ABBOTTSTOWN, Pa. — All the hype heading into Lincoln Speedway’s Federated Auto Parts Gettysburg Clash was the renewal of the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car and Pennsylvania Posse rivalry.
And while the atmosphere was alive and well in the Pigeon Hills, the evening evolved into a historic occasion not for the nomadic sprint car series.
David Gravel and Big Game Motorsports had been on a tear entering Pennsylvania. Their previous 11 races consisted of four wins and eight top two finishes. And each victory pushed Tod Quiring’s team closer and closer to 100 World of Outlaws triumphs. Last Saturday Gravel put them at 99 with a trip to victory lane at Eldora Speedway.
Lincoln was the first opportunity for that triple-digit victory.
Gravel delivered.
The Watertown, Conn., native started on the pole and drove a masterful 35 laps to make Big Game Motorsports only the sixth team with 100 wins. Gravel fended off challenges from Carson Macedo and Giovanni Scelzi to get the job done.
“We got Tod’s 100th win,” Gravel said. “Congrats to Tod Quiring. He’s put so much into this sport, and for him to get 100 is really, really cool. Our joke was once he gets his 100, hopefully, I can get mine. We’re still a few away from that, but we’re going to keep working hard and doing our jobs. This Huset’s No. 2 has been really, really fun to drive lately and really all year. Cody (Jacobs), Zach (Patterson), and Stephen (Hamm-Reilly) have been doing a really good job.”
As Gravel noted, he’s still a handful of checkered flags away from personally hitting 100 wins as Wednesday marked his 94th, moving him within one of equaling Dave Blaney for eighth all-time.
With his 100th win, Quiring joined fellow car owners Karl Kinser, Tony Stewart, Kasey Kahne, Steve Kinser, and Dennis Roth in the exclusive triple digit category. Six different drivers helped him get there — Gravel (36 wins), Craig Dollansky (28 wins), Sammy Swindell (26 wins), Kerry Madsen (six wins), Terry McCarl (three wins), and Danny Lasoski (one win). Gravel now owns a pair of Lincoln victories with his first coming in 2017.
A last lap pass for the win in the Toyota Racing Dash slotted Gravel on the pole of the 35-lap feature.
Throughout the early circuits Macedo looked as if he may pose a strong threat to Gravel. The Jason Johnson Racing No. 41 stayed glued to the tail tank of the No. 2 as they both ripped around the top of the three-eighths-mile.
Traffic became a factor in the early going, but Macedo still wasn’t able to muster a run as they navigated the earliest batch of lapped cars. With 21 laps remaining, Macedo put together some momentum down the front straightaway and took a look to Gravel’s inside in turns one and two. But he wasn’t able to complete a pass, and Gravel powered away down the back straightaway.
Gravel pulled away over the next several laps until a yellow flag with 12 laps remaining. That yellow along with a couple red flags put the pressure on Gravel multiple times as the laps faded. But Gravel never flinched.
He nailed every restart as battles broke out behind him. Giovanni Scelzi challenged Macedo for the runner-up spot and secured it with 10 to go. Then it was Anthony Macri attempting to climb onto the podium by following Scelzi around Macedo. The two traded sliders, but Macedo managed to hold on.
Gravel drove away smoothly for his sixth win of the World of Outlaws season.
“It got really slick there at the end off of (turn) four,” Gravel explained. “And I didn’t know if I needed to move or not, but I got down the backstretch good. I could run her in pretty hard and then just maintain on exit. If I was in second or third, I would’ve definitely been searching around. I think the bottom came in late there.”
Giovanni Scelzi came home second for his fifth podium of the season in the KCP Racing No. 18 and third top five in a row.
“There’s no excuses from me tonight. We just flat out got beat tonight,” Scelzi said. “My car was unbelievable tonight. Adam Clark (crew chief) went from delivering beer to crew chief on a sprint car. He’s done an incredible job.”
The final step of the podium belonged to Carson Macedo.
“I feel like I was pretty good early in the Feature,” Macedo said. “I feel like we had a lot of speed. I feel like Philip (Dietz), Robby (McQuinn), and Adam (Zimmerman) did a great job. I feel like I was kind of just racing my race just waiting to make a move, and it never kind of played out. I feel like he did a good job in traffic.”
Anthony Macri and fast-qualifier Donny Schatz completed the top five.
The finish:
Feature (35 Laps): 1. 2-David Gravel[1]; 2. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[4]; 3. 41-Carson Macedo[2]; 4. 39M-Anthony Macri[6]; 5. 15-Donny Schatz[7]; 6. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[12]; 7. 83-Michael Kofoid[3]; 8. 27-Troy Wagaman Jr[10]; 9. 48-Danny Dietrich[24]; 10. 2D-Chase Dietz[8]; 11. 1S-Logan Schuchart[14]; 12. 5-Tyler Ross[16]; 13. X-Matt Campbell[15]; 14. 23-Devon Borden[22]; 15. 75-Cameron Smith[23]; 16. 17N-Dylan Norris[18]; 17. 1X-Chad Trout[20]; 18. 5W-Lucas Wolfe[11]; 19. 8-Freddie Rahmer[17]; 20. 95-Kody Hartlaub[5]; 21. 17B-Bill Balog[9]; 22. 99M-Kyle Moody[13]; 23. 8D-Billy Dietrich[19]; 24. 88-Brandon Rahmer[21]