Pennsylvania team red hot heading into Ironman 55 and Knoxville Nationals
CARLISLE, PA. – August 8, 2017 – Sprint car teams across the world look forward to this week. For seven days, the collective eyes of the sport are singularly focused on a small town in Iowa. The 5 Hour Energy Knoxville Nationals is a special event for sure. It’s the one event every driver and team want to win, including the David Gravel and the CJB Motorsports organization.
Before taking on the famed half mile at the Marion County Fairgrounds, the team had a date with Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 near Pevely, Mo. The annual “Ironman” weekend included a two-night program with the opener occurring on Friday, August 4th. Gravel timed in 9th overall before finishing third in his heat race.
“We just didn’t get started off with a good pill draw,” explained Gravel. “From there, we missed a front row starting spot in our heat race by a position. We started and finished third in or heat so we couldn’t get a look at the trackin the dash. We knew the track was going to take rubber since it was so slick. I got off to a bad start and had to just fall in line once the rubber came. We finished 12th.”
The following night saw Mother Nature emerge as the victor. A makeup date for the $20,000-to-win Ironman 55 will be named at a later date by series and track officials.
The attention now turns to the qualifying nights for the 57th edition of sprint car racing’s crown jewel event. Gravel and the CJB team will push off on Thursday night to try to make their way into Saturday night’s main event, which pays a season high $150,000-to-win.
“All aspects of qualifying night are very important to your success,” said Gravel, driver of the GoMUDDY.com, J.R.C. Transportation Inc., C&S Lawn & Landscape #5. “It starts with a good pill draw. After that, qualifying is key. Then, if you can transfer out of your heat, you can kinda of relax just a little in the main. If qualifying or the heat race good bad, the A main becomes really important. We’ve ran good there this year and we’re hoping that carries over.”
Box Score:
| Track | Time Trial | Heat start | Heat finish | Dash start | Dash finish | “A” start | “A” finish | Laps Led |
| I55 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 0 |
2017 STATS:
Events: 58
Quick Times: 9
Wins: 13
Top-5’s: 34
Top-10’s: 50
Heat Race Wins: 17
Dash Wins: 7
Average Time Trial: 6.9
Average A-main finish: 5.7
Total Laps Led: 272
*Stats from Williams Grove event on 7/22 not yet added.*
STAY CONNECTED WITH CJB MOTORSPORTS:
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JOIN THE CRAFTSMAN CLUB:
CJB Motorsports gets the job done in the pits with Craftsman tools. Craftsman, one of the most enduring names in the tool industry, is a proud partner of the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series. You can experience the benefits of this legendary brand by joining the Craftsman Club here. CJB Motorsports would like to express their gratitude to Craftsman for supplying the team with dependable tools for their use, night in and night out.
ABOUT CJB MOTORSPORTS:
CJB Motorsports is a winged, 410 sprint car team that competes across the country with driver David Gravel. 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, 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, Schroeder Torsion Bars, Simpson, Sweet Engineering, Walker Performance Filters, Weld Racing, Wilwood Brakes, Winters Performance.
