KANSAS CITY, KANSAS (October 18, 2019) – Earlier this year, Lakeside Speedway was under water after this part of the country suffered severe flooding. The water receded and left a mess for the track owners and team, through their Midwestern work ethic they were able to salvage a part of the season and welcome the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series to the impressive 4/10 mile oval on Friday night in front of an absolutely packed house as fans not only filled the stands, but also the surrounding areas with a standing room only crowd. David Gravel and the JJR #41 team were one of 32 teams lined up in the pit area off turns three and four ready to compete in the FVP Platinum Battery Showdown in their Weld Racing #41 Maxim.
David Gravel Rallies to a 7th Place Finish in the FVP Platinum Battery Showdown at Lakeside Speedway!
After pulling the ‘23’ pill, the 2019 Knoxville Nationals Champion would go out 16th for his two laps at speed around Lakeside Speedway. He would get the Mesilla Valley Transportation (MVT)/Team Jack Foundation #41 rolling and took the green flag. The track was fast and this driver was up to the task on this night. He rolled through the corners and showed off his Kistler Engines power as he was the first driver to stop the clock under 14 seconds the first time around with a lap of 13.968 seconds. He stayed on the loud pedal and was wheeling and dealing speed as his Hoosier Racing Tires bit into the Lakeside Speedway surface. This lap was even quicker at 13.918 seconds. His stay atop the speed charts was short as fellow competitor, Ian Madsen, laid a lap just slightly quicker at 13.911 seconds, but Gravel was second quick overall.
David Gravel was perched on the pole for the second Drydene heat race, with Cale Thomas to his outside and Bill Balog, Carson Macedo, Wayne Johnson, Don Droud, Skylar Gee and Wyatt Burk all prepared in chase mode it was time for eight laps at speed. Gravel drove off the bottom and into the lead as the competitors raced through the first set of turns. He was leading after lap one and was focused and riding the high side lap after lap building on his lead margin up around the cushion in the J.R.C. Transportation/High Performance Lubricants #41 Maxim. When the flagman held his two sticks up in the air, Gravel used the last two laps to try out the bottom to see what was there for later in the night. Cale Thomas stayed on the high side and closed in on the leader as the two crossed the start finish line with Gravel gaining the win and Thomas coming home second as Carson Macedo came home third and Balog and Gee rounded out the top five.
For the DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash, David would roll off at the start from the fourth starting position with Daryn Pittman to his inside. Brian Brown and Cale Thomas paced from the front row as Donny Schatz, Logan Schuchart, Ian Madsen and Brad Sweet filled out the starting grid. Brown darted into the lead at the drop of the green flag as Gravel drove into the show positions with Pittman sandwiched between them. Brown would lead wire-to-wire and take the win over Pittman and Gravel as Schuchart came home fourth, Schatz fifth and Sweet in sixth with Madsen and Thomas rounding out the finish.
After the eight minute horn sounded, the last zeus button was secured and David Gravel climbed aboard his Weikert’s Livestock/Durst Inc. racing machine in his grey Team Jack Foundation uniform ready to do battle in the FVP Platinum Showdown in the 30-lap feature event. A salute to the packed house, who all were standing on their feet in appreciation of the drivers during the four-wide salute, indicated it was soon time to go racing at speed at Lakeside Speedway! Brown sped into the lead on lap one, but a caution for a multi-car incident slowed and regrouped the field. He repeated the lead maneuver the next restart with Gravel pounding the bottom and building speed the short way around moving into the runner-up position early with Pittman in town. Another caution moved the Watertown, Connecticut native to the outside of leader Brown for the restart, but the Grain Valley, Missouri driver of the FVP/Casey’s General Stores #21 was determined to keep the lead on the restart. Gravel was still battling with Pittman early and often during the first 10 laps of the race before cautions and red flags started to change the complexion of the race. After each race stoppage the competitors would restart in the two-by-two starting formation. Gravel had shown his competitors the bottom and he was restarting on the top side on restarts. He got shuffled back as far as ninth place with six laps to go, but battled back to secure a seventh place finish on the night behind race winner Donny Schatz who took the win over Schuchart, Sweet, Brown, Pittman, Kerry Madsen and Gravel. A strong top tem run for the forty-one at Lakeside Speedway!
Mesilla Valley Transportation (MVT); Saich Family; Jonestown KOA; Dissolvalloy Downhole Revolution; Weikert’s Livestock; J.R.C. Transportation, Inc.; Durst Inc.; Maxim Racing; The Boyd Family; Pro Powder Coating (PPC); Waco Metal; High Performance Lubricants, LLC; Team Jack Foundation; Mark Burch Motorsports; Tiger Towing; All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads, Inc.; All Pro Auto Reconditioning; AutoMeter; Bell Racing USA; Blackbeard; Brown & Miller Racing Solutions (BMRS); Buckwalter Trucking, LLC; C&R Racing; Chalk Stix Torsion Bars; Cody Monoco Racing; Crow Enterprizes, Engler Machine & Tool, Inc.; Factory Kahne FK Shocks; Fibreworks Composites; FK Rod Ends; Fuel Safe Racing Cells; Greber Racing Components; Hoosier Racing Tire; ISC Racers Tape; Jansen Transportation; K&N Filters; Kaiden Kares; Kistler Racing Engines; KSE Racing Products; LogoDaddy Graphics; Max Papis Innovations (MPI); MSD Performance; RaceDiecast.com; Schoenfeld Headers; Shell Shock Paint; Simpson Race Products; T-FAB Custom Metal Fabrication; Vortex Racing Products; Weld Wheels; Wilwood Racing; and Winters Performance Products.
To stay up-to-date with David Gravel and his success and journey on and off the track, as well as to purchase his gear and merchandise, go to www.DavidGravel89.com.
To stay connected with Jason Johnson Racing (JJR), go to www.jasonjohnsonracing.com.
