BARBERVILLE, Fla. — After a broken shock cost him a victory on Friday night, David Gravel was more than ready for a night where things went his way.
And go his way they did in the final night for the NOS Energy Drink World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series at the DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park.
Gravel won the dash to get the pole for the 30-lap finale, got the drop on front-row companion Kraig Kinser on the initial break and cruised unchallenged to his second Volusia Speedway Park victory, adding the WoO win to a previous All Star Series of Champions score.
Brent Marks crossed second ahead of James McFadden, Friday night winner Sheldon Haudenschild and Brad Sweet.
“The pill draw really helped,” said Gravel, who started at the front of the dash. “Then I got a good jump on the start and controlled the race. The track was really fast, so I ripped the top all night. I knew nobody was going to catch me.”
Kinser and the fourth-starting Marks dropped in behind Gravel on the start, with Sweet losing a spot and getting in line fourth. By lap eight they were in traffic and Gravel put on a clinic, slicing and dicing his way through traffic like they weren’t there.
Kinser held second until lap 17, when his right-rear exploded and he hit the fourth turn wall a ton to draw the race’s only yellow flag. That put Marks second ahead of Sweet, McFadden, Donny Schatz and Haudenschild, up from ninth.
On the restart, McFadden hauled the Roth No. 83 around Sweet to claim third with Haudenschild shooting past both Schatz and Sweet for fourth. Meanwhile, Gravel was driving away from the pack.
By lap 20, the leaders were strung out and flying in formation around the half mile. Four laps later they were back in traffic again, but nobody held Gravel up enough to let Marks get a run on him and that’s how they finished.
“I had a good car,” said Marks, “but the track was so fast around the top that we just got in line and went.”
As for McFadden, he declared, “Any time you end up on the frontstretch is good! I had to shove it a little bit to keep up with David and Brent but otherwise no problems. Even the lapped cars were good, which was a good thing with the track being so fast.”
Schatz ended up sixth to cap a night that saw his team swap an engine between his heat and the dash, then drop to the back of that race when the car began smoking heavily.
“We had a front drive problem with the water pump leaking,” explained the 10-time Outlaw champion. “Another supply line problem that’s kept us waiting for over a year for the parts we need.”
Kasey Kahne rode out a hard hit into the turn one wall and resulting flip at the start of the Last Chance race. He climbed out of his car after the car was righted and the wing removed but he was removed to the hospital for observation.
Cory Eliason turned fast time on a surface that got faster and faster through time trials.
The finish:
Feature (30 Laps) – 1. 2-David Gravel [1][$10,000]; 2. 19-Brent Marks [4][$6,000]; 3. 83-James McFadden [6][$3,500]; 4. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [9][$2,800]; 5. 49-Brad Sweet [3][$2,500]; 6. 15-Donny Schatz [7][$2,300]; 7. 26-Cory Eliason [5][$2,200]; 8. 18-Giovanni Scelzi [11][$2,100]; 9. 1S-Logan Schuchart [22][$2,050]; 10. 41-Carson Macedo [17][$2,000]; 11. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [8][$1,600]; 12. 1A-Jacob Allen [24][$1,400]; 13. 11-Kerry Madsen [12][$1,200]; 14. 21-Brian Brown [14][$1,100]; 15. 8-Aaron Reutzel [13][$1,050]; 16. 5-Spencer Bayston [21][$1,000]; 17. 57-Kyle Larson [15][$1,000]; 18. 48-Danny Dietrich [16][$1,000]; 19. 3-Ayrton Gennetten [10][$1,000]; 20. 13-Justin Peck [20][$1,000]; 21. 55-Alex Bowman [18][$1,000]; 22. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [19][$1,000]; 23. 11K-Kraig Kinser [2][$1,000]; 24. 39M-Anthony Macri [23][$1,000]; 25. 6-Bill Rose [25][$]. Lap Leaders: David Gravel 1-30. KSE Hard Charger Award: 1S-Logan Schuchart[+13]