windom[5]
NOS Energy Drink Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 2-David Gravel[1]; 2. 17B-Bill Balog[2]; 3. 23-Garet Williamson[4]; 4. 27-Emerson Axsom[3]; 5. 51-Ashton Torgerson[8]; 6. 17-Spencer Bayston[5]; 7. 2C-Cole Macedo[6]; 8. 14-Brooke Tatnell[7]; 9. 4-Alex Pokorski[9]; 10. (DNS) 47-Todd King
The Greatest Store on Dirt Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 18-Sheldon Haudenschild[1]; 2. 41-Carson Macedo[2]; 3. 83-Michael Kofoid[3]; 4. 24T-Christopher Thram[4]; 5. 16C-Skylar Gee[6]; 6. 15-Donny Schatz[5]; 7. 6-Kasey Jedrzejek[7]; 8. 49-Josh Schneiderman[8]; 9. 8-Will Gerrits[9]; 10. 26T-Tyler Tischendorf[10]
WIX Filters Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 1K-Kelby Watt[2]; 2. 7S-Chris Windom[4]; 3. 28M-Conner Morrell[1]; 4. 1S-Logan Schuchart[3]; 5. 31-Scotty Thiel[6]; 6. 33-Scotty Broty[9]; 7. 15K-Creed Kemenah[5]; 8. 23W-Scott Winters[8]; 9. 91-Reed Allex[10]; 10. (DNF) 22-Riley Goodno[7]
Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying (2 Laps): 1. 2-David Gravel, 11.633[8]; 2. 18-Sheldon Haudenschild, 11.646[27]; 3. 28M-Conner Morrell, 11.680[6]; 4. 17B-Bill Balog, 11.728[16]; 5. 41-Carson Macedo, 11.736[18]; 6. 1K-Kelby Watt, 11.755[26]; 7. 27-Emerson Axsom, 11.762[4]; 8. 83-Michael Kofoid, 11.770[29]; 9. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 11.795[13]; 10. 23-Garet Williamson, 11.808[24]; 11. 24T-Christopher Thram, 11.837[3]; 12. 7S-Chris Windom, 11.838[1]; 13. 17-Spencer Bayston, 11.872[12]; 14. 15-Donny Schatz, 11.901[23]; 15. 15K-Creed Kemenah, 11.941[21]; 16. 2C-Cole Macedo, 11.960[25]; 17. 16C-Skylar Gee, 11.982[30]; 18. 31-Scotty Thiel, 11.984[10]; 19. 14-Brooke Tatnell, 11.996[7]; 20. 6-Kasey Jedrzejek, 12.008[28]; 21. 22-Riley Goodno, 12.087[17]; 22. 51-Ashton Torgerson, 12.090[15]; 23. 49-Josh Schneiderman, 12.100[5]; 24. 23W-Scott Winters, 12.256[19]; 25. 4-Alex Pokorski, 12.258[11]; 26. 8-Will Gerrits, 12.262[9]; 27. 33-Scotty Broty, 12.478[22]; 28. 47-Todd King, 12.572[2]; 29. 26T-Tyler Tischendorf, 12.579[20]; 30. 91-Reed Allex, 12.933[14]