2/13/2022
RacinBoys
Gravel lands World of Outlaws Big Gator Championship at Volusia
By Brian Walker, WOO Sprint Series PR (Barberville, FL) -- The Big Game Motorsports crew went big game hunting and got themselves a Big Gator Championship on Saturday night.
Following up finishes of fourth on Thursday and second on Friday, David Gravel put the ultimate exclamation point on his DIRTcar Nationals title with a downright dominating victory in Saturday's Feature at Volusia Speedway Park. For his unrivaled performance over three nights, Gravel secured his second-career Big Gator Championship.
PHOTO CREDIT: Trent Gower
Earning the pole position with a DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash win, Gravel took the green flag, set the cruise control, and never let go until the Huset's Speedway #2 crossed the checkered flag with a 1.114-second margin of victory. It was a big bounceback win for Tod Quiring's operation, which is headed by reigning Crew Chief of the Year Cody Jacobs along with Trey Bowman & Zach Patterson.
The victory, which was Gravel's first in World of Outlaws competition at Volusia and in Florida, came just 24 hours after losing a heartbreaker to Sheldon Haudenschild by 0.044-seconds. That was with only three shocks, though, and then they proved how lethal they were with a fully operational beast.
A now-resident of West Palm Beach, FL, Gravel collected his 70th career World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series win at Volusia Speedway Park, which became the 40th track he's won at.
Another eight months and 85+ races remain in the 2022 campaign, but this is no doubt the hottest start of Gravel's career and arguably the most potential he's had when it comes to putting all the pieces together to record that first career championship.
"This deal is hard, you know there's a reason why there are only 10 champions in World of Outlaws history," Gravel spoke on the early-season title outlook. "I've never done it before and I've been on the road since 2013 just learning every single season. We have to take it one race at a time. It's definitely a confidence builder, but we realize this place is unique and unlike other places we'll see."
"It's no doubt, though, that I've got one of the best car owners in the business and we've got a really good team on the road. I'm excited to really get into the swing of things."
After starting on the outside pole, Kraig Kinser of Bloomington, IN chased Gravel for the opening half and was making headway in trying to track him down until the right rear let loose and sent the #11K careening into the wall on Lap 15.
From there, Brent Marks of Myerstown, PA assumed the runner-up and never let it go as he crossed the stripe with a Volusia career-best of second-place. It's a strong start for the seven-time World of Outlaws winner who will embark on a true outlaw schedule - including 40+ dates with The Greatest Show in Dirt - in 2022 with the Murray-Marks #19.
"We had a really good car, but not as good as David," Marks mentioned. "We needed more lap traffic to get to him. It's been an amazing adventure so far with Murray-Marks, though. I normally struggle here so to run second-place tonight is pretty well for us."
Rounding out the podium was James McFadden of Alice Springs, NT, AUS with a season-best third-place run in the Roth Motorsports #83.
"Getting this new deal with Roth Motorsports on the podium so quick is awesome for us," McFadden said. "It's a privilege for me to come over and race in front of a crowd like this. We just have to keep taking advantage and building our momentum to chase the championship."
Sheldon Haudenschild finished fourth aboard the Stenhouse Jr. Marshall Racing, NOS Energy Drink #17 and Brad Sweet ran fifth in the Kasey Kahne Racing, NAPA Auto Parts #49.
Closing out the top-10 on Saturday night at Volusia was Donny Schatz, Cory Eliason, Giovanni Scelzi, Logan Schuchart with a 22nd-to-ninth KSE Hard Charger run, and Carson Macedo in the tenth spot.
UP NEXT - The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series will enjoy next weekend at home before taking The Greatest Show on Dirt to the dirty south for a trip to Magnolia Motor Speedway in Columbus, MS on Friday, February 25, and The Rev in Monroe, LA on Saturday, February 26.
