WATERTOWN, Conn. — Oct. 28, 2013— At an event like the COMP Cams Short Track Nationals at I-30 Speedway in Little Rock, Ark., with over 100 car in attendance, a driver must have a fast car to be in contention, and they also need quite a bit of luck on their side. David Gravel had a strong car and plenty of speed throughout the event, as evidenced by his sixth-place finish on the second preliminary night, but he also had more than his fair share of bad luck getting caught up in accidents in both the finale and the inaugural edition of the Short Track Nationals Open that kicked-off the event.
The Short Track Nationals marked Gravel’s first event behind the wheel of the No. 82 Buffalo Wild Wings machine for Blazin Racing, owned by Todd and Susan LaHaise. He ran among the top-10 in each of the three main events he took part in over the course of his second visit to I-30 Speedway for the mega-event sanctioned by the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series (ASCS) presented by MAVTV American Real.
“We were pretty fast right off the bat,” said Gravel. “We didn’t have any major hiccups or anything like that. I got spun on the first night and then was in a wreck on the final night, but we definitely had speed. We made the show each night and with as many cars as there were at Little Rock (I-30 Speedway) that was an accomplishment in itself. There were a lot of good drivers that were watching the main event each night.”
The Short Track Nationals opened on Wednesday, Oct. 23, with the running of the inaugural Short Track Nationals Open that saw 95 drivers sign in for action. Gravel opened the night by charging from the fifth starting spot to finish second in the second heat race. By way of event and passing points, the native of Watertown, Conn., would line up eighth for the 25-lap main event. Gravel was running eighth on the lap-19, when he was spun by another car. After restarting at the back of the field, he worked his way back to finish 13th.
Gravel returned to the track on Friday, Oct. 25, for the second preliminary night of the Short Track Nationals. He lined up sixth for the 25-lap main event and ran as high as fifth over the course of the 25-lapper, which were slowed by an early red flag and then a caution, with the remainder of the contest going non-stop. Gravel would take the checkered flag in sixth, which would put him on the front row of the second B-main on the final night.
The 21-year-old opened his qualifying night at the Short Track Nationals by powering his way from fifth to second in the third heat race and also ran second in the third qualifier. That placed him on the outside of the third row for the preliminary feature.
Gravel finished second in the second B-main on Saturday, Oct. 26, to secure a spot in the 40-lap, $15,000-to-win finale of the COMP Cams Short Track Nationals. The East Coast racer started ninth in the main event and was running seventh on a restart at the halfway point, when he was pinched into the wall, sustaining too much damage to continue on. Gravel was scored 15th in the final rundown.
“We were pretty fortunate with our starting spot each night,” he stated. “Every heat race and qualifier we were in went pretty smooth and we were able to pass quite a few cars. With the format the way it is, passing cars early in the night is pretty important. Obviously, the weekend didn’t end how we were hoping, but we had a good car and if a few breaks would have gone our way, we would have been right up there. We’ll be back at it this weekend and hopefully running up front both nights.”
Gravel will return to action this coming weekend aboard the No. 82 Buffalo Wild Wings machine with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series (ASCS) presented by MAVTV American Real at El Paso Speedway Park in Texas and Southern New Mexico Speedway.
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.
