WATERTOWN, Conn.—June 19, 2013— Entering this season, there were two bullrings that David Gravel had heard about for years and had not yet had an opportunity to race at. One was Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, Calif., which he had a chance to race at earlier this season. The second — River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, N.D. Running full-time with the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series this season, the native of Watertown, Conn., gets to compete twice at the always racy high-banked, three-tenths-mile, with the first of those being this weekend, followed by a trip to Minnesota for the second consecutive weekend.
Gravel will make his debut at River Cities Speedway aboard the FMR Racing/JRC Transportation/Musco Fuel Model Craft J&J under the Bill Rose Racing banner, on Friday, June 21 for the first round of the Gerdau Ameristeel Northern Tour. The inaugural World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series event at I-94 Speedway in Fergus Falls, Minn., will take to the track on Saturday, June 22.
“Last weekend we were on two bigger tracks where horsepower was very important and we qualified well both nights,” said Gravel. “This weekend we race on two smaller tracks where the engine is not as important as getting the handling and the car right. The engine we put in last weekend was fast right out of the box, so hopefully we can duplicate that in time trials this weekend.”
Gravel made one start in the state of North Dakota last season with the UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions during the tour’s annual Thunder Through the Plains mini-series. He finished seventh in that race at Red River Valley Speedway in Fargo, after running as high as second, before contact led to a spin that knocked the nose wing off the car. After a trip to the work area he rejoined the field and charged from the back of the back to earn the top-10 finish.
“Everyone seems to love River Cities (Speedway) and it’s very racy from what I hear,” said Gravel. “Hopefully I can adapt to it quick and get accustomed to it. We had some good runs in California on the smaller tracks earlier in the season, so that always helps going to similar tracks knowing you can run up front. Our goal is to qualify up front and get in the dash and give ourselves a chance.”
The East Coast racer has competed on a handful of high-banked bullrings this year, finishing a season-best second at Tri-State Speedway in Indiana, in April. He ran fourth at Thunderbowl Raceway in California in March and was sixth at Silver Dollar Speedway, after running as high as second in that race.
Gravel’s first trip to I-94 Speedway will mark his third start in Minnesota this year. He raced at Elko Speedway last month and Jackson Speedway last weekend. I-94 Speedway is a high-banked, three-eighths-mile and Gravel has a best finish of fourth at El Paso Speedway Park on a track that size in 2013.
“Not too many people know much about I-94 (Speedway), so that will level the playing field a bit,” he noted. “We’ve gone to a lot of new tracks this year and it’s something you get used to. I really enjoy racing at new places, because you learn at them and that’s how you get better, which is the ultimate goal.”
Heading into action this weekend, Gravel is seventh in the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series championship standings. He has recorded 13 top-10 finishes in 2013, with four of those being top-five performances. He and his team have spent the week at crew chief Tyler Swank’s shop in Iowa preparing for the pair of races.
“It’s been nice having a little extra time during the week the last two weeks to get some of the little things done,” he noted. “You can really pay attention to detail when you have time and we’ve gotten some caught up on some things. When you have a bit of time off out here, you really have to take advantage of it and make the most of it.”
Keep up-to-date with David Gravel and DDR Motorsports by visiting www.DavidGravel89.com. Follow David on Twitter @davidgravel89g and like David on Facebook.