RESULTS
A Feature (30 Laps): 1. 2-David Gravel[1]; 2. 19-Brent Marks[4]; 3. 83-James McFadden[6]; 4. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[9]; 5. 49-Brad Sweet[3]; 6. 15-Donny Schatz[7]; 7. 26-Cory Eliason[5]; 8. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[11]; 9. 1S-Logan Schuchart[22]; 10. 41-Carson Macedo[17]; 11. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[8]; 12. 1A-Jacob Allen[24]; 13. 11-Kerry Madsen[12]; 14. 21-Brian Brown[14]; 15. 8-Aaron Reutzel[13]; 16. 5-Spencer Bayston[21]; 17. 57-Kyle Larson[15]; 18. 48-Danny Dietrich[16]; 19. 3-Ayrton Gennetten[10]; 20. 13-Justin Peck[20]; 21. 55-Alex Bowman[18]; 22. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[19]; 23. 11K-Kraig Kinser[2]; 24. 39M-Anthony Macri[23]; 25. 6-Bill Rose[25]
Last Chance Showdown (12 Laps): 1. 5-Spencer Bayston[1]; 2. 1S-Logan Schuchart[3]; 3. 39M-Anthony Macri[2]; 4. 1A-Jacob Allen[4]; 5. 10-Paulie Colagiovanni[5]; 6. 7S-Jason Sides[6]; 7. 20G-Noah Gass[8]; 8. 23B-Brian Bell[11]; 9. 7B-Ben Brown[10]; 10. 9-Kasey Kahne[7]; 11. 6-Bill Rose[9]; 12. 2C-Wayne Johnson
DIRTVision FAST PASS Dash (6 Laps): 1. 2-David Gravel[2]; 2. 11K-Kraig Kinser[1]; 3. 49-Brad Sweet[4]; 4. 19-Brent Marks[6]; 5. 26-Cory Eliason[3]; 6. 83-James McFadden[5]; 7. 15-Donny Schatz[8]; 8. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[7]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 26-Cory Eliason[1]; 2. 19-Brent Marks[2]; 3. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[5]; 4. 8-Aaron Reutzel[3]; 5. 41-Carson Macedo[6]; 6. 1S-Logan Schuchart[7]; 7. 5-Spencer Bayston[4]; 8. 6-Bill Rose[8]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[1]; 2. 15-Donny Schatz[4]; 3. 3-Ayrton Gennetten[2]; 4. 21-Brian Brown[5]; 5. 55-Alex Bowman[3]; 6. 1A-Jacob Allen[6]; 7. 7S-Jason Sides[7]; 8. 7B-Ben Brown[8]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 83-James McFadden[1]; 2. 49-Brad Sweet[2]; 3. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[3]; 4. 57-Kyle Larson[4]; 5. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[5]; 6. 10-Paulie Colagiovanni[6]; 7. 9-Kasey Kahne[8]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 11K-Kraig Kinser[2]; 2. 2-David Gravel[4]; 3. 11-Kerry Madsen[1]; 4. 48-Danny Dietrich[3]; 5. 13-Justin Peck[6]; 6. 39M-Anthony Macri[5]; 7. 20G-Noah Gass[8]; 8. 23B-Brian Bell[7]
Qualifying (2 Laps): 1. 26-Cory Eliason, 00:13.738[28]; 2. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss, 00:13.823[23]; 3. 83-James McFadden, 00:13.868[32]; 4. 11-Kerry Madsen, 00:13.877[25]; 5. 19-Brent Marks, 00:13.878[20]; 6. 3-Ayrton Gennetten, 00:13.898[31]; 7. 49-Brad Sweet, 00:13.914[27]; 8. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 00:13.938[18]; 9. 8-Aaron Reutzel, 00:13.941[11]; 10. 55-Alex Bowman, 00:13.959[22]; 11. 18-Giovanni Scelzi, 00:14.001[19]; 12. 48-Danny Dietrich, 00:14.042[17]; 13. 5-Spencer Bayston, 00:14.043[30]; 14. 15-Donny Schatz, 00:14.067[26]; 15. 57-Kyle Larson, 00:14.069[16]; 16. 2-David Gravel, 00:14.082[9]; 17. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 00:14.088[6]; 18. 21-Brian Brown, 00:14.089[5]; 19. 7BC-Tyler Courtney, 00:14.107[24]; 20. 39M-Anthony Macri, 00:14.108[7]; 21. 41-Carson Macedo, 00:14.181[4]; 22. 1A-Jacob Allen, 00:14.204[1]; 23. 10-Paulie Colagiovanni, 00:14.205[29]; 24. 13-Justin Peck, 00:14.224[14]; 25. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 00:14.225[8]; 26. 7S-Jason Sides, 00:14.362[13]; 27. 2C-Wayne Johnson, 00:14.480[15]; 28. 23B-Brian Bell, 00:14.572[3]; 29. 6-Bill Rose, 00:14.749[10]; 30. 7B-Ben Brown, 00:14.751[12]; 31. 9-Kasey Kahne, 00:14.786[2]; 32. 20G-Noah Gass, 00:15.227[21]
NEW Championship Standings (After 3/89 Races): 1. David Gravel (438); 2. Donny Schatz (-14); 3. Sheldon Haudenschild (-16); 4. James McFadden (-24); 5. Brad Sweet (-36); 6. Brent Marks (-38); 7. Carson Macedo (-42); 8. Aaron Reutzel (-44); 9. Cory Eliason (-48); 10. Kyle Larson (-50).
