WEEDSPORT, N.Y. — Call David Gravel the emperor of the Empire State.
Gravel aboard the Big Game Motorsports ride at New York’s Weedsport Speedway is a match made in heaven. The Watertown, Conn., native joined forces with Tod Quiring’s team in 2021, and the pairing won their first two tries at Weedsport before slipping to second in the third. They then proceeded to win three in a row at the uniquely shaped facility.
The combination opened this year’s Empire State Challenge Weekend with a runner-up on Saturday, but it didn’t take long for Gravel and the Cody Jacobs-led crew to return to the top step of the podium.
The two-time and defending World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series champion put on a show in Sunday’s 35-lap finale.
Gravel lined up fifth for the Feature and climbed to third by the seventh circuit. Six laps later, Gravel dazzled by rolling under Sheldon Haudenschild for second in the first set of corners before ripping the cushion around Logan Schuchart in Turns 3 and 4 to take the lead.
Haudenschild took the runner-up spot and narrowed the gap in the closing laps as thick traffic hindered Gravel, but it wasn’t enough as the Huset’s Speedway No. 2 powered ahead to the checkered flag.
“We were God awful in the dash,” Gravel admitted. “Cody (Jacobs), Luke (Vaughn), and Zach (Patterson) kept working on it and put something back in it that worked a lot better than the Dash and had a great race car there. It feels good hitting that bottom in (Turns) 1 and 2 and kind of going where they weren’t in (Turns) 3 and 4. Logan was kind of running the top, and Sheldon was kind of running down the track. I just kind of had the top to myself, and it worked out. Sheldon showed his nose on Logan, and Logan went low and the top was open for me. A couple racing things went my way there.”
Gravel has now won six of his eight visits to Weedsport since being hired by Big Game and finished second in the other two. That’s an absurd 1.25 average finish. It’s the ninth victory of the season for Gravel, equaling him with Michael “Buddy” Kofoid for the most in the series.
Haudenschild claimed the second spot to notch the 13th podium in the last 18 races for the KCP Racing/NOS Energy Drink No. 18.
Schuchart settled for third after leading laps for the second consecutive night. That’s seven top fives over the last eight races for Schuchart and the Shark Racing crew.
Emerson Axsom and Garet Williamson completed the top five.
The finish:
Feature (35 Laps): 1. 2-David Gravel[5]; 2. 18-Sheldon Haudenschild[2]; 3. 1S-Logan Schuchart[1]; 4. 27-Emerson Axsom[3]; 5. 23-Garet Williamson[6]; 6. 41-Carson Macedo[7]; 7. 83-Michael Kofoid[13]; 8. 15-Donny Schatz[17]; 9. 39-Cory Turner[9]; 10. 98-Ricky Peterson[8]; 11. 17-Spencer Bayston[16]; 12. 7S-Chris Windom[4]; 13. 41R-Dalton Rombough[18]; 14. 2C-Cole Macedo[11]; 15. 21-Alex Therrien[10]; 16. 10-Dale Blaney[12]; 17. 16C-Skylar Gee[25]; 18. 45-Cory Eliason[14]; 19. 1-Nate Dussel[15]; 20. 79-Jordan Thomas[21]; 21. 45S-Nick Sheridan[20]; 22. 28-Jordan Poirier[23]; 23. 15T-Ryan Turner[19]; 24. 38-Zach Sobotka[24]; 25. 10C-Paulie Colagiovanni[22]
