Schuchart continued his charge, moving into fifth on lap 30. Sweet passed Kaeding for third on lap 38, but Kaeding turned under to retake the spot as Sweet jumped the cushion.
With 10 to go, Gravel looked strong out front. Pittman held second, while Kaeding, Schuchart and Sweet rounded out the top five. One lap later, Shuchart passed Kaeding for third, as Gravel extended his lead out front.
On the final lap, Pittman got caught behind a lapped car, allowing Schuchart to slip by for second, while Gravel took the win with an impressive lead.
Both Gordon and Webber joined Gravel and the JJR team in victory lane. David had overcome the pressures of the biggest sprint car race of the season, a new sponsor, and two racing legends watching his performance to earn the win.
“I just didn‘t get a good start and fell back to third, and just kind of let the race play out,” Gravel explained following the win. “You know, I‘d run the bottom, then run the top, and kind of found which lane was the fastest. There was a lot of grip on the top of four and I was like, alright, I‘ve gotta be on the bottom of one and the top of three and four and try to perfect that. And, that all worked out.
“I thought Reutzel was kind of guessing in three and four and that‘s what got me the lead. And then, in lapped traffic, I was able to make some moves and get by those guys.”
Although the Jason Johnson Racing team won the Nationals with Jason behind the wheel in 2016, according to Gravel his own driving style is very different from Jason‘s was, so they haven‘t been able to use much from their notebooks.
“Definitely a totally different ballgame, for sure,” Gravel explained. “The beginning of the season we tried all different types of setups, combinations, and found kind of what worked for us, something that I never ran in the past either, so it was something that for me and Phil it was kind of uncharted territory. But it‘s been working for us and it feels really good.”
Logan Schuchart shared that Shark Racing ultimately abandoned their setup notebook for the week, as well.
“You know, I feel like I came here this week feeling like we had a car to make it through our qualifying night and start up front and have a great shot at running really well at this race track, we ran good here in June, and it actually threw me the opposite loop, so it‘s still a learning experience,” said Schuchart.
“Everywhere you go it‘s tough; you race with the best guys. And I know everybody says that, but these guys are really good at what they do and the conditions are different everywhere you go,” he added. “The race tracks can … one thing will work one time, then you come back in the summertime and the track‘s slick, the air‘s bad, engines don‘t run as good, it‘s a completely different deal. So, you‘ve gotta change your game plan and race in the moment. You can‘t go off a notebook; you‘ve gotta race for what you feel and we learned that on Wednesday and that‘s what we did the last two days is race for what we feel and race by your gut.
“I feel like that was the right thing to do and it showed it was the right thing to do.”
Daryn Pittman had mixed emotions regarding the night‘s results.
“I‘m happy and I‘m pissed all at once,” he said with a smile. “My performance in no matter what car I‘ve been in at Knoxville has, I think, extremely improved over years past. So, that‘s something I‘m proud of. And I‘ve wanted to quit this sport because of this race for so many years because I just don‘t get it; I don‘t understand and I‘m so far off.
“I mean, there‘s been a lot of crown jewels that I‘ve won and I‘ve been close to winning. I‘ve never been close here and that‘s frustrating,” he added. “So, to at least feel like, man, maybe I‘m sorta, maybe getting it, you know … I‘m just a slow learner maybe, is at least encouraging and I‘m proud of, honestly, every one of our efforts that we put in at this race track all year. And hopefully, if I can keep this job, maybe we can try again next year.”
Knoxville Raceway management has announced an addition to the purse for the 2020 running of the Nationals. On top of the $150,000 winner‘s share, each driver will receive an additional $1,000 for each lap led during the race.
Days after the conclusion of the Nationals, Gravel was still coming to terms with his win. When asked if it had fully sunk in yet, he replied “Not yet, it‘s pretty crazy.”
However, as is now tradition, at next year‘s running he will attend a ceremony to unveil his name and picture on one of the pillars underneath the grandstands — “The Walk of Champions” — as well as raise a flag bearing the No. 41 that will fly just below the American flag in the track‘s infield.
Most importantly, however, his resume will forever proudly bear the following: winner of the 59th annual Knoxville Nationals.