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DIRTCAR UMP MODIFIEDS
Gator Championship (30 Laps): 1. 2H-Nick Hoffman[6]; 2. 8-Kyle Strickler[2]; 3. K9-Will Krup[3]; 4. 67-Garret Stewart[9]; 5. 99G-Hunt Gossum[11]; 6. 7-Justin Allgaier[10]; 7. 35-David Stremme[14]; 8. 5E-Rick Eckert[16]; 9. 8A-Austin Holcombe[13]; 10. 36-Kenny Wallace[4]; 11. 88C-Matt Crafton[17]; 12. 5CS-Curt Spalding[23]; 13. 12L-Lucas Lee[26]; 14. 1S-Brian Shaw[18]; 15. 21J-Clay Harris[5]; 16. 96M-Mike McKinney[33]; 17. 81-Steve Axtell Jr[19]; 18. 95-Michael Altobelli[29]; 19. 18L-Michael Long[8]; 20. 11M-Michael McGee[20]; 21. 242X-Dawson Cook[25]; 22. 90-Jason Beaulieu[21]; 23. 5-Jonathan Taylor[28]; 24. 7T-Evan Taylor[24]; 25. 242-Brandon Bollinger[30]; 26. 18-Eric Moon[27]; 27. 21A-Nick Allen[12]; 28. 24-Zeke McKenzie[1]; 29. 24H-Mike Harrison[7]; 30. 21D-Danny Schwartz[15]; 31. 14C-Rick Conoyer[22]; 32. 27G-Jason Garver[31]; 33. 00-Buzzie Reutimann[32]
LCS 1 (10 Laps): 1. 90-Jason Beaulieu[3]; 2. 242X-Dawson Cook[5]; 3. 463-Daniel Sanchez[2]; 4. 05-Dave Wietholder[10]; 5. C8-Cole Perine[9]; 6. 0-Glenn Styres[6]; 7. 2-William Bartlett[14]; 8. 02-Chris Cook[12]; 9. 1-Brenden Rassel[13]; 10. I 70-Kim Edington[18]; 11. 72-Todd Neiheiser[7]; 12. 242-Brandon Bollinger[4]; 13. (DNS) 97-Mitch Thomas; 14. (DNS) 25-Tyler Nicely; 15. (DNS) 22T-Tony Anderson; 16. (DNS) 33-Kenny Mihalik; 17. (DNS) 62E-Deece Schwartz; 18. (DNS) 711B-Jerry Bland Jr; 19. (DNS) 27C-Billy Cevaal; 20. (DNS) 22-Dale Kelley; 21. (DNS) 05X-Kyle Hammer; 22. (DNS) 6B-Dave Baldwin; 23. (DNS) 77S-Jim Shipman
LCS 2 (10 Laps): 1. 5CS-Curt Spalding[1]; 2. 18-Eric Moon[4]; 3. 49-Billy Green[5]; 4. 00D-David Reutimann[2]; 5. 00EH-Steve Arpin[8]; 6. 77-Ray Bollinger[9]; 7. 77D-Dustin Demattia[12]; 8. 00-Buzzie Reutimann[11]; 9. 100-Andy Galgoci[14]; 10. 11N-Gene Nicholas[17]; 11. 33M-Steve Stevenson[6]; 12. 88-Chris Bolyard[16]; 13. 01-Joel Ortberg[13]; 14. 96-Matt Johnson[15]; 15. 51-Brandon Green[7]; 16. 1R-Ryan Rackley[3]; 17. (DNS) 114-Clayton Bryant; 18. (DNS) 92K-Tom Krankel; 19. (DNS) 16C-John Clippinger; 20. (DNS) 59-Doug Stine; 21. (DNS) 97G-Jason Crose
