David Gravel Takes the Green Flag for the Month of Money this Week
By DDR Motorsports PR
WATERTOWN, Conn.—July 10, 2013 — “The Month of Money.” The name says it all. A four-week stretch that features the biggest, most prestigious and highest-paying events of the season for the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series. David Gravel will compete in each and every race that comprises this span of races as he continues his quest to claim the Kevin Gobrecht Award for Rookie of the Year with the Outlaws aboard the FMR Racing/JRC Transportation/Musco Fuel/Model Craft J&J.
Gravel opens the lucrative stretch this week on Thursday, July 11, with the running of the 25th Annual Ohio Logistics Brad Doty Classic Presented by Racing Optics at Limaland Motorsports Park in Lima, Ohio. The event was originally scheduled for Wednesday, July 10, but was postponed a day due to inclement weather. Action then shifts to the famed Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio for the Knight Before the Kings Royal on Friday July 12 and the 30th edition of the Kings Royal on Saturday, July 13.
“When you race with the World of Outlaws, every race is big, but the races over the next few weeks are huge,” said Gravel. “Obviously there is a lot of money on the line, but the history and prestige of these races is pretty important as well. Every race is going to have a star-studded field, so we are going to have to bring our ‘A-Game,’ each and every night. It’s a challenge I am definitely looking forward to.”
Gravel finished third in the Brad Doty Classic last season at the quarter-mile Limaland Motorsports Park. He lined up 13th for the 40-lap main event at the bullring, after racing his way into the A-Feature through the B-main. The native of Watertown, Conn., found himself in fourth on a restart with six laps remaining. He was penalized two positions for jumping that restart, which put him back to sixth.
Gravel was able to gain those spots back and was up to third with two laps remaining, and would finish in that position to earn the podium finish. He has one win in his career at Limaland Motorsports Park, with that coming in 2010 with the UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions during Ohio Sprint Speedweek, which also was his first All Stars triumph.
“We came pretty close at Limaland (Motorsports Park) last year,” he shared. “I was pretty motivated those last few laps, especially to make up the spots I was penalized. We’ve run pretty well on the smaller tracks this year, so hopefully a lot of what has worked will work again in the Brad Doty Classic.”
The 21-year-old was fastest in time trials last season in the Knight Before the Kings Royal, with a stout 48-car field in attendance. That performance was one of three straight quick times he earned at the historic half-mile in 2012. Gravel would finish 12th in the 30-lap main event that culminated that evening.
In the Kings Royal, Gravel timed in 25th-quickest of the 50 cars on-hand, coming up just one spot short of making the heat race inversion, which would have put him on the pole of the sixth heat race. He would finish fifth in the first heat race, with only the top-three finishers in each of the six heat races making it into the feature. Gravel thus found himself in the B-main, where four drivers would earn a spot in the 40-lap Kings Royal. The East Coast racer lined up seventh and ended up sixth, only two spot shorts of earning a spot in the main event.
This season, Gravel has made a pair of starts at Eldora, with both of those coming behind the wheel of Bill Rose’s car, when he was filling in for the injured driver. In the opener of the two-night event in early May, Gravel came home seventh, after kicking-off the night with a fifth-place effort in time trials. In the finale of that two-night show, he finished 14th after working his way through the B-main into the A-Feature.
“First and foremost, we have to qualify well at Eldora, which we know we are capable of, after being quick there last year,” Gravel said. “Getting into the main event through the heat race is then the next goal. Once you are solidly in the field, then you can work on the car to get it ready for the main event each night. A lot can happen at Eldora in longer races, so you have to put yourself in a good position to capitalize on everything that you can. It’s going to be an intense couple nights of racing.”
Gravel heads into “The Month of Money” eighth in the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series championship standings, just eight points out of seventh. He was victorious at I-94 Speedway in Minnesota last month and also has 18 top-10 finishes, of which five are top-five performances.
Keep up-to-date with David Gravel and DDR Motorsports by visiting www.DavidGravel89.com. Follow David on Twitter @davidgravel89g and like David on Facebook.