Column By: MARTY CZEKALA / RPW – WEEDSPORT, NY – David Gravel makes Weedsport look easy.
The 3/8 mile facility, one of the most challenging tracks the World of Outlaws goes to with its D-shaped layout, was no threat to the driver of the #2. Gravel scored his sixth win of the season, defending his victory last year.
“It was really good. Kind of needed to burn some fuel off and got really good in the middle of the race. Got that wing back and felt good from lap 12-15 on; it was lights out,” Gravel told RPW.
Gravel made the pass inside turns three and four on polesitter Donny Schatz on lap 13 while in lapped traffic and stormed away, having a lead of as much as eight seconds during the feature.
“Our car got better. I just kept searching, and he started fading. We came to him and took advantage of it,”
“David was a lot better. We were decent early but kept having trouble getting a hold of things. Guess we were lucky to hold on second. Hopefully, we can find a few things to be better at the end of the race tomorrow,” Schatz told RPW.
The near half-lap lead for Gravel would be extinguished with three to go as a furious Sheldon Haudenschild spun in turn one without a caution flying. Haudenschild stormed out of his car to complain to officials and the tower, then threw his helmet onto the racetrack, bunching the field up.
“I didn’t want a yellow. I was getting through lapped traffic really good. Luckily, all went well,” Gravel said.
“The yellow gave me an opportunity, but he (Gravel) moved his line a little bit and ripped the top in three and four. He kept getting away from us in three laps. At that point, we were hanging on, and it’s kind of how the races have been for a while,” Schatz explained.
Last year when the World of Outlaws came to New York, Paulie Colagiovanni nearly pulled off the upset in Ransomville, falling short of Aaron Reutzel. Colagiovanni again proved that he could race with “The Greatest Show On Dirt” with a consistent top-five car. He finished on the podium after getting past Carson Macedo on the restart.
“We knew the track was gonna be dry slick; we prepped up for it. This JR1 stuck to the track. That last caution made me nervous because my car got a little tight, and I didn’t know how far Brad Sweet was going behind me. I just ran the bottom and held my own,” Colagiovanni told RPW.
At one point, Colagiovanni made a two-for-one pass on Sweet and Haudenschild on lap 20.
“I was ready to hop someone’s tire, but it was all clean racing. Good racing and hard racing.”
29 sprint cars checked in tonight, including former NASCAR driver Kasey Kahne. Kahne made the trip from Indianapolis after a historic day with former winners of Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Cup Series and IndyCar Series. Kahne won the Brickyard 400 in 2017.
The Outlaws have their second show tomorrow night at Weedsport.