ROSSBURG, Ohio (September 23, 2020) - Watertown, Connecticut’s David Gravel etched his name in the Eldora Speedway history books twice in the last two days, first setting a new Eldora Speedway track record of 12.599 during the Governors Reign opener on Tuesday, September 22, then trumping that statistic with a victory in the Governors Reign finale the following evening, scoring a $52,000 top prize in the process while also earning a fourth-career Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 victory.
The pilot of the Jason Johnson Racing/Weikert’s Livestock/Durst/JRC Transportation/High Performance Lubricants/The Boyd Family/Mesilla Valley Transportation/Saich Family/No. 41 sprint car led all 35 circuits of the Governors Reign finale, but certainly not without a challenge, forced to navigate through doses of heavy traffic, all while trying to fend off a late surge by Elk Grove, California’s Kyle Larson.
“I just gotta thank this entire team. I am confident we had one of the best cars all week,” David Gravel said in Eldora Speedway victory lane. “To come out here and set two quick times, one a track record, and get a win says a lot about this team. I’m happy to win tonight rather than last night because tonight pays way more. This field was just as stout as any field we’ve seen all season. All of the best are here. It feels really good to beat the best. Anything that pays over 50 grand is a crown jewel to me.”
Larson, who started tenth on the grid, powered his way into the top-five just before the halfway point, eventually snagging fourth from Sheldon Haudenschild on lap 18, then gaining another position over his hired gun, Carson Macedo, the following circuit. A caution on lap 20, the main event’s first and only besides a hiccup on the initial start involving Jacob Allen and James McFadden, allowed Larson to advance again, this time getting by Tuesday night winner, Brent Marks, on the bottom of turns one and two.
Meanwhile, Gravel continued to set a torrid pace, quickly escaping to a healthy advantage after the lap 20 restart. Although traffic eventually re-entered the picture, Gravel was able to maintain his momentum, using both grooves of the speedway to drive under or around bundles of slower cars.
By lap 33, Gravel’s advantage had all but depleted, now feeling some pressure by the season-leading All Star winner, Kyle Larson. In a last-ditch effort on the final lap, Larson dove to the bottom of turn three and attempted to slide the familiar No. 41, only to lose in a drag race to the finish. Sheldon Haudenschild would cross under the final checkers behind Gravel and Larson, followed by Brent Marks and Carson Macedo.
“When you get into lapped traffic, it gets tough to see the cushion. It’s all you can do to not slide the tires,” David Gravel continued. “When I saw the top open up in three on the last lap, I figured I gotta take it. Even if (Kyle Larson) would have slid me, I figured I could turn back underneath him. I saw someone poke their nose before that and I figured it was him. I was just worried about making a couple good laps. I knew he was closing. Sometimes you’re better off being in second in traffic.”
What’s Next:
The Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 will conclude the 2020 season with the two-day Jim Ford Classic at Fremont Speedway in Fremont, Ohio, on Friday and Saturday, October 9-10. Saturday’s Jim Ford Classic/All Star season finale will award a $10,000 payday. For more news and notes pertaining to Fremont Speedway, please visit www.fremontohspeedway.com.
Online Coverage:
Each and every event on the 2020 Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 schedule will be broadcast live exclusively at www.floracing.com. To access live and on-demand racing action from the All Star Circuit of Champions, visit www.floracing.com and become an annual PRO subscriber. The subscription unlocks access to premium content across the entire bFloSports network. Watch the events across all screens by downloading the FloSports app on iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire and Chromecast. To check out exclusive content, visit https://bit.ly/2XR863e.
