COMPETING IN THE PIGEON HILLS: GRAVEL BATTLES TO A 4TH PLACE FINISH IN THE GETTYSBURG CLASH AT THE FABULOUS LINCOLN SPEEDWAY IN PENNSYLVANIA ABOARD THE WEIKERT’S LIVESTOCK #41 MAXIM

ABBOTTSTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA (July 23, 2020) – The traveling tour of World of Outlaws (WoO) speed stars made their way into the heart of Pennsylvania Posse land for the first time in 2020 due to the initial scheduled swing being canceled due to the shutdown related to the Coronavirus pandemic. Lincoln Speedway always produces exciting racing action on a weekly basis and when the Outlaws come to town the fans enjoy cheering for the locals to hopefully see one of their regulars, or at least a local competitor, take down the WoO stars to garner the winner’s check and keep the trophy in state. David Gravel has had some success here in the past. He and the JJR #41 team were one of 42 teams situated on the backstretch paved pit area at the 3/8-mile speed plant nestled in the Pigeon Hills of Pennsylvania. It was race day at Lincoln Speedway pitting the Outlaws versus the PA Posse!

The field was split into two flights, Flight A and B, for qualifying in time trials. The Weikert’s Livestock/Schoenfeld Headers #41 Maxim would be the 17th car out on the track in Flight A. The Watertown, Connecticut born racer climbed into his office and secured his Simpson Race Products safety belts once he settled into his Sharp Advantage custom molded seat inserts. He flipped the shield down on his Shell Shock custom painted Simpson Vudo EV1 Carbon Fiber helmet as the push truck tapped his rear nerf bar. His Kistler Engines power came to life as he entered the speedway in turn three and pounded the loud pedal to get up to speed. He took the green and the second hand on the clock was ticking by. The track record at this track was set back on April 30, 2016 by the late, great Greg Hodnett with a lap of 12.577 seconds. Gravel’s first lap came in at 13.619 seconds. He carried his speed into turn one and was determined to do what he could to make the second lap a better one. He was successful when the checkered flag flew stopping the clock at 13.535 seconds the second time around. His best lap ended up second quick in Flight A and overall.

His fastest lap in time trials landed him in the first Drydene Heat Race where he would get started from the pole position. The lineups in sprint car racing at this level are never easy. He would have 8 laps to compete for the best finishing position possible in his Mesilla Valley Transportation (MVT) #41 Maxim. Lucas Wolfe shared the front row with David as Brandon Rahmer, Brad Sweet, Jason Sides, Alan Krimes, Troy Wagaman, Mason Daniel, Aaron Bollinger and Landon Myers completed the starting grid. When his front tires touched the chalk stripe he drove off the bottom and into the lead. He was working the track’s surface with each passing lap and building his lead over Wolfe who was embroiled in a battle for the runner-up position with Brad Sweet. Gravel was making tracks and not looking back. With each completed lap the margin of his lead grew. When he raced across the finish line he was 3.195 seconds ahead of Lucas Wolfe who came home second. The top two were followed under the checkers by Sweet and Rahmer with Jason Sides securing the fifth and final transfer position.

For the 18th time this season, David put the JJR #41 in the 6-lap DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash. Sheldon Haudenschild and Jeff Halligan would be on the front row with Jacob Allen and Parker Price-Miller in the Dietz Motorsports #14 in row two. David would share row three with Lucas Wolfe as Freddie Rahmer and Logan Schuchart comprised row four. When the green flag waved it was Haudenschild seizing the lead in the Stenhouse Jr./Marshall Racing NOS Energy Drink #17. Gravel raced the Saich Family/Greber Racing Components (GRC) Maxim into fifth and on Rahmer’s rear nerf bar racing for the fourth spot. Haudenschild was fast and took the dash victory over Price-Miller, Allen, Rahmer and Gravel with Halligan, Wolfe and Schuchart securing the final finishing positions.  

Twenty four drivers plus two provisional starters had raced their way into the 35-lap World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series Gettysburg Clash feature event at Lincoln Speedway. Philip Dietz and the JJR crew would make some final adjustments before they pushed the car back from the hauler’s back gate. The driver of the forty-one was ready to roll from the 5th starting position behind the wheel of the Dissolvalloy Downhole Revolution/T-FAB Custom Metal Fabrication #41 Maxim. The green lights around the track came on and it was Jacob Allen jumping into the lead over polesitter Sheldon Haudenschild. Gravel quickly secured the fifth position in the running order on lap one before a caution was thrown for Jeff Halligan who spun in turn three. David would restart on the inside lane and when they went back to racing he would start pressuring Rahmer for the fourth position. On lap three he moved into the position and was now looking for more. He found it on lap 12 when he moved into the show position behind race leader Jacob Allen and Sheldon Haudenschild who was running second. The leaders were setting a torrid pace and starting to close in on the drivers running in the lower positions. Haudenschild would get by Allen for the lead on lap 15. As they continued to navigate through lap traffic the front three cars were nose to tail. Racing action was abruptly halted when the red flag was shown for Daryn Pittman, who was running in the tenth position, when he flipped on the exit of turn two. Under red flag conditions Jeff Halligan headed to the work area and Gerard McIntyre went back to his trailer with rear end issues. Haudenschild, Allen and Gravel would bring the field back up to speed as the green flag waved. Haudenschild was building his lead in clean air as Allen and Gravel battled for the second position. Racing again was slowed, this time for Chase Dietz’s #75 who spun to the inside of turn three with a flat left front tire. The race was past the halfway point so there was no 2-minutes in the work area. On the restart, Gravel drove into the second position as he edged out Allen into turn one, But Danny Dietrich got into the inside retaining wall and bounced into Freddie Rahmer ending Rahmer’s night of action. Without a completed lap, the restart order was reset for the single file restart. When they went back to green, Logan Schuchart slipped by Gravel on the low side heading into turn three and now David was running fourth with Dietrich right behind. Haudenschild was still leading as he had a dominant car and was driving a heck of a race. With two to go, Dietrich got up over the cushion in turn four and got into the wall ending his night with a 20th place finish. A green-white-checkered finish was all that was remaining in the Gettysburg Clash. When they got back to high speed action, Haudenschild collected the win over Schuchart and Allen with David Gravel bringing The Boyd Family/Team Jack Foundation #41 Maxim home fourth as Carson Macedo rounded out the top five. Another top five run for the forty-one!

Mesilla Valley Transportation (MVT); Saich Family; 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 Auto Reconditioning; AutoMeter; Bell Racing USA; Brown & Miller Racing Solutions (BMRS); Buckwalter Trucking, LLC; C&R Racing; Chalk Stix Torsion Bars; 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; 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; Walker Performance Filtration; Weld Wheels; Wilwood Racing; and Winters Performance Products.

To stay connected with Jason Johnson Racing (JJR), go to www.jasonjohnsonracing.com.

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.