WEEDSPORT, N.Y. — David Gravel’s had a pretty incredible two weeks.
He won the July 16 Brad Doty Classic at Eldora Speedway before earning his second career High Limit victory in the Jokers Jackpot on the same circuit. That came before he earned his first career Kings Royal to secure his third and final World of Outlaws crown jewel.
Then, he came northeast, winning the second night of the Summer Nationals at Williams Grove Speedway for win No. 100 in his storied career.
It only made sense that he’d cap off his heater with a victory at Weedsport Speedway – one of his best tracks.
The 32-year-old from Watertown, Conn., earned his fourth career victory at Weedsport on Sunday night – doing so in what’s essentially become his home race.
Gravel got past Carson Macedo on lap 14 of the 30-lap feature and never looked back, surviving a lap 19 restart and successfully navigating traffic for a triumph in front of a sold-out Upstate New York crowd.
“I was confident in what we could do,” Gravel told SPEED SPORT after the race. “This place is super technical, so you have to pick it off slowly and then get to the front – get to second, and then get to the lead and kind of control the race. It went according to plan.
“Clean air is definitely a benefit, and we were able to get that clean air and move around the racetrack.”
Qualifying third, Gravel ended up on pole for the third and final heat race – which contained 10 cars each. He dominated the eight-lap heat, beating Buddy Kofoid by nearly half a lap to advance into the Toyota Dash.
Gravel drew the fourth starting spot and gained one position past Sheldon Haudenschild to start third in the feature.
It took just one lap in the main event for Gravel to get past Kofoid – who finished second in the Dash – for second. Macedo jumped out to an early lead and Gravel started to chase the No. 41 car down before a caution on lap 12.
Two laps after the restart, Macedo finally surrendered the lead to Gravel. He ultimately finished third in the feature.
“David went to the top there early and then was able to get a run on me and get by,” Macedo said. “Then I went to the top and he moved down to the bottom, and I still couldn’t really maintain with him. He just had a really good car tonight. I think that we had a pretty good car too, but it just seems like they can move around a little bit more than us, and I think that makes a lot of the difference here at Weedsport.
“It seemed like he could roll the bottom and stay pretty stuck, and I feel like when I went down there, I would spin.”
Macedo stayed on the bottom too long, he said, and Haudenschild got past him in the closing laps to take home second.
“I had to fight with the 83 (Kofoid) and the 41 (Macedo) there for a while, so I kind of killed a lot of my race just trying to maintain that position and get to second,” Haudenschild said. “Obviously started really good with quick time and winning the heat – maybe didn’t go the right direction in the dash. That kind of puts you behind of you don’t make the right step in the dash.
“All in all, a good weekend.”
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and Big Block Modified regular Stewart Friesen finished fourth in his first Outlaws start since 2021, coming nine years to the date of his lone series victory. He started ninth after finishing third in Heat No. 3.
All-time series wins leader Donny Schatz finished fifth, working up from an eighth-place starting spot.
New Yorker Danny Varin crashed in qualifying but made repairs to his car and advanced to the feature from the Last Chance Showdown. However, he got disqualified early for maintenance on his car in the out-of-track work area.
Now, it’s a two-night trip to Pevely, Mo. for the Ironman 55 before gearing up for the prestigious Knoxville Nationals. With as hot as Gravel is, he’s ready for the heart of the World of Outlaws season.
“We’re feeling really good, really confident and comfortable,” he said. “Good to have a couple of days to recharge.”
The finish:
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 2-David Gravel[3]; 2. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[4]; 3. 41-Carson Macedo[1]; 4. 0-Stewart Friesen[9]; 5. 15-Donny Schatz[8]; 6. 83-Michael Kofoid[2]; 7. 28-Jordan Poirier[10]; 8. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[5]; 9. 1S-Logan Schuchart[6]; 10. 10B-Larry Wight[19]; 11. 70-Kraig Kinser[15]; 12. 17B-Bill Balog[7]; 13. 79-Jordan Thomas[12]; 14. W20-Greg Wilson[21]; 15. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[11]; 16. 10-Billy VanInwegen Jr[24]; 17. 22P-Jonathan Preston[16]; 18. 7S-Landon Crawley[18]; 19. 7NY-Matt Farnham[13]; 20. 6-Kelby Watt[20]; 21. 41X-Dalton Rombough[14]; 22. 36-Logan Crisafulli[23]; 23. 28F-Davie Franek[17]; 24. O1-Danny Varin[22]