Gravel hits the track at Hibbing Raceway in Minnesota on Tuesday, July 24. The All Stars will be making their debut at the semi-banked three-eighths-mile. For Gravel it will mark the fourth track in the Upper Midwest that he competed at for the first time this season. He made his first two starts in Wisconsin earlier this month with the World of Outlaws at Cedar Lake Speedway and Beaver Dam Raceway, and was in action at Wilmot Raceway last weekend.
“That will be another new track for us, and we’ve been getting to visit a bunch of new ones this year,” said Gravel. “They don’t get to see sprint cars very often there, so it should be a good show for the fans. We’ll go in there and give it everything we got and hopefully we can be a contender like we have been the last few nights.”
The All Stars will head north of the border on Thursday, July 26, for an event at Red River Co-op Speedway in Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada. Gravel raced at the high-banked four-tenths-mile last year during “Thunder Through the Plains,” finishing ninth. He began that night as the eighth-fastest driver in qualifying. The 20-year-old started and finished third in the second eight-lap heat race.
“I kind of struggled last time we went up there, so I am looking forward to going back and hopefully doing better this time,” shared Gravel. “As always qualifying will be important, as well as making it into the dash. If you get in the dash, you put yourself in the first three rows for the feature and that makes your chances a lot better to contend for a win.”
Gravel will visit the historic half-mile Jackson Speedway in Minnesota for the first time on Friday, July 27. The young driver has raced at six different half-mile venues this season. In those events, Gravel has picked up seven Top-10 finishes, including four Top-Five showings. He has been fastest in time trials on half-miles three times this season, with all three of those coming with the World of Outlaws at the legendary Eldora Speedway in Ohio.
“Having a lot of horsepower at a track like that is important,” he noted. “We’ve had plenty of horsepower this season. You also have to keep your car straight when you are on a bigger track like and trying to keep your momentum up each lap.”
The All Stars will make their first of two stops at Red River Valley Speedway in West Fargo, N.D., on the Saturday, July 28. Gravel finished seventh at the high-banked three-eighths-mile last season. In 2010, the East Coast racer finished ninth at the track, which is operated by the family of four-time World of Outlaws champion Donny Schatz.
“The shape of the track changed when they redid it a couple of years ago,” he shared. “The back stretch is a little different than it was before, though the banking is still there. I finished third there last time, and we were pretty good, so I am really looking forward to going back.”
Gravel and the All Stars will also make two trips to Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, S.D., with the first of those coming on Sunday, July 29. Gravel finished a career-best fifth at the high-banked three-eighths-mile in 2010, and also came home eighth that same year. Last season, he finished eighth at Huset’s in the first of two races for the series at the track. When he returned a couple of weeks later, Gravel lined up second and was running in that same spot on the opening lap, when he got into the wall in turn three, ending his night.
“Huset’s is one of my favorite tracks,” said Gravel. “Every time I’ve been there and tried to be patient, something bad has happened, so I think you have to be aggressive there all the time. You never know when something is going to happen there. I’m definitely going to be aggressive.”
Gravel enters this week third in the championship standings with the UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions, on the strength of 15 Top-10 finishes, with six of those being Top-Fives. He has three runner-up finishes as he closes in on his first win of the season.
David Gravel and DDR Motorsports would like to thank: J&J Chassis, JRC Transportation, Kistler Engines, Musco Fuels and P&M Transportation for their continued support.
David will be a guest on Winged Nation today at Noon Eastern on MotorRacingNetwork.com. Winged Nation, hosted by Steve Post and Kendra Jacobs, airs each Tuesday from 12-1 p.m. Eastern on MotorRacingNetwork.com. Each show is archived for on-demand listening and can be accessed by visiting: http://cts.vresp.com/c/?ShortTrackRacingPR/2700567af7/573ed91d45/04e152c7dd.
For more information on the Motor Racing Network and to tune into Winged Nation, visit http://cts.vresp.com/c/?ShortTrackRacingPR/2700567af7/573ed91d45/3887fd8c6b.