WATERTOWN, Conn. — Aug. 1, 2013— Competing on the most challenging sprint car circuit in the world, it’s only fitting that David Gravel will race this weekend in the Ironman 55, the longest and probably the most grueling race of the year for the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series. This season marks the fifth edition of the Ironman 55 at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 in Pevely, Mo., just outside of St. Louis.
The Ironman 55 returns to a two-night event this year and is scheduled for Friday, Aug. 2 and Saturday, Aug. 3. A full racing program will encompass each night, with a 30-lap feature highlighting the first night and the 55-lap, $20,000-to-win Ironman 55 capping the weekend.
“You definitely have to be up on the wheel and usually against the fence at I-55,” said Gravel. “It’s a pretty intense race track. I’m excited to get back there, as it’s been a few years since I’ve raced there. Hopefully we don’t have too much of a learning curve. Being a $20,000-to-win race, you have to be on your game and there will be a strong field of cars there.”
Gravel competed in both nights of the inaugural Ironman 55 in 2009. He came up just one spot short of earning a spot in the main event in the opener of that two-night event, finishing fifth in the B-main. Gravel opened the night by qualifying 20th-fastest in the 42-car field. He crossed the line sixth in the fourth 10-lap heat race, again missing transferring to the main event by just a single spot. In the finale of the 2009 edition of the Ironman 55, Gravel finished 11th in the B-main. He charged from the 10th starting spot to seventh in the second heat race, which put him in the B-main.
“The main thing in an event like the Ironman is to make sure you stay hydrated and rested up,” he shared. “Track position is important early in the race, to be as near to the front as you can get and then around 20 or 30 laps in, you get more aggressive and try to make your moves. There is nothing easy about a race like the Ironman 55 and we are looking forward to the challenge.”
Gravel recently competed in a pair of event in Canada with the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series aboard the FMR Racing/JRC Transportation/Musco Fuel/Model Craft J&J, finishing eighth at Autodrome Drummond in Quebec and 11th at Ohsweken Speedway in Ontario. A third scheduled event at Cornwall Motor Speedway was rained out and not rescheduled.
Entering the stretch run of the “Month of Money,” Gravel is seventh in the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series championship standings. He was victorious at I-94 Speedway in Minnesota in May and has accumulated 24 top-10 finishes, of which seven are top-five showings.
“We’ve run well on the smaller tracks, so hopefully we can keep that up this weekend,” Gravel said. “It’s a different style of racing when you go to a place like Pevely and with all those laps and the heat and humidity, you really have to make sure everything is buttoned up and running well, especially the engine, and our Kistler engines always run well.”
Keep up-to-date with David Gravel and DDR Motorsports by visiting www.DavidGravel89.com. Follow David on Twitter @davidgravel89gand like David on Facebook.
