PEVELY, Mo. — Confetti blasted and towers of flames rose up behind David Gravel as he climbed all the way atop his wing in front of a massive Eldora Speedway crowd.
A few minutes later Royal Sovereign Jason Sides crowned him to forever cement his status as King David XLI. In his 16th try, Gravel had finally become a Kings Royal champion.
Wearing the crown made him only the sixth driver to win the trio of the Knoxville Nationals, Kings Royal and National Open, joining the legendary list of Steve Kinser, Sammy Swindell, Doug Wolfgang, Mark Kinser and Donny Schatz.
But he wasn’t finished.
Seven days later Gravel lined up fourth at Williams Grove Speedway and made a spirited drive to top the C&D Rigging Summer Nationals, securing his 100th career World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car victory. He became the eighth to join the triple-digit club alongside Steve Kinser, Sammy Swindell, Donny Schatz, Mark Kinser, Doug Wolfgang, Danny Lasoski and Joey Saldana.
Two exclusive clubs joined one week apart. The celebration from the Kings Royal had barely concluded for the 100-win began.
“It was just a dream week,” Gravel said. “Finally checking off the Kings Royal. I had some good runs and opportunities just never was able to capitalize and get the job done. Very rewarding to win that race. How we won it. Who we won it against. It was a great race.
“From there getting the 100th, when the season started, I knew it was possible to get to 100. But it’s not easy to win over 10 World of Outlaws races in a season. So, you just don’t know how that’s going to go. Luckily, it’s been going really, really well.”
Both victories were by no means easy. One of the best to wheel a sprint car and someone who already reached both achievements Gravel was after, Donny Schatz, made him earn it.
The 10-time series champion drove from 20th in the Kings Royal and took the lead from Gravel with less than 10 laps remaining. But Gravel got his elbows up, went straight to the cushion, and ripped back around Schatz to claim the crown.
Then at Williams Grove Schatz started ahead of Gravel. He wheeled the Big Game Motorsports No. 2 around Schatz early, but the Fargo, N.D., native got back around him. Gravel then reclaimed the lead on lap 18 and had to hold off Schatz in the closing laps.
“Battling it out, each of us leading laps, he’s a guy that’s really good in long races taking care of his stuff,” Gravel said. “I feel like I’m good as well at taking care of my stuff. Sometimes you’ve got to be creative in how you win these races. I’ve won a couple of these races kind of uncharacteristically and just had to get out of my comfort zone and get the job done.”
It’s been an amazing season so far for Gravel and the Big Game Motorsports crew with 13 World of Outlaws wins already, but they’ve got no intentions of slowing down. More crown jewels and big paydays await, and they roll into every track as one of the clear favorites.
The Ironman 55 ($25K-to-win) is this weekend at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55.
“It’s just been a really good year,” Gravel said. “We’re firing on all cylinders. Things are going our way, and we’re taking advantage of it most of the time. When we’re in position to win, I feel like we haven’t really let many slip away.”