Contingency Awards/Results: Eldora Speedway - September 23, 2020:
Event: Governors Reign Finale
Entries: 46
C&R Racing Warm-Ups: Shane Stewart - 13.065
Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: David Gravel - 12.816
Ford Performance Heat #1 Winner: Kyle Larson
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2 Winner: Daryn Pittman
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3 Winner: Brent Marks
Mobil 1 Heat #4 Winner: Sheldon Haudenschild
Kistler Racing Products Heat #5 Winner: Kerry Madsen
Computer Man C-Main Winner: Buddy Kofoid
Kear’s Speed Shop Dash #1 Winner: David Gravel
Elliott’s Custom Trailers and Carts Dash #2 Winner: Brent Marks
Classic Ink USA Screenprinting & Embroidery B-Main Winner: Jacob Allen
Rayce Rudeen Foundation First Non-Transfer: Kraig Kinser
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet A-Main Winner: David Gravel
Hercules Tire A-Main Hard Charger: Logan Schuchart (+11)
Qualifying
Group (A)
1. 21-Brian Brown, 12.946; 2. 15-Donny Schatz, 12.959; 3. 57-Kyle Larson, 12.967; 4. 14-Tim Kaeding, 12.970; 5. 28-Tim Shaffer, 13.076; 6. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg, 13.173; 7. 67-Buddy Kofoid, 13.216; 8. 13-Paul McMahan, 13.217; 9. 69-Brady Bacon, 13.220; 10. 17-Ian Madsen, 13.241
Group (B)
1. 41-David Gravel, 12.816; 2. 14P-Parker Price-Miller, 12.916; 3. 72-Daryn Pittman, 13.089; 4. 3-Jac Haudenschild, 13.166; 5. 11-Zeb Wise, 13.181; 6. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 13.187; 7. 70-Cale Thomas, 13.223; 8. 83-Spencer Bayston, 13.314; 9. 24-Rico Abreu, 26.169
Group (C)
1. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 13.020; 2. 49-Brad Sweet, 13.030; 3. 71-Shane Stewart, 13.043; 4. 5-Brent Marks, 13.103; 5. 7BC-Tyler Courtney, 13.161; 6. 17B-Bill Balog, 13.164; 7. 17A-Austin McCarl, 13.171; 8. W20-Greg Wilson, 13.222; 9. 4-Cap Henry, 13.402
Group (D)
1. 17s-Sheldon Haudenschild, 12.996; 2. 18-Gio Scelzi, 13.042; 3. 39M-Anthony Macri, 13.081; 4. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss, 13.102; 5. 26-Cory Eliason, 13.143; 6. 9-James McFadden, 13.166; 7. 41S-Dominic Scelzi, 13.228; 8. 5T-Travis Philo, 13.286; 9. 99-Skylar Gee, 13.409
Group (E)
1. 1a-Jacob Allen, 13.001; 2. 2-Carson Macedo, 13.036; 3. 12n-Joey Saldana, 13.100; 4. 2M-Kerry Madsen, 13.107; 5. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 13.176; 6. 3C-Cale Conley, 13.283; 7. 21B-Christopher Bell, 13.291; 8. 15k-Chad Kemenah, 13.412; 9. 39-Sammy Swindell, 13.535
Heat #1 - Group (A) (8 Laps) - Top 4 Transfer
1. 57-Kyle Larson [2]; 2. 21-Brian Brown [4]; 3. 14-Tim Kaeding [1]; 4. 15-Donny Schatz [3]; 5. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [6]; 6. 28-Tim Shaffer [5]; 7. 13-Paul McMahan [8]; 8. 67-Buddy Kofoid [7]; 9. 17-Ian Madsen [10]; 10. 69-Brady Bacon [9]
Heat #2 - Group (B) (8 Laps) - Top 4 Transfer
1. 72-Daryn Pittman [2]; 2. 41-David Gravel [4]; 3. 3-Jac Haudenschild [1]; 4. 14P-Parker Price-Miller [3]; 5. 11K-Kraig Kinser [6]; 6. 83-Spencer Bayston [8]; 7. 24-Rico Abreu [9]; 8. 70-Cale Thomas [7]; 9. 11-Zeb Wise [5]
Heat #3 - Group (C) (8 Laps) - Top 4 Transfer
1. 5-Brent Marks [1]; 2. 49-Brad Sweet [3]; 3. 71-Shane Stewart [2]; 4. 87-Aaron Reutzel [4]; 5. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [5]; 6. 17A-Austin McCarl [7]; 7. 17B-Bill Balog [6]; 8. 4-Cap Henry [9]; 9. W20-Greg Wilson [8]
Heat #4 - Group (D) (8 Laps) - Top 4 Transfer
1. 17S-Sheldon Haudenschild [4]; 2. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [1]; 3. 39M-Anthony Macri [2]; 4. 18-Gio Scelzi [3]; 5. 9-James McFadden [6]; 6. 26-Cory Eliason [5]; 7. 41S-Dominic Scelzi [7]; 8. 5T-Travis Philo [8]; 9. 99-Skylar Gee [9]
Heat #5 - Group (E) (8 Laps) - Top 4 Transfer
1. 2M-Kerry Madsen [1]; 2. 12N-Joey Saldana [2]; 3. 1S-Logan Schuchart [5]; 4. 2-Carson Macedo [3]; 5. 21B-Christopher Bell [7]; 6. 1A-Jacob Allen [4]; 7. 3C-Cale Conley [6]; 8. 15K-Chad Kemenah [8]; 9. 39-Sammy Swindell [9]
