CHASING THE MORGAN CUP AT WILLIAMS GROVE: THE JJR TEAM BATTLES ALL NIGHT WITH A TRICKY SURFACE TRYING TO WIN THE COVETED CUP AND END OF WITH A TOP TEN FINISH ABOARD THE WEIKERT’S LIVESTOCK #41
MECHANICSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA (May 18, 2019) – With the weather continuing to cooperate in Central Pennsylvania it was day two of the Morgan Cup at Williams Grove Speedway as the sun was overhead and the racing action was about ready to heat up. After the JJR #41 team collected their third win of the season on Friday night, David Gravel and the JJR #41 crew returned and were eager to get back on the track in the Weikert’s Livestock/ISC Racers Tape #41 Maxim. The field slimmed down from 40 cars to 38 entries on Saturday night after two of the competitors experienced some mechanical issues that sidelined their race efforts. The beautiful weather combined with the big check on the line for winning the Morgan Cup had the fans lining up in droves anxiously waiting to get into the speed show at the historic half-mile.
With a strong field of cars assembled in the pit area there would be two sets of time trial qualifying. David would take the Mesilla Valley Transportation (MVT)/Wilwood Racing #41 out fourteenth for his two laps at speed. The track surface was very different than on Friday night, so the drivers and teams had to make the necessary adjustments on their cars to hook them up on this type of racing surface. When Brad Sweet completed his two circuits, David jumped on the accelerator and got up to speed to take the green flag. The stopwatch was moving and so was Gravel. The result was a lap of 19.537 seconds, while his second lap came in a bit slower at 19.790 seconds. The faster of his two laps was seventh quick in Flight A and ninth quick overall on the night.
World of Outlaws NOS Energy Sprint Car Series officials completed the heat race lineups where the Durst Inc./Greber Racing Components (GRC) #41 Maxim would line up fourth in the first and fastest heat race. Quick timer, Kraig Kinser, sat on the pole with Lance Dewease to his outside. David shared row two with Shane Stewart in the CJB #5 with Brad Sweet, Sheldon Haudenschild, Brock Zearfoss, Adrian Shaffer, Gerard McIntyre and Parker Price-Miller completing the starting lineup. Kraig Kinser jumped ahead of Dewease at the start as Gravel drove hard into the show position. In the early stages of the heat event while running in third, David was able to get close to making the pass on Dewease for one of the two lock in positions to the DIRTvision Fast Pass Dash. Unable to make a clean pass, he settled into the third position as Dewease mounted a charge and made the pass on Kinser for the lead. Dewease led the remaining laps and took the win over Kinser as Gravel came home third followed by Stewart and Sweet as those five drivers advanced into the feature event.
As the skies lit up from lightning off in the distance, but no rain, the horn sounded to alert the teams it was soon time to commence the 30-lap Morgan Cup feature race. Philip bolted on the rear FK Shocks, Tyler topped off the fuel in the Fuel Safe Racing Cell, and Patrick tightened down the rear Hoosier Racing Tires. The field was set at Williams Grove. Gravel would be starting from the inside of row five with Jacob Allen on his right side. He climbed into his ButlerBuilt seat with his Sharp Advantage custom fitted insert and was buckled in and ready to go. When the green flag flew, it was front row starters Lance Dewease and Donny Schatz bringing the field roaring down the front straightaway. Schatz was your early leader with Dewease right behind. David was wheeling in ninth and trying to find the fast way around so he could take advantage of any openings in the Saich Family/Jonestown KOA #41 Maxim. The high speed action was briefly interrupted after the second lap when the yellow was displayed for a slowing Logan Schuchart. He rejoined the field and when racing resumed Gravel was able to drive into the eighth position. Schatz was still leading, but as the laps clicked by Dewease was closing the gap. On lap 13 he would make the pass and never looked back. He took the victory over Schatz, Danny Dietrich and Daryn Pittman with Freddie Rahmer rounding out the top five. David Gravel brought the Weikert’s Livestock #41 home with a ninth place finish, his 14th top ten finish of the season – a 73.68% top ten success rate. Another good run for the forty-one!
We are proud to represent all of our dedicated and loyal supporters:
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; Schoenfeld Headers; Shell Shock Paint; Simpson Race Products; T-FAB Custom Metal Fabrication; Vortex Racing Products; Weld Wheels; Wilwood Racing; Winters Performance Products; and, www.racediecast.com.
To stay connected with Jason Johnson Racing (JJR), go to www.jasonjohnsonracing.com.
To learn more about David Gravel, and stay up to date with his success and journey, go to www.DavidGravel89.com.