David Gravel picked up his fourth win of the season and the 80th of his career
David Gravel roared to the lead just after the the halfway mark at the Tri-City Speedway then drove on to claim his fourth World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series of the 2023 season. The Friday night event was the first of a two-race weekend in the state of Illinois.
The Big Game Motorsports driver from Watertown, Connecticut scored the win on the Granite City, Illinois track in a race shown live by DirtVision.com.
A total of 42 cars were signed in for competition
Qualifying Results:
Group A Results- 1. David Gravel(12.152), 2. Brady Bacon, 3. Robbie Price, 4. Parker Price-Miller, 5. Hunter Schuernberg, 6. Rico Abreu, 7. Aaron Reutzel, 8. Brad Sweet
Group B Results- 1. Logan Schuchart(12.140), 2. Carson Macedo, 3. Cory Elliason, 4. Sheldon Haudenschild, 5. Giovanni Scelzi, 6. Tyler Courtney, 7. Chase Randall, 8. Anthony Macri
Heat 1 Results: 1. David Gravel, 2. Aaron Reutzel, 3. Robbie Price, 4. James McFadden, 5. Hunter Schuernberg
Heat 2 Results: 1. Parker Price-Miller, 2. Brad Sweet, 3. Rico Abreu, 4. Brady Bacon, 5. Brian Brown
Heat 3 Results: 1. Cory Elliason, 2. Logan Schuchart, 3. Giovanni Scelzi, 4. Chase Randall, 5. Buddy Kofoid
Heat 4 Results: 1. Carson Macedo, 2. Sheldon Haudenschild, 3. Anthony Macri, 4. Tyler Courtney, 5. Donny Schatz
C-main Finish: 1. Noah Gass, 2. Brenham Crouch
Last Chance Showdown Finish: 1. Spencer Bayston, 2. Ryan Timms, 3. Joe B. Miller, 4. Brian Bell
WoO Dash Finish: 1. Logan Schuchart, 2. Sheldon Haudenschild, 3. David Gravel, 4. Brad Sweet, 5. Parker Price-Miller, 6. Carson Macedo, 7. Aaron Reutzel, 8. Cory Eliason
Feature Re-cap: At the start of the 30-lap main event it was Schuchart who jumped out to the early lead followed by Haudenschild, Gravel, Sweet and Price-Miller trailing. Haudenschild moved in and offered a brief challenge for the lead but Schuchart held on.
Disaster struck for second-running Haudenschild on lap 6 when he brushed the outside wall in turn one then had his car roll over to bring out a red flag. The No. 17 car was taken to the work area as his team worked frantically to get the Stenhouse Jr./Marshall Racing car back on track. The crew successfully completed their work and got Haudenschild back on track.
The running order when the race returned to green flag conditions was Schuchart leading over Gravel, Sweet, Price-Miller and Macedo.
On the restart, Bayston and Randall went for a wild ride on the front stretch coming to the green flag with both cars rolling over to bring out another red flag. Bayston was able to return to action while the Randall car was retired for the night.
Following the second lap 6 restart, Schuchart took to the bottom of the track with Gravel running the high line in hopes of challenging. Further back, Price-Miller was working on Sweet in an attempt to grab third but Sweet held the position.
As the race moved toward halfway, Gravel continued to harass Schchart for the lead as Sweet closed in. Gravel would pass by Schuchart to take the lead on lap 16 but Schuchart fought back as the leaders worked through slower cars.
With 7 laps remaining, Gravel appeared to have the race under control until a yellow flag waved for the slowing car of Timms. At that time, Gravel led Schuchart, Sweet, Price-Miller and Macedo.
Just after the restart, Price-Miller took third away from Sweet. A caution was called on lap 24 when Reutzel slowed from a top-10 running position with a flat tire.
Macedo passed Sweet for fourth on the lap 24 restart as Gravel continued to lead Schuchart and Price-Miller. With three laps to go, Price-Miller moved to second but Gravel had an advantage of almost two seconds.
In the end, it was Gravel who would cross the line ahead of the pack to claim the win. It was the 80th series win of his career.
Feature Results: 1. David Gravel, 2. Parker Price-Miller, 3. Logan Schuchart, 4. Carson Macedo, 5. Brad Sweet, 6. Buddy Kofoid, 7. Cory Eliason, 8. Giovanni Scelzi, 9. James McFadden, 10. Brady Bacon, 11. Rico Abreu, 12. Donny Schatz, 13. Anthony Macri, 14. Hunter Schuerenberg, 15. Aaron Reutzel, 16. Joe B. Miller, 17. Sheldon Haudenschild, 18. Brock Zearfoss, 19. Robbie Price, 20. Brian Brown, 21. Spencer Bayston, 22. Tyler Courtney, 23. Ryan Timms, 24. Chase Randall, 25. Brian Bell
Please consider also reading:
WoO Sprints Series delivers strong penalty following tire sample failure
Respond to this post on Twitter by following @RichardAllenIDR and @MichaelRMoats or by liking the InsideDirtRacing.com Facebook page.
Also, NASCAR and pavement racing fans can check out InsideCircleTrack.com
