Column By: MARTY CZEKALA / RPW – WEEDSPORT, NY – David Gravel knows Weedsport well.
The Big Game Motorsports No. 2 driver scored his third Weedsport victory in the last four events at The Port.
“Being able to go to Connecticut (home state) the week before and having a lot of family and friends around that normally don’t get to go,” Gravel said helped out. “This place is slick, tricky, and unique. I’ve had laps here for quite a few years now. It pays off.”
The victory is Gravel’s 10th of the season, the fourth time he has at least 10 wins a year, and ties Steve Kinser and Donny Schatz for the most wins at Weedsport.
Starting third, Gravel battled early against Danny Varin, the polesitter from New York. Bite in the corners worked well for Gravel to take the lead on lap four and not look back.
“We were good around the bottom early,” Gravel told RPW. “Then I got the lead. It was hard to get to the bottom after that. It’s hard to keep the tires underneath you. Always got to search, get your wing back, chase the wings, always be open-minded.”
More importantly, the win breaks the tie for the points lead, giving Gravel the advantage by eight markers.
“Running good, continue to run good, keep the momentum rolling, try to win race, and be up front every night,” Gravel said.”
Carson Macedo tried to take the lead from Gravel in the final laps of the show, looking inside of three and four. He had to settle for second tonight, his 14th podium of the year.
“I had a run down the backstretch and dove down there,” Macedo said. “Picked it up decently good, just couldn’t get by him. He did a good job maintaining momentum. That was the race.”
Dave Blaney, late in the race, took advantage of two incidents. One involved Donny Schatz spinning on a restart after contact with Sheldon Haudenschild, and another incident with Haudenschild damaging the rear end and leaking oil. Blaney, the 1993 winner of this event, made a 12th to third charge late in the race, breaking the podium and passing Brad Sweet on a lap 26 restart in his season debut.
“Several had trouble in front of me,” Blaney commented. “I thought we were as fast as the top two, just couldn’t get quite by them. Fast at one end of the track, not on another. Lots of fun, though.”
The last time Blaney raced in Weedsport was for the 2019 All-Star Circuit of Champions event.
“I always like to support Weedsport and Al Heinke,” said Blaney. “This is a track I like. Slippery slope. The track is soupy in the car, so we like to come to those when we can.”
Brad Sweet and Giovanni Scelzi rounded out the top five.
34 drivers were in the pits, the most for a Series race at Weedsport since 2015 (35).
The Outlaws head to I-55 Raceway next week for the Ironman 55 to continue the summer of money.