LCS 3 (10 Laps): 1. 14C-Rick Conoyer[4]; 2. 12L-Lucas Lee[7]; 3. 95-Michael Altobelli[3]; 4. 96M-Mike McKinney[8]; 5. 777-Trevor Neville[10]; 6. 11W-Beau Aikey[14]; 7. 27R-Steve Rex[15]; 8. 176-Scotty Owens[22]; 9. 21KS-Kenny Shaw[19]; 10. N8-Nate Huffingham[13]; 11. 27G-Jason Garver[1]; 12. M41-Steve Maisel[20]; 13. 22J-John Baker[6]; 14. (DNS) 24D-Jesse Dill; 15. (DNS) 9PG-Percy Gendreau; 16. (DNS) M20-Mike Potosky; 17. (DNS) 21S-Seth Daniels; 18. (DNS) 20-Tyler Hendrix; 19. (DNS) Z06-Larry Mott; 20. (DNS) 2J-Troy Johnson; 21. (DNS) 89W-Rick Weitekamp; 22. (DNS) 7N7-Jeff Solinger
LCS 4 (10 Laps): 1. 7T-Evan Taylor[2]; 2. 5-Jonathan Taylor[4]; 3. 65-Dylan Woodling[8]; 4. 32-Chad Roush[7]; 5. 17C-Coleman Evans[14]; 6. 117-Clinton Gillen[13]; 7. 4S-Craig Shaw[10]; 8. 11-Tyler Morehouse[12]; 9. 27-Joshua Kunstbeck[17]; 10. 07-Curtis King[16]; 11. 88-Zayden Bolyard[21]; 12. (DNS) 6-Ryan Ayers; 13. (DNS) Z1-Zac Oedewaldt; 14. (DNS) 22B-Austen Becerra; 15. (DNS) 99-Justin Haley; 16. (DNS) 96P-Slade Parsons; 17. (DNS) 11Z-Zane Oedewaldt; 18. (DNS) 21C-Drew Charlson; 19. (DNS) 11R-Jesse Rupe; 20. (DNS) 17X-Richard Michael Jr; 21. (DNS) 91P-Rob Pitcher
Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 91P-Rob Pitcher[1]; 2. 114-Clayton Bryant[7]; 3. 14C-Rick Conoyer[2]; 4. 24D-Jesse Dill[8]; 5. 4S-Craig Shaw[16]; 6. 07-Curtis King[5]; 7. 88-Chris Bolyard[3]; 8. N8-Nate Huffingham[6]; 9. 96-Matt Johnson[9]; 10. 27C-Billy Cevaal[11]; 11. 88-Zayden Bolyard[17]; 12. 21S-Seth Daniels[4]; 13. (DNS) 7N7-Jeff Solinger; 14. (DNS) 27-Joshua Kunstbeck; 15. (DNS) 05X-Kyle Hammer; 16. (DNS) 89W-Rick Weitekamp; 17. (DNS) 2J-Troy Johnson; 18. (DNS) 77S-Jim Shipman; 19. (DNS) 6B-Dave Baldwin; 20. (DNS) 97G-Jason Crose; 21. (DNS) 59-Doug Stine
Feature 2 (15 Laps): 1. 5-Jonathan Taylor[5]; 2. 242-Brandon Bollinger[6]; 3. 27R-Steve Rex[16]; 4. 27G-Jason Garver[9]; 5. 2-William Bartlett[19]; 6. 11-Tyler Morehouse[21]; 7. 117-Clinton Gillen[13]; 8. 463-Daniel Sanchez[4]; 9. 176-Scotty Owens[2]; 10. 11N-Gene Nicholas[17]; 11. 11R-Jesse Rupe[10]; 12. 100-Andy Galgoci[1]; 13. 22J-John Baker[3]; 14. 0-Glenn Styres[18]; 15. 711B-Jerry Bland Jr[11]; 16. I 70-Kim Edington[20]; 17. 20-Tyler Hendrix[8]; 18. Z06-Larry Mott[15]; 19. Z1-Zac Oedewaldt[14]; 20. 11Z-Zane Oedewaldt[12]; 21. 1-Brenden Rassel[7]
