MECHANICSBURG, Pa. — The Pennsylvania Posse had to stretch a tad to claim the rights to Friday’s HVAC Distributors Morgan Cup opener with Kasey Kahne winning in the Macri Motorsports car, but there’s no doubt about who the finale belonged to.
David Gravel is a two-time World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series champion chasing a third straight title. He made sure the Morgan Cup is heading to World of Outlaws headquarters for the year.
The Watertown, Conn., native lined up on the outside of the front row for the Williams Grove Speedway 30-lapper and rocketed around polesitter Kasey Kahne on the opening circuit. Gravel ripped through traffic around half-mile as the laps fell away.
The Big Game Motorsports No. 2 was a rocket ship like it has been several times in 2026. Justin Whittall surged into second late and closed in on Gravel, but he couldn’t find quite enough speed to pose a threat. Gravel took the checkered flag, ripped possession of the Morgan Cup from the Posse, and banked $20,000.
“From that rain this morning, that grip up high was there,” Gravel explained. “They patted it down with the push trucks and water trucks. It just launched really good, and actually my motor was really cold. It didn’t run really good for the first five or six laps but had enough horsepower to beat him (Kahne) going into (Turn) 1. He didn’t try to slide me. It looked like he backpedaled and tried to run the bottom, but that was obviously the winning move of the race. You just don’t know; this could’ve been 10 cautions or green-to-checkered. Luckily, it went green-to-checkered.”
Gravel is up to 125 career victories with The Greatest Show on Dirt. Williams Grove is the first track where he’s reached double digit World of Outlaws triumphs as Saturday’s score marked his 10th at the historic “Keystone State” facility. He joins Steve Kinser (38), Donny Schatz (21), Mark Kinser (18), Lance Dewease (17), and Sammy Swindell (16) as the sixth with at least 10. He and Big Game Motorsports also equaled Michael “Buddy” Kofoid and Roth Motorsports for the most trophies in 2026 with their fifth. The two powerhouses have combined to 10 of the 19 races this season.
Justin Whittall brought the Rod Gross Motorsports No. 67G home second to notch his best World of Outlaws finish.
Troy Wagaman Jr. finished third in the Heffner Racing No. 27, also marking his top result with The Greatest Show on Dirt and giving the Posse two of the three podium positions despite not getting the win.
Sheldon Haudenschild and Kasey Kahne completed the top five.
The finish:
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 2-David Gravel[2]; 2. 67G-Justin Whittall[4]; 3. 27W-Troy Wagaman Jr[5]; 4. 18-Sheldon Haudenschild[6]; 5. 39M-Kasey Kahne[1]; 6. 41-Carson Macedo[9]; 7. 51R-Freddie Rahmer[3]; 8. 99M-Ashton Torgerson[7]; 9. 48-Danny Dietrich[12]; 10. 17B-Bill Balog[10]; 11. 83-Michael Kofoid[14]; 12. 1S-Logan Schuchart[15]; 13. 1X-Chad Trout[8]; 14. 23-Garet Williamson[13]; 15. 95-Kody Hartlaub[18]; 16. 15-Donny Schatz[16]; 17. 75-Cameron Smith[17]; 18. 27-Emerson Axsom[11]; 19. 17N-Dylan Norris[19]; 20. (DNF) 2C-Cole Macedo[23]; 21. (DNF) 69K-Daryn Pittman[21]; 22. (DNF) 22-Doug Hammaker[22]; 23. (DNF) 41R-Logan Rumsey[24]; 24. (DNF) 11-TJ Stutts[26]; 25. (DNF) 12-Brent Shearer[25]; 26. (DNF) 11A-Austin Bishop[20]
