THUNDERBOWL THRILLER: David Gravel Tops Wild Dennis Roth Classic Opener

The point leader arises victorious from four-leader Feature at Tulare for 14th win of season

TULARE, CA (September 20, 2024) - Thunderbowl Raceway delivered yet again.

The California oval always produces some of the best Sprint Car racing in the country. A cushion right against the fence. A technical but fast bottom. Passing everywhere you look. And the Thunderbowl lived up to all the hype on Friday as the Dennis Roth Classic weekend kicked off.

The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars rolled into town for the first time in two years and gave the fans 30 laps on non-stop excitement. Four different competitors led laps all looking to write various stories of victory. A home state hero now on the World of Outlaws tour in search of a triumphant homecoming. A local eying his first Series win against the nation’s best. A Pennsylvanian looking for a late season surge. And perhaps the country’s most dominant driver hoping to shake a slump.

Ultimately it was the final scenario that played out as David Gravel navigated through a subpar first half of the main event before piecing together a fierce charge to victory. The current point leader with The Greatest Show on Dirt started sixth, slipped back to seventh, and rallied to take the lead on Lap 19 and never looked back. 

“We were not good in the Dash at all, and Cody (Jacobs), Stephen (Hamm-Reilly), and Zach (Patterson) changed a bunch of stuff there for the Feature,” Gravel said. “And the car was really good. Hats off to them for rebounding really well there. Just a much needed win for our team.

“It’s Sprint Car racing. A lot of good competition here. Every night is going to be a fight. Obviously, for our confidence, it’s going to help us a bunch. We just haven’t been in position to even lead laps really even if we finish on the podium or top five. We haven’t had the opportunity to lead laps. Tonight was maybe looking the same way, but things went our way, found a lane that worked, and our car was really, really good.”

The victory was Gravel’s 14th of the season with the World of Outlaws and ended a 14-race winless streak dating back to July 28 at Weedsport Speedway. His 15th overall Sprint Car checkered flag of 2024 puts him in a tie with Anthony Macri as the country’s winningest driver. Gravel’s third Tulare triumph equals him with Donny Schatz for the second most at the 1/3 mile, and a weekend sweep would equal him with Tim Kaeding and Joey Saldana for the most.

It was Fresno, CA’s Giovanni Scelzi bringing the field to green with Roseville, CA’s Colby Copeland alongside. Scelzi jumped out to the early advantage while D.J. Netto slid ahead of Copeland on the opening lap to take second.

Scelzi opened up the advantage through the early laps while cars throughout the pack jockeyed for spots. Gravel dropped to seventh on Lap 6 as Michael “Buddy” Kofoid and Bill Balog drove around him.

The introduction of traffic into the equation ignited a wild war for the top spot. Netto began to reel in the KCP Racing No. 18 piloted by Scelzi. On the ninth circuit Netto showed him a nose in Turns 3 and 4. And then one lap later he fired a slider in the same set of corners to grab the top spot.

Netto then looked to put some distance between himself and the field as he chased his first career World of Outlaws victory. Disaster nearly struck when he almost got together with a lapped car entering Turn 3, but he rebounded by turning under the car and clearing him exiting Turn 4.

The bid for his first Series win ended when Netto smacked the Turn 2 wall on Lap 16. The contact allowed both Logan Schuchart and Kofoid to drive around him. 

Behind them Gravel was suddenly on the move having gotten the Big Game Motorsports No. 2 rolling on the bottom. The Watertown, CT native was seventh on Lap 13. Four trips around the track later he took third. On Lap 18 he rolled by Kofoid for second. Then on the following lap Schuchart slipped up ever so slightly exiting Turn 4, but it was all the space Gravel needed as he motored by the Shark Racing No. 1S.

That moved punctuated an exhilarating 10-lap stretch of swapping the top spot. Once Gravel had the lead, there was no stopping him. He stretched the advantage to more than four seconds and crossed the finish line comfortably ahead.

“I fell back to sixth or seventh or eighth there,” Gravel recalled. “Buddy and Balog passed me with their hair on fire sliding across. I was running up there and didn’t feel that great, and then I sniffed the bottom one time in (Turns) 3 and 4 and felt pretty good and then figured it out. I kind of had that lane a little bit to myself. Logan sniffed it out there. Gio started falling back and then Netto got in the wall. I just was trying to be patient, and it worked out really good.”

Schuchart brought the Shark Racing machine home second. While there was a hint of disappointment after leading laps and not winning, the night proved to be overall encouraging for the Hanover, PA native at a track that hasn’t always been the kindest to him.

“I feel like the bottom was definitely the place to be,” Schuchart said. “David just did a better job than I did for a few laps there. He got underneath me in (Turns) 3 and 4, and I went in a little too hot and just didn’t stick the bottom as good as I needed to. Definitely the best I’ve felt at this place in a long time. Happy to get a podium and run up front.”

The final step of the podium belonged to Kofoid as he and Roth Motorsports continued their hot streak. They’ve now pieced together 10 consecutive finishes of fourth or better including the last six all on the podium. Dennis and Teresa’s car appears poised to be in the running for $83,000 at Saturday’s Dennis Roth Classic finale.

“I was just really stuck on the bottom,” Kofoid said of his charge from ninth. “I figured some people were probably indecisive on where to be. And since I started on the bottom, I committed to just staying down there for a while at least until it moved around. Then it got slick and dirty, and when I moved up to try and race with Logan for the lead and get around lappers, I think the top had just gotten dirtier by that point, and I let David back by. I thought we had a really good Roth Motorsports, Mobil 1, Toyota 83. It was a hectic race. I would’ve liked a yellow. I feel like we had a car capable of winning.”

Sheldon Haudenschild and D.J. Netto completed the top five.

An 18th to fourth run earned Sheldon Haudenschild the KSE Racing Hard Charger.

Carson Macedo claimed his 11th Simpson Quick Time of 2024 and the 44th of his career in Sea Foam Qualifying.

NOS Energy Drink Heat Races One, Three, and Four belonged to Carson Macedo, D.J. Netto, and Logan Schuchart. Milton Hershey School Heat Two went to David Gravel.

Giovanni Scelzi topped the Toyota Racing Dash.

Cole Macedo won the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown.

The Smith Titanium Brake Systems Break of the Race went to Giovanni Scelzi.

UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars compete for a massive $83,000 payday at Thunderbowl Raceway’s Dennis Roth Classic finale on Saturday, Sept. 21. Tickets will be available at the gate.

If you can’t make it to the track, catch every lap live on DIRTVision.

FEATURE RESULTS:

NOS Energy Drink Feature (30 Laps): 1. 2-David Gravel[6]; 2. 1S-Logan Schuchart[4]; 3. 83-Michael Kofoid[9]; 4. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[18]; 5. 88N-DJ Netto[3]; 6. 41-Carson Macedo[5]; 7. 17B-Bill Balog[7]; 8. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[1]; 9. 41S-Dominic Scelzi[11]; 10. 17W-Shane Golobic[12]; 11. 5V-Colby Copeland[2]; 12. 3-Kaleb Montgomery[15]; 13. 2X-Justin Sanders[14]; 14. 45-Landon Brooks[8]; 15. O-Tim Kaeding[19]; 16. 15-Donny Schatz[24]; 17. 10-Dominic Gorden[20]; 18. 29-Bud Kaeding[10]; 19. 57W-Jock Goodyer[13]; 20. 18T-Tanner Holmes[22]; 21. 88A-Joey Ancona[16]; 22. 7S-Landon Crawley[17]; 23. 21-Cole Macedo[21]; 24. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[23]

For complete results, CLICK HERE.