Feature 3 (15 Laps): 1. 95-Michael Altobelli[1]; 2. 36-Kenny Wallace[2]; 3. 32-Chad Roush[3]; 4. 242X-Dawson Cook[11]; 5. 21D-Danny Schwartz[4]; 6. 77-Ray Bollinger[8]; 7. 72-Todd Neiheiser[14]; 8. 24-Zeke McKenzie[6]; 9. 17C-Coleman Evans[5]; 10. 7T-Evan Taylor[21]; 11. 00-Buzzie Reutimann[13]; 12. 21KS-Kenny Shaw[20]; 13. 18-Eric Moon[16]; 14. 22-Dale Kelley[7]; 15. 11W-Beau Aikey[15]; 16. 01-Joel Ortberg[17]; 17. 02-Chris Cook[12]; 18. 62E-Deece Schwartz[18]; 19. 05-Dave Wietholder[10]; 20. M41-Steve Maisel[9]; 21. (DNS) 6-Ryan Ayers
Feature 4 (15 Laps): 1. 35-David Stremme[4]; 2. 00EH-Steve Arpin[2]; 3. 51-Brandon Green[5]; 4. 18L-Michael Long[6]; 5. 5E-Rick Eckert[7]; 6. 00D-David Reutimann[8]; 7. 88C-Matt Crafton[22]; 8. 11M-Michael McGee[16]; 9. 777-Trevor Neville[10]; 10. 81-Steve Axtell Jr[14]; 11. 22T-Tony Anderson[19]; 12. 77D-Dustin Demattia[15]; 13. 33-Kenny Mihalik[13]; 14. 9PG-Percy Gendreau[20]; 15. 90-Jason Beaulieu[18]; 16. 22B-Austen Becerra[3]; 17. 24H-Mike Harrison[1]; 18. 1R-Ryan Rackley[9]; 19. 16C-John Clippinger[11]; 20. 12L-Lucas Lee[17]; 21. 33M-Steve Stevenson[12]; 22. 92K-Tom Krankel[21]
Feature 5 (15 Laps): 1. 7-Justin Allgaier[7]; 2. 65-Dylan Woodling[5]; 3. 8-Kyle Strickler[4]; 4. 2H-Nick Hoffman[6]; 5. 67-Garret Stewart[14]; 6. 8A-Austin Holcombe[13]; 7. 5CS-Curt Spalding[19]; 8. C8-Cole Perine[12]; 9. 49-Billy Green[18]; 10. 17X-Richard Michael Jr[9]; 11. 1S-Brian Shaw[2]; 12. 96M-Mike McKinney[21]; 13. 21A-Nick Allen[8]; 14. 21C-Drew Charlson[16]; 15. 99G-Hunt Gossum[20]; 16. 99-Justin Haley[10]; 17. K9-Will Krup[17]; 18. 25-Tyler Nicely[11]; 19. 96P-Slade Parsons[15]; 20. M20-Mike Potosky[22]; 21. 97-Mitch Thomas[1]; 22. 21J-Clay Harris[3]
Feature 6 (15 Laps): 1. 2H-Nick Hoffman[2]; 2. 8-Kyle Strickler[4]; 3. K9-Will Krup[1]; 4. 7-Justin Allgaier[3]; 5. 67-Garret Stewart[7]; 6. 36-Kenny Wallace[6]; 7. 5E-Rick Eckert[16]; 8. 8A-Austin Holcombe[13]; 9. 24H-Mike Harrison[5]; 10. 24-Zeke McKenzie[9]; 11. 88C-Matt Crafton[17]; 12. 21D-Danny Schwartz[15]; 13. 1S-Brian Shaw[18]; 14. 18L-Michael Long[8]; 15. (DNS) 21J-Clay Harris; 16. (DNS) 99G-Hunt Gossum; 17. (DNS) 21A-Nick Allen; 18. (DNS) 35-David Stremme
