Gravel rebounds with top-5’s at Eldora; Swindell continues to flash speed
CARLISLE, PA. – May 11, 2016 – Every sport has highs and lows and racing is no different. David Gravel and the #5 team for CJB Motorsports left Jacksonville Speedway in Illinois feeling frustrated. Less than four days later, they were celebrating back-to-back top at Eldora Speedway near Rossburg, Ohio.
Gravel made his second ever start at Jacksonville Speedway on Wednesday, May 4th. The Watertown, Conn. driver timed in 18th in the second flight of time trials. From there, an uphill battle was in store for the youngster.
“We just had a hiccup at Jacksonville,” said Gravel, driver of the Big Game Treestands, J.R.C. Transportation Inc., C&S Lawn & Landscape #5. “Timing in bad puts you behind for the rest of the night and that’s what happened to us. We had to race our way through the C and made up some ground in the B but it wasn’t enough.”
A quick jaunt across the Hoosier state of Indiana landed the CJB team in Ohio for the first of three trips to Eldora Speedway. Gravel was rejoined by Sammy Swindell and his #1 team for the weekend. On Friday evening, the speed in the CJB camp was evident.
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Click above to listen to David Gravel being interviewed on the stage at Eldora.
“It was a really good rebound from the other night,” said Gravel, who finished second in his heat race. “Our balance was a little off early but once we burned that fuel load off and learned how to run one and two, the car came on really good. I thought we probably had the best car those last couple of laps. King’s Royal is 40 laps, so I’m looking forward to that, but I really can’t complain with a podium finish.”
“Friday night was pretty dry,” said Swindell, driver of the Big Game Treestands, GoMuddy.com #1 machine “We went out a little late in time trials. We didn’t tighten the car up enough in the heat race and that put us behind. We had to go through the B and finished second. We then made the A and just got caught up so much that the leaders put is a lap down. We seemed to just be one step behind the entire night.”
The second night of the #LetsRaceTwo weekend at the famed half-mile saw similar results for both teams.
“We got timed in really good,” said Gravel. “That set us right where we wanted to be and we won our heat race and made the dash. We had another great car in the feature. Hopefully we’re really close. Kerry (Madsen) and Chad (Kemenah) were in another class but I think we’re right there with them and can make the right adjustments for the next time we come to Eldora.”
“We timed in a little better,” said Swindell. “We made the A through our heat race but we had to change an engine. The oil pressure was dancing around so we decided to be safe and change it. We also went ahead and changed the rear end as well because it was leaking some fluid. It was a newer design we were trying and these things happen when you try out things that are different. That being said, it didn’t give us much time to really focus on our setup. We started the race and I got pinched down by the guy on the outside and that cost us some spots and it was
just a battle all night. Luckily we keep finding some things that work and that should pay off soon.”
The team will join the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series as the tour makes its debut at Plymouth (Ind.) Speedway. The following night, the tour moves on to Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, Ind. The event at Plymouth will be the first for both drivers while the event at Tri-State carries some additional pressure as the CJB team has won there the past two seasons.
“Haubstadt is a neat little track,” said Gravel, who finished 14th at the track last year. “It’s like two dragstrips and two tight turns. I’ve run decently well there so I want to keep that streak up and help CJB make it three years in a row with a win.”
“I started going to Haubstadt real early in my career,” said Swindell, who owns five Outlaw victories at the track and holds the track record at 11.110 seconds. “It’s always fun. It’s got some long straightaways and tight turns so it really is hard to reel off one lap where around there where you don’t lift. It’s really a track where the driver can hustle the car and make up some of the difference.”
CAR #5 2016 STATS:
Events: 25
Quick Times: 0
Wins: 1
Top-5’s: 12
Top-10’s: 17
Heat Race Wins: 8
Dash Wins: 1
Average Time Trial: 7.95
Average A-main finish: 7.91
Total Laps Led: 35
CAR #1 2016 STATS:
Events: 19
Quick Times: 1
Wins: 0
Top-5’s: 3
Top-10’s: 7
Heat Race Wins: 4
Dash Wins: 0
Average Time Trial: 14
Average A-main finish: 11.8
Total Laps Led: 0
UP NEXT:
Plymouth (Ind.) Speedway is up next for the ‘Greatest Show on Dirt’ on Friday, May 13th. The series will be in action once again the following night at Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, Ind.
BOX SCORE:
CAR #5:
| Date | Track | Size | Time Trial | Heat start | Heat finish | Dash start | Dash finish | “A” start | “A” finish |
| 5/4/2016 | Jacksonville | 0.25 | 18 | 9 | 6 | N/A | N/A | ||
| 5/6/2016 | Eldora | 0.5 | 25 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| 5/7/2016 | Eldora | 0.5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
CAR #1:
| Date | Track | Size | Time Trial | Heat start | Heat finish | Dash start | Dash finish | “B” start | “B” finish | “A” start | “A” finish |
| 5/6/2016 | Eldora | 0.5 | 30 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 22 | 20 | ||
| 5/7/2016 | Eldora | 0.5 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 17 | 20 |
STAY CONNECTED WITH CJB MOTORSPORTS:
For up to the minute race updates and behind the scenes content from CJB Motorsports, please follow the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Fans can also listen to all of the racing action live at www.DirtVision.com.
DRIVER GEAR:
Check out the latest Sammy Swindell apparel and merchandise by visiting Sammy’s official online store as well as the R&R Racewear superstore, the webs largest collection of dirt track racing apparel and merchandise.
ABOUT CJB MOTORSPORTS:
CJB Motorsports is a winged, 410 sprint car team that competes across the country with drivers David Gravel & Sammy Swindell. Founded in 2005, the Chad and Jenn Clemens owned organization has worked to establish a standard of excellence in short track racing through fielding competitive entries and providing exceptional exposure for marketing partners. The team is based out of Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
CJB Motorsports would like to thank all of our loyal sponsors and product manufacturers for their support and great products. Click on the name of the partner below to be taken to their website for more information.
Partners: Mainstream Holdings, Big Game Treestands, Muddy, J.R.C.Transportation Inc., Bairs Tree Service, Nyce, Crete & Landis Block and Concrete, All Star Performance, Henry Dunn Insurance, C&S Lawn and Landscape, Ecynbro Trucking
Manufacturers: Astro Titanium, Arctic Cat, ATL Fuel Cells, Blackbeard Ltd., Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, Butlerbuilt, Cometic Gaskets, Energy Release, Fastener Specialties, FK Rod Ends, Factory Kahne Shocks, High Performance Lubricants, HRP Wings, Kinsler Fuel Injection, Kistler Engines, KSE Racing Products, Lincoln Welders, Moose Blocks, Inc., MSD Ignition, Outerwears, Safety-Klean, Saldana Racing Products, Schoenfeld Headers, Simpson, Sweet Engineering, TI22, Walker Performance Filters, Weld Racing, Wilwood Brakes, Winters Performance.
