Win Number Five for the No. 5 of David Gravel
Story By; COLBY GORNIEWCZ / WOO SERIES MEDIA
Photos By: DAN DEMARCO / RACERSGUIDE.COM
Plymouth, IN – April 29, 2017 – After starting seventh on the field at the beginning of the 35-lap feature at Plymouth Speedway, David Gravel worked his way up to third-place just shy of the halfway mark. It was with three laps to go Gravel took advantage of a bobble by the No. 87 of Aaron Reutzel to put him in the runner-up spot; but he wasn’t done just yet. Setting his sights on the leader of No. 7 of Jason Sides, Gravel squeezed his way under Sides as the two entered Turn 3. Gravel completed the move en route his fifth World of Outlaws Craftsman® Sprint Car Series win of the 2017 season.
With rain all around the Plymouth-IN area, the stars of the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series were determined to put on a great show for the Plymouth Speedway fans – and they did just that. Early in the evenings schedule, 26 cars of the 29 that entered the event all were quicker than the track record in hot laps. When it came to qualifying, Parker Price-Miller set fast time and in the process set a new track record with a lap of 11.079-second, eclipising the previous record set in 2016 by Logan Schuchart.
It was Jason Sides and Donny Schatz showing the way to the green flag for the Feature event at Plymouth Speedway. Just as the 24-car field was making their way around the the track for the first lap of the 35-lap Feature event, the No. 41 of Jason Johnson went for a tumble in-between Turns 3 and 4, bringing out the red flag and setting up a complete restart. Johnson would head to the work area and rejoin the field after some work to his No. 41 machine.
After a bad initial start and slipping back to fourth, Schatz had a second opportunity to hold his ground. Jason Sides once again got a solid restart, vaulting the No. 7 machine back to the lead. Schatz will hold onto second place until he was able to get by Sides on Lap 9 for the lead.
The No. 4 of Paul McMahan slowed in Turn 4 bringing out the yellow flag on Lap 15. On the ensuing restart the No. 15 of Donny Schatz selected the top leaving Sides the bottom groove. Entering the picture for the first time of the evening, David Gravel from seventh worked his way up to a podium running position. A master of the restarts all evening, Sides worked his way by Schatz to give him the top spot once again. Schatz didn’t let that No. 7 out of his sights, staying glued to the leader’s bumper – Gravel stayed within striking distance of the two.
The field would once again be slowed on Lap 23 when the No. 49D of Shawn Dancer spun in Turn 4. With 12 laps to go, Sides got another great restart, while the No. 15 of Schatz dropped back to fourth. The No. 87 of Aaron Reutzel leapfrogged Gravel and Schatz in the standings to put him in the runner-up spot.
With three laps to go, Reutzel bobbled slightly coming out of Turn 2, giving Gravel a chance to get by. With Sides out front with two laps to go, Gravel made a charge down the backstretch and planted his No. 5 under Sides for the lead coming to the white flag.
“We just wanted to start further up than we did last year and we did that,” said David Gravel. “We were really, really good until the red came out and the car was insane after that. After we got heat back in the tires the car came back to life, grabbed a little bit more wing and the car was really good with three laps to go. I was good when I needed to be good and just being patient and Reutzel slipped up and I took advantage.”
Gravel would go on to grab his fifth win of the 2017 World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series season with Sides in second and Reutzel in third. After leading a portion of the 35 lap race, Schatz brought the No. 15 Arctic Cat machine home in fourth.
“From the get-go we had a pretty good car,” said Jason Sides. “We got a good run here tonight and that’s what we were hoping for. I just got to thank all my guys for all the hard work. We’ve had a couple good runs at [Tri-State Speedway], we hope we can bring it home tomorrow.”
The World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series will be back in action tomorrow, Saturday, April 29 at Tri-State Speedway then again next Wednesday for a make-up race at Riverside Speedway on May 3. For tickets, visit WorldofOutlaws.com/tickets.
Plymouth Speedway Notebook
RACE NOTES:
Gravel uses patients as the laps wind down to go from third to the lead in en route to his fifth win of the 2017 World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series season. Sides brings home a second-place finish after leading much of the 35-lap event.
