Gravel rolls to third win in four races to make Tod Quiring the sixth car owner with 100 World of Outlaws wins
All the hype heading into Lincoln Speedway’s Federated Auto Parts Gettysburg Clash was the renewal of the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car and Pennsylvania Posse rivalry. And while the atmosphere was alive and well in the Pigeon Hills, the evening evolved into a historic occasion not for the rivalry, but for The Greatest Show on Dirt.
David Gravel and Big Game Motorsports had been on a tear entering Pennsylvania. Their previous 11 races consisted of four wins and eight top two finishes. And each victory pushed Tod Quiring’s team closer and closer to 100 career World of Outlaws triumphs. Last Saturday Gravel put them at 99 with a trip to Victory Lane, meaning Lincoln would be the first opportunity at triple digits.
And Gravel delivered.
The Watertown, CT native started on the pole and drove a masterful 35 laps around the Abbottstown, PA oval to make Big Game Motorsports only the sixth team with 100 wins. Gravel fended off challenges from both Carson Macedo and Giovanni Scelzi to get the job done in Posse territory.
“We got Tod’s 100th win,” Gravel said. “Congrats to Tod Quiring. He’s put so much into this sport, and for him to get 100 is really, really cool. Our joke was once he gets his 100, hopefully I can get mine. We’re still a few away from that, but we’re going to keep working hard and doing our jobs. This Huset’s #2 has been really, really fun to drive lately and really all year. Cody (Jacobs), Zach (Patterson), and Stephen (Hamm-Reilly) have been doing a really good job.”
As Gravel noted, he’s still a handful of checkered flags away from personally hitting 100 wins as Wednesday marked his 94th, moving him within one of equaling Dave Blaney for eighth all-time. With his 100th win, Quiring joined fellow car owners Karl Kinser, Tony Stewart, Kasey Kahne, Steve Kinser, and Dennis Roth in the exclusive triple digit category. Six different drivers helped him get there – Gravel (36 wins), Craig Dollansky (28 wins), Sammy Swindell (26 wins), Kerry Madsen (six wins), Terry McCarl (three wins), and Danny Lasoski (one win). Gravel now owns a pair of Lincoln victories with his first coming in 2017.
A last lap pass for the win in the Toyota Racing Dash slotted Gravel on the pole of the 35-lap Feature. The green flag waved, and Gravel pulled ahead of Carson Macedo.
Throughout the early circuits Macedo looked as if he may pose a strong threat to Gravel. The Jason Johnson Racing #41 stayed glued to the tail tank of the #2 as they both ripped around the top of the 3/8-mile.
Traffic became a factor in the early going, but Macedo still wasn’t able to muster a run as they navigated the earliest batch of lapped cars. With 21 laps remaining, Macedo put together some momentum down the front straightaway and took a look to Gravel’s inside in Turns 1 and 2. But he wasn’t able to complete a pass, and Gravel powered away down the back straightaway.
Gravel pulled away over the next several laps until a yellow flag with 12 laps remaining. That yellow along with a couple red flags put the pressure on Gravel multiple times as the laps faded. But Gravel never flinched.
David Gravel controlled the entire main event Wednesday at Lincoln to earn Big Game Motorsports’ 100th Series win (Trent Gower Photo)
He nailed every restart as battles broke out behind him. Giovanni Scelzi challenged Macedo for the runner-up spot and secured it with 10 to go. Then it was Anthony Macri attempting to climb onto the podium by following Scelzi around Macedo. The two traded sliders, but Macedo managed to hold on.
Up ahead, Gravel drove away smoothly for his sixth win of the World of Outlaws season and the 100th of Tod Quiring’s career as an owner.
“It got really slick there at the end off of (Turn) 4,” Gravel explained. “And I didn’t know if I needed to move or not, but I got down the backstretch good. I could run her in pretty hard and then just maintain on exit. If I was in second or third, I would’ve definitely been searching around. I think the bottom came in late there.”
Giovanni Scelzi came home second for his fifth podium of the season in the KCP Racing #18 and third top five in a row. The sophomore World of Outlaws campaign continues to be a strong one for Scelzi as he’s third in points.
“There’s no excuses from me tonight. We just flat out got beat tonight,” Scelzi said. “My car was unbelievable tonight. Adam Clark (crew chief) went from delivering beer to crew chief on a Sprint Car. He’s done an incredible job.”
The final step of the podium belonged to Carson Macedo. The Lemoore, CA driver is on a roll of nine consecutive top five finishes. Macedo had plenty of speed early in the 35-lapper behind the wheel of the Jason Johnson Racing #41 but couldn’t find the speed to challenge Gravel.
“I feel like I was pretty good early in the Feature,” Macedo said. “I feel like we had a lot of speed. I feel like Philip (Dietz), Robby (McQuinn), and Adam (Zimmerman) did a great job. I feel like I was kind of just racing my race just waiting to make a move, and it never kind of played out. I feel like he did a good job in traffic.”
Anthony Macri and Donny Schatz completed the top five.
A 24th to ninth drive earned Danny Dietrich the KSE Racing Hard Charger.
Donny Schatz grabbed his first Simpson Quick Time of the year and the 111th of his career.
NOS Energy Drink Heats One, Three, and Four went to Donny Schatz, Anthony Macri, and Carson Macedo. Milton Hershey School Heat Two belonged to David Gravel.
David Gravel topped the Toyota Racing Dash.
Brandon Rahmer won the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown.
Bill Balog was awarded the Smith Titanium Brake Systems Break of the Race.
UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars go head-to-head with the PA Posse two more nights (May 10-11) at Mechanicsburg, PA’s Williams Grove Speedway in the HVAC Distributors Morgan Cup presented by Daikin. The winner of the finale is taking home $15,000. For tickets, CLICK HERE.
If you can’t make it to the track, catch every lap live on DIRTVision.
FEATURE RESULTS:
NOS Energy Drink Feature (35 Laps): 1. 2-David Gravel[1]; 2. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[4]; 3. 41-Carson Macedo[2]; 4. 39M-Anthony Macri[6]; 5. 15-Donny Schatz[7]; 6. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[12]; 7. 83-Michael Kofoid[3]; 8. 27-Troy Wagaman Jr[10]; 9. 48-Danny Dietrich[24]; 10. 2D-Chase Dietz[8]; 11. 1S-Logan Schuchart[14]; 12. 5-Tyler Ross[16]; 13. X-Matt Campbell[15]; 14. 23-Devon Borden[22]; 15. 75-Cameron Smith[23]; 16. 17N-Dylan Norris[18]; 17. 1X-Chad Trout[20]; 18. 5W-Lucas Wolfe[11]; 19. 8-Freddie Rahmer[17]; 20. 95-Kody Hartlaub[5]; 21. 17B-Bill Balog[9]; 22. 99M-Kyle Moody[13]; 23. 8D-Billy Dietrich[19]; 24. 88-Brandon Rahmer[21]
Comments