NEW RICHMOND, Wis. — David Gravel was simply perfect Friday night.
Perfect nights don’t come around often with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series. Simply winning a race with the country’s best drivers is an extremely difficult task, let alone being atop the leaderboard every time you hit the track.
But it’s no surprise that the driver and team that pulled it off at Cedar Lake Speedway’s Federated Auto Parts Independence Spectacular opener are the two-time and defending Series champions.
The Big Game Motorsports No. 2 was fastest in hot laps, fastest in qualifying, won the first heat and the dash. That left only the 35-lap feature to put the finishing touches on a flawless evening, and Gravel did exactly that. The Watertown, Conn., driver led every single lap, holding off a charging Michael “Buddy” Kofoid from the fourth row to punctuate the perfect night.
“I’ve got to thank Cody (Jacobs), Pete (Stephens), Zach (Patterson), and Luke (Vaughn),” Gravel said. “This is a brand-new car tonight, first night on this race car. I can’t thank them enough. They bust their butts. Last time we were here we brought out a new car, and there were leaks all over the place. Tonight, we were flawless from the start of the night to the end of the night.” Can’t thank those guys enough. It makes my job so much easier. Hopefully this car will last us through the summer months and win a lot of big races.”
Friday gave Gravel and the Big Game group their second straight win to go along with last Saturday’s $300,000 BillionAuto.com Huset’s High Bank Nationals triumph. They’re up to seven on the season and trail Kofoid and Roth Motorsports by just one for the most in 2026. Gravel is now a three-time Cedar Lake winner, putting him alongside Dave Blaney and Kerry Madsen for the sixth most. He now hasn’t finished off the podium in his last seven tries at the New Richmond, WI track.
Buddy Kofoid took the Roth Motorsports No. 83 from eighth to second and notched his 14th podium of the season.
Bill Balog made his local fans proud by bringing the No. 17b home third, his best World of Outlaws finish at Cedar Lake.
Sheldon Haudenschild and Carson Macedo completed the top five.
The finish:
Feature (35 Laps): 1. 2-David Gravel[1]; 2. 83-Michael Kofoid[8]; 3. 17B-Bill Balog[2]; 4. 18-Sheldon Haudenschild[4]; 5. 41-Carson Macedo[3]; 6. 23-Garet Williamson[7]; 7. 17-Spencer Bayston[16]; 8. 1S-Logan Schuchart[12]; 9. 7S-Chris Windom[6]; 10. 2C-Cole Macedo[19]; 11. 6-Kasey Jedrzejek[21]; 12. 15-Donny Schatz[17]; 13. 51-Ashton Torgerson[13]; 14. 27-Emerson Axsom[10]; 15. 24T-Christopher Thram[11]; 16. 16C-Skylar Gee[14]; 17. 15K-Creed Kemenah[22]; 18. 14-Brooke Tatnell[20]; 19. 33-Scotty Broty[18]; 20. 49-Josh Schneiderman[24]; 21. 1K-Kelby Watt[5]; 22. 28M-Conner Morrell[9]; 23. 23W-Scott Winters[23]; 24. 31-Scotty Thiel[15]