Dash #1 (4 Laps)
1. 41-David Gravel [1]; 2. 21-Brian Brown [2]; 3. 15-Donny Schatz [3]; 4. 17S-Sheldon Haudenschild [4]; 5. 18-Gio Scelzi [5]; 6. 87-Aaron Reutzel [6]
Dash #2 (4 Laps)
1. 5-Brent Marks [1]; 2. 2-Carson Macedo [2]; 3. 72-Daryn Pittman [3]; 4. 14P-Parker Price-Miller [4]; 5. 57-Kyle Larson [6]; 6. 2M-Kerry Madsen [5]
C-Main (10 Laps) - Top 2 Transfer
1. 67-Buddy Kofoid [1]; 2. 70-Cale Thomas [2]; 3. 4-Cap Henry [4]; 4. 11-Zeb Wise [6]; 5. 5T-Travis Philo [3]; 6. 15K-Chad Kemenah [5]; 7. 99-Skylar Gee [9]; 8. W20-Greg Wilson [7]; 9. 17-Ian Madsen [8]; 10. 39-Sammy Swindell [10]; 11. 69-Brady Bacon [11]
B-Main (12 Laps) - Top 4 Transfer
1. 1A-Jacob Allen [1]; 2. 28-Tim Shaffer [2]; 3. 9-James McFadden [4]; 4. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [3]; 5. 11K-Kraig Kinser [6]; 6. 26-Cory Eliason [8]; 7. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [5]; 8. 83-Spencer Bayston [10]; 9. 21B-Christopher Bell [7]; 10. 17B-Bill Balog [11]; 11. 41S-Dominic Scelzi [13]; 12. 24-Rico Abreu [15]; 13. 13-Paul McMahan [12]; 14. 17A-Austin McCarl [9]; 15. 70-Cale Thomas [17]; 16. 3C-Cale Conley [14]; 17. 67-Buddy Kofoid [16]
A-Main (35 Laps)
1. 41-David Gravel [1]; 2. 57-Kyle Larson [10]; 3. 17S-Sheldon Haudenschild [7]; 4. 5-Brent Marks [2]; 5. 2-Carson Macedo [4]; 6. 49-Brad Sweet [13]; 7. 18-Gio Scelzi [9]; 8. 2M-Kerry Madsen [12]; 9. 1S-Logan Schuchart [20]; 10. 1A-Jacob Allen [21]; 11. 72-Daryn Pittman [6]; 12. 14-Tim Kaeding [16]; 13. 87-Aaron Reutzel [11]; 14. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [24]; 15. 21-Brian Brown [3]; 16. 9-James McFadden [23]; 17. 26-Cory Eliason [25]; 18. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [15]; 19. 15-Donny Schatz [5]; 20. 12N-Joey Saldana [14]; 21. 39M-Anthony Macri [18]; 22. 13-Paul McMahan [26]; 23. 14P-Parker Price-Miller [8]; 24. 71-Shane Stewart [17]; 25. 3-Jac Haudenschild [19]; 26. 28-Tim Shaffer [22]
Lap Leaders: David Gravel (1-35)
2020 All Star Circuit of Champions Driver Standings: (As of September 23, 2020)
1. Aaron Reutzel - 5866
2. Cory Eliason - 5792
3. Zeb Wise - 5278
4. Paul McMahan - 5234
5. Skylar Gee - 5026
6. Greg Wilson - 4846
7. Josh Baughman - 3858
8. Kyle Larson - 3602
9. Brock Zearfoss - 3460
10. Danny Dietrich - 3360
2020 All Star Circuit of Champions Winners:
Volusia Speedway Park, Fla. (2/5/2020): Brad Sweet
Volusia Speedway Park, Fla. (2/6/2020): Aaron Reutzel
East Bay Raceway Park, Fla. (2/10/2020): Aaron Reutzel (2)
East Bay Raceway Park, Fla. (2/11/2020): Kyle Larson
Park Jefferson International Speedway, S.D. (5/29/2020): Aaron Reutzel (3)
Park Jefferson International Speedway, S.D. (5/30/2020): Austin McCarl
Red Dirt Raceway, Okla. (6/5/2020): Aaron Reutzel (4)
81 Speedway, Kan. (6/7/2020): Kyle Larson (2)
Lawton Speedway, Okla. (6/8/2020): Kyle Larson (3)
Devil’s Bowl Speedway, Texas (6/10/2020): Kyle Larson (4)
Southern Oklahoma Speedway, Okla. (6/11/2020): Brock Zearfoss
Monarch Motor Speedway, Texas (6/12/2020): Danny Dietrich
Lonestar Speedway, Texas (6/13/2020): Aaron Reutzel (5)
Chatham Speedway, Louisiana (6/14/2020): Dominic Scelzi
Port Royal Speedway, Pa. (6/24/2020): Anthony Macri
Volunteer Speedway, Tenn. (6/27/2020): Aaron Reutzel (6)
SW: Attica Raceway Park, Ohio (7/3/2020): Cap Henry
SW: Fremont Speedway, Ohio (7/4/2020): Buddy Kofoid
SW: Fremont Speedway, Ohio (7/5/2020): Aaron Reutzel (7)
SW: Wayne County Speedway, Ohio (7/6/2020): Cap Henry (2)
SW: Brushcreek Motorsports Complex, Ohio (7/8/2020): Kyle Larson (5)
SW: Muskingum Co. Speedway, Ohio (7/9/2020): Rico Abreu
SW: Portsmouth Raceway Park, Ohio (7/10/2020): Kyle Larson (6)
SW: Sharon Speedway, Ohio (7/11/2020): Cale Conley
SW: Sharon Speedway, Ohio (7/12/2020): Kyle Larson (7)
Williams Grove Speedway, Pa. (7/17/2020): Kyle Larson (8)
Port Royal Speedway, Pa. (7/18/2020): Kyle Larson (9)
Port Royal Speedway, Pa. (7/19/2020): Kyle Larson (10)
Plymouth Dirt Track, Wis. (7/30/2020): Kyle Larson (11)