CONTINGENCY WINNERS – MSD Ignitions ($25 cash): Logan Schuchart; MSD Ignitions ($50 cash): David Gravel; Penske Shocks ($50 cash): Donny Schatz; JE Pistons ($50 cash): Brad Sweet; VP Racing Fuels ($50 cash): Daryn Pittman; Edelbrock ($50 cash): Shane Stewart; Comp Cams ($50 cash): Greg Wilson; Extended Stay ($50 cash): Joey Saldana; Cometic Gasket ($50 cash): Brady Bacon; Super Flow ($50 cash): Kraig Kinser; Craftsman Club ($100 cash each):Jason Sides, Brent Marks, Shane Stewart, N/A, N/A. Craftsman/Sears ($100 cash): Aaron Reutzel; KSE Racing Products ($100 product certificate): Greg Wilson; Comp Cams ($50 product certificate): David Gravel; JE Pistons (Set of Rings each): Jason Johnson, Paul McMahan.
Feature (35 Laps) : 1. 5-David Gravel [7][$10,000]; 2. 7S-Jason Sides [1][$5,500]; 3. 87-Aaron Reutzel [3][$3,200]; 4. 15-Donny Schatz [2][$2,800]; 5. 49-Brad Sweet [10][$2,500]; 6. 19-Brent Marks [4][$2,300]; 7. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild [14][$2,200]; 8. 9-Daryn Pittman [12][$2,100]; 9. 2-Shane Stewart [5][$2,050]; 10. W20-Greg Wilson [20][$2,000]; 11. 17-Joey Saldana [17][$1,500]; 12. 3G-Carson Macedo [16][$1,200]; 13. 99-Brady Bacon [8][$1,100]; 14. 11K-Kraig Kinser [19][$1,050]; 15. 2X-Parker Price-Miller [6][$1,000]; 16. 4K-Kody Kinser [11][$900]; 17. 17B-Bill Balog [13][$800]; 18. 41-Jason Johnson [18][$800]; 19. 23C-Tyler Courtney [23][$800]; 20. 49D-Shawn Dancer [22][$800]; 21. 4-Paul McMahan [9][$800]; 22. 4S-Danny Smith [21][$800]; 23. 20N-Hunter Schuerenberg [24][$800]; 24. 1S-Logan Schuchart [15][$800]; Lap Leaders: Jason Sides 1-9, 16-33; Donny Schatz 10-15; David Gravel 34-35; KSE Hard Charger Award: W20-Greg Wilson[+10]
Qualifying: 1. 2X-Parker Price-Miller, 11.079; 2. 99-Brady Bacon, 11.132; 3. 4-Paul McMahan, 11.155; 4. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 11.2; 5. 7S-Jason Sides, 11.217; 6. 15-Donny Schatz, 11.302; 7. 49-Brad Sweet, 11.325; 8. 19-Brent Marks, 11.325; 9. 9X-Paul Nienhiser, 11.347; 10. 5-David Gravel, 11.348; 11. 4K-Kody Kinser, 11.373; 12. 2-Shane Stewart, 11.403; 13. W20-Greg Wilson, 11.413; 14. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild, 11.468; 15. 41-Jason Johnson, 11.478; 16. 17B-Bill Balog, 11.483; 17. 23C-Tyler Courtney, 11.516; 18. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 11.538; 19. 3G-Carson Macedo, 11.547; 20. 17-Joey Saldana, 11.552; 21. 9-Daryn Pittman, 11.578; 22. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 11.632; 23. 20N-Hunter Schuerenberg, 11.641; 24. 4S-Danny Smith, 11.688; 25. 1A-Jacob Allen, 11.806; 26. 49D-Shawn Dancer, 11.859; 27. 13-Clyde Knipp, 11.985; 28. 7J-Joe Swanson, 12.108; 29. 51B-Joe B. Miller 12.119
Heat #1 (8 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer to Feature: 1. 87-Aaron Reutzel [2]; 2. 2X-Parker Price-Miller [1]; 3. 5-David Gravel [4]; 4. 49-Brad Sweet [3]; 5. 17B-Bill Balog [6]; 6. 3G-Carson Macedo [7]; 7. W20-Greg Wilson [5]; 8. 11K-Kraig Kinser [8]; 9. 1A-Jacob Allen [9]; 10. 7J-Joe Swanson [10]
Heat #2 (8 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer to Feature: 1. 7S-Jason Sides [2]; 2. 19-Brent Marks [3]; 3. 99-Brady Bacon [1]; 4. 4K-Kody Kinser [4]; 5. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild [5]; 6. 17-Joey Saldana [7]; 7. 20N-Hunter Schuerenberg [8]; 8. 23C-Tyler Courtney [6]; 9. 51B-Joe B. Miller [10]; 10. 49D-Shawn Dancer [9]
