David Gravel is off to a strong start this season as he captured another World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series victory on Monday night.
The Big Game Motorsports pilot capped the first two rounds of the Low-E Insulation Spring Showdown with a return to Victory Lane at Volusia Speedway Park, where he scored a pair of triumphs in February prior to the win on Monday.
The two-day event began on Sunday when Gravel qualified sixth quickest. A runner-up result in a heat race earned a spot into the dash. Gravel maneuvered from sixth to third in the dash before starting the A Main on the inside of the second row.
“I thought the stars were going to align there,” Gravel said in a World of Outlaws press release. “We actually had a really good car. I got a good start and had a half a car length there on Buddy (Kofoid). Then, he crowded me, which he didn’t do anything wrong, but that let Carson get by me and that changed our race. I got a lot of good runs on Buddy and just couldn’t pass him. Luckily, I didn’t get involved in that crash.”
Gravel ran fourth for a majority of the feature before a late-race incident between a pair of drivers in front of him moved him to second. He maintained that position to garner his third straight podium to start the World of Outlaws season.
The night concluded with the make-up A Main from the DIRTcar Nationals finale that rained out last month. Gravel lined up ninth and was battling for a top five when he was involved in a crash. The team thrashed in the work area to get him back onto the track and Gravel rallied from the rear of the field to record a 12th-place finish, which dropped him to second in the DIRTcar Nationals final standings.
Monday was a hectic night for the team as Gravel noticed during qualifying that an engine change was necessary. Despite the mechanical problem, which was tied to the crash the previous night, Gravel timed in second quickest. The team swapped engines in time for Gravel to win a heat race. He then placed second in the dash to line up on the outside of the front row in the A Main. Gravel quickly rocketed into the lead and held onto the top spot for all 30 laps.
“We smashed a header last night in the feature and I think we hurt the motor a little bit and got through qualifying and had to change it,” he said during an interview on DIRTVision. “That’s probably the best car I had here at Volusia so far. I was not happy, but I was okay with starting second in that race. I spun the tires in the dash and I knew getting the jump on the outside was going to be the place to be and it all worked out really, really good.”
The win was Gravel’s 79th with the World of Outlaws. It was also his fourth at Volusia Speedway Park in the last six features dating back to last year.
Next up for the team is a trip to Central Pennsylvania to race on March 17 at Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg and on March 18 at Lincoln Speedway in Abbottstown.
ILP PR