34 Raceway, Iowa (7/31/2020): Kyle Larson (12)
Knoxville Raceway, Iowa (8/1/2020): Kyle Larson (13)
Huset’s Speedway, S.D. (8/2/2020): Cory Eliason
Wilmot Raceway, Wis. (8/21/2020): Cory Eliason (2)
Plymouth Speedway, Ind. (8/22/2020): Aaron Reutzel (8)
Grandview Speedway, Pa. (8/27/2020): Danny Dietrich (2)
Williams Grove Speedway, Pa. (8/28/2020): Canceled/Weather
Lincoln Speedway, Pa. (8/29/2020): Spencer Bayston
Bedford Speedway, Pa. (8/30/2020): Aaron Reutzel (9)
Attica Raceway Park, Ohio (9/4/2020): Tim Shaffer
Port Royal Speedway, Pa. (9/10/2020): Cory Eliason (3)
Port Royal Speedway, Pa. (9/11/2020): Lance Dewease
Port Royal Speedway, Pa. (9/12/2020): Lance Dewease (2)
Williams Grove Speedway, Pa. (9/18/2020): Aaron Reutzel (10)
Lincoln Speedway, Pa. (9/19/2020): Kyle Larson (14)
Eldora Speedway, Ohio (9/22/2020): Brent Marks
Eldora Speedway, Ohio (9/23/2020): David Gravel
About the All Star Circuit of Champions:
All Star Enterprises, LLC, wholly owned by Tony Stewart, d/b/a the All Star Circuit of Champions, is a winged sprint car series. The All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Car Series is one of the oldest traveling 410 sprint car organizations and is a staple of grassroots, open-wheel racing. Formed in 1970 by Bud Miller, the series has largely been considered the first 'outlaw' Sprint Car organization of the modern era. Motorsports entrepreneur Tony Stewart agreed to terms with Guy Webb to become the sole owner of the original winged sprint car tour in January of 2015.
About Ollie’s Bargain Outlet:
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet, Inc., founded in 1982, is one of America’s largest retailers of closeouts and excess inventory, offering real brands at real bargain prices. Famous for its signature catch-phrase Good Stuff Cheap, Ollie’s has a huge variety of famous brand-name merchandise in every department – food, books, housewares, toys, electronics, domestics, clothing, furniture, health and beauty, flooring, seasonal items and so much more – at up to 70 percent off the fancy stores’ prices. You never know what you’ll find at one of Ollie’s 366 “semi-lovely” stores in 25 states. For more information, visit www.ollies.us. Like us on Facebook or find us on Twitter at @OlliesOutlet. Ollie’s is a publicly-traded company on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol OLLI.
About Mobil 1:
The world's leading synthetic motor oil brand, Mobil 1™ features anti-wear technology that provides performance beyond our conventional motor oils. This technology allows Mobil 1 to meet or exceed the toughest standards of car builders and to provide exceptional protection against engine wear, under normal or even some of the most extreme conditions. Mobil 1 flows quickly in extreme temperatures to protect critical engine parts and is designed to maximize engine performance and help extend engine life.
For more information, visit mobiloil.com, on Twitter @Mobil1 and, on Facebook, www.facebook.com/mobil1.
Mobil, Mobil 1 and Mobil 1 Racing are registered trademarks of Exxon Mobil Corporation or one of its subsidiaries.
About FloSports:
Founded in 2006, FloSports is a venture-backed subscription video streaming service dedicated to sports, offering live and on-demand access to hundreds of thousands of competition events across 25+ vertical sport categories in the US and abroad. FloSports’ mission is to give underserved sports the love they deserve. With a growing library of more than 300,000 hours of premium content including news, expert commentary, films, documentaries and more, FloSports has established itself as an innovator and leader in sports streaming. Finally, your sport has a home. For more information, please visit: flosports.tv.
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Photo Credit: Campbell Photography
Contact: Tyler Altmeyer
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1
(724) 954-4915, pr@tonystewart.com |