Feature 7 (15 Laps): 1. 27G-Jason Garver[3]; 2. 5CS-Curt Spalding[4]; 3. 00D-David Reutimann[7]; 4. 7T-Evan Taylor[8]; 5. 463-Daniel Sanchez[5]; 6. 95-Michael Altobelli[10]; 7. 18-Eric Moon[15]; 8. 14C-Rick Conoyer[14]; 9. 242X-Dawson Cook[17]; 10. 1R-Ryan Rackley[11]; 11. 5-Jonathan Taylor[16]; 12. 90-Jason Beaulieu[9]; 13. 11M-Michael McGee[2]; 14. 24D-Jesse Dill[6]; 15. 242-Brandon Bollinger[13]; 16. (DNS) 81-Steve Axtell Jr; 17. (DNS) Z1-Zac Oedewaldt; 18. (DNS) 9PG-Percy Gendreau
Feature 8 (15 Laps): 1. 49-Billy Green[1]; 2. 33M-Steve Stevenson[5]; 3. 72-Todd Neiheiser[6]; 4. 65-Dylan Woodling[12]; 5. 77-Ray Bollinger[14]; 6. 12L-Lucas Lee[7]; 7. 0-Glenn Styres[3]; 8. 22J-John Baker[4]; 9. 4S-Craig Shaw[18]; 10. C8-Cole Perine[13]; 11. 777-Trevor Neville[17]; 12. 00EH-Steve Arpin[11]; 13. 32-Chad Roush[9]; 14. 05-Dave Wietholder[15]; 15. 114-Clayton Bryant[16]; 16. (DNS) 22B-Austen Becerra; 17. (DNS) 51-Brandon Green; 18. (DNS) 96M-Mike McKinney
Feature 9 (15 Laps): 1. 22T-Tony Anderson[1]; 2. 77D-Dustin Demattia[6]; 3. 00-Buzzie Reutimann[2]; 4. 11-Tyler Morehouse[7]; 5. 11W-Beau Aikey[14]; 6. 02-Chris Cook[5]; 7. 117-Clinton Gillen[11]; 8. 27R-Steve Rex[18]; 9. 01-Joel Ortberg[9]; 10. 17C-Coleman Evans[15]; 11. 96-Matt Johnson[17]; 12. N8-Nate Huffingham[10]; 13. 2-William Bartlett[12]; 14. 21S-Seth Daniels[3]; 15. 1-Brenden Rassel[8]; 16. 100-Andy Galgoci[13]; 17. (DNS) 11Z-Zane Oedewaldt; 18. (DNS) 33-Kenny Mihalik
Feature 10 (15 Laps): 1. 17X-Richard Michael Jr[1]; 2. 91P-Rob Pitcher[5]; 3. 11R-Jesse Rupe[16]; 4. 176-Scotty Owens[10]; 5. 11N-Gene Nicholas[6]; 6. 88-Chris Bolyard[3]; 7. 07-Curtis King[11]; 8. I 70-Kim Edington[9]; 9. 88-Zayden Bolyard[17]; 10. 21KS-Kenny Shaw[7]; 11. 27-Joshua Kunstbeck[8]; 12. 27C-Billy Cevaal[12]; 13. M41-Steve Maisel[14]; 14. 16C-John Clippinger[13]; 15. (DNS) 62E-Deece Schwartz; 16. (DNS) Z06-Larry Mott; 17. (DNS) 22-Dale Kelley
Submitted By: Kirk Elliott