Heat #3 (8 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer to Feature: 1. 15-Donny Schatz [2]; 2. 2-Shane Stewart [4]; 3. 4-Paul McMahan [1]; 4. 9-Daryn Pittman [7]; 5. 1S-Logan Schuchart [6]; 6. 41-Jason Johnson [5]; 7. 9X-Paul Nienhiser [3]; 8. 4S-Danny Smith [8]; 9. 13-Clyde Knipp [9]
Craftsman Club Dash (6 Laps): 1. 7S-Jason Sides [2]; 2. 15-Donny Schatz [3]; 3. 87-Aaron Reutzel [1]; 4. 19-Brent Marks [5]; 5. 2-Shane Stewart [6]; 6. 2X-Parker Price-Miller [4]
Last Chance Showdown (12 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer to Feature: 1. 11K-Kraig Kinser [4][-]; 2. W20-Greg Wilson [2][-]; 3. 4S-Danny Smith [6][-]; 4. 49D-Shawn Dancer [8][-]; 5. 23C-Tyler Courtney [3][-]; 6. 20N-Hunter Schuerenberg [5][-]; 7. 9X-Paul Nienhiser [1][$300]; 8. 1A-Jacob Allen [7][$250]; 9. 51B-Joe B. Miller [11][$225]; 10. 13-Clyde Knipp [9][$200]; 11. 7J-Joe Swanson [10][$200]
Unofficial World of Outlaws Craftsman® Sprint Car Series Championship Standings
Pos. Car Driver Total Diff Wins Top 5’s Top 10’s
1 15 Donny Schatz 2532 0 6 12 15
2 5 David Gravel 2496 -36 5 12 15
3 49 Brad Sweet 2464 -68 2 12 14
4 41 Jason Johnson 2332 -200 2 6 10
5 9 Daryn Pittman 2326 -206 0 3 10
6 2 Shane Stewart 2310 -222 0 3 12
7 93 Sheldon Haudenschild 2294 -238 0 5 10
8 1S Logan Schuchart 2244 -288 1 4 7
9 17 Joey Saldana 2232 -300 0 2 4
10 7S Jason Sides 2224 -308 0 4 10
11 4 Paul McMahan 2224 -308 0 2 7
12 19 Brent Marks 2208 -324 0 0 5
13 11k Kraig Kinser 2168 -364 0 1 2
14 W20 Greg Wilson 2096 -436 0 1 5
15 2X Parker Price-Miller 1876 -656 0 0 2
16 18 Ian Madsen 1826 -706 0 2 8
17 1A Jacob Allen 1780 -752 0 0 0
18 13 Clyde Knipp 1702 -830 0 0 0
19 21 Brian Brown 1644 -888 1 7 7
20 24R Rico Abreu 1546 -986 1 5 8
The World of Outlaws Craftsman® Sprint Car Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including: Craftsman (Official Tool), Arctic Cat (Official Side-by-Side Recreational Vehicle), Extended Stay America (Official Hotel), Hoosier Racing Tire (Official Tire), Morton Buildings (Official Building), Sears (Official Home Store), The Kenny Wallace Dirt Racing Experience (Official Racing Experience) and VP Racing Fuels (Official Racing Fuel); in addition to contingency sponsors, including: Cometic Gasket, COMP Cams, Edelbrock, JE Pistons, KSE Racing Products, MSD, Penske Shocks, and Superflow Dynos; along with manufacturer sponsors, including: Impact Racing Products, Intercomp, Racing Electronics, and TNT Rescue.
Founded in 1978, the World of Outlaws®, based in Concord, N.C., is the premier national touring series for dirt track racing in North America, featuring the most powerful cars on dirt, the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series and the World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Model Series. Annually, the two series race nearly 140 times at tracks across the United States and Canada. CBS Sports Network is the official broadcast partner of the World of Outlaws. DIRTVision® also broadcasts all World of Outlaws events over the Internet to fans around the world. Learn more about the World of Outlaws.
