STANDING TALL IN THE CITY NAMED AFTER PRINCESS CHARLOTTE: GRAVEL AND THE JJR #41 TEAM EARN QUICK TIME AND RACE TO A TOP FIVE AT THE DIRT TRACK OF CHARLOTTE ON THE FIRST NIGHT OF THE PATRIOT NATIONALS
CONCORD, NORTH CAROLINA (May 24, 2019) – Following the conclusion of their third place run at Bridgeport Speedway on Tuesday night, Philip and the JJR #41 team headed 500 miles south to Concord, North Carolina, located just outside Charlotte, to compete in the two-day Patriot Nationals at The Dirt Track at Charlotte to kick off the Memorial Day weekend of racing. The weather was cooperating with the sun shining brightly as 31 teams made their way into the pit area on the grounds of this beautiful facility as the engines of the NASCAR stars were heard in the background during practice. Philip Dietz and the JJR crew folded down the trailer door and rolled out the Mesilla Valley Transportation (MVT)/Brown & Miller Racing Solutions (BMRS) #41 Maxim to prepare for the evening of action.
The fans streamed into the facility and found their way to their seats anxiously awaiting the racing to commence. Sheldon Haudenschild kicked off time trials as the first driver out to take his two laps around the 4/10th-mile semi-banked clay oval. After Ricky Stenhouse Jr., racing in the second NOS Energy Drink #17 entry, completed his two laps, the beautifully prepared forty-one of David Gravel pushed off and took the green to start the clock. He was moving and grooving in the Dissolvalloy Downhole Revolution/J.R.C. Transportation #41 and stopped the clock the first time around with an impressive lap of 12.871 seconds. He stayed up on the wheel and kept his right foot planted and turned in a consistent, but slightly slower lap, the second time around with a lap of 12.959 seconds. His first lap put him at the top of the time trial charts where he stayed throughout qualifying to collect quick time overall. He was the only driver to time in the twelve second bracket on this night at The Dirt Track of Charlotte in the Queen City as second quick qualifier Daryn Pittman had a quick lap of 13.010 seconds.
As the first Drydene heat race lineup was being consolidated, where David Gravel would start from the pole aboard the Jonestown KOA/Jansen Transportation #41 Maxim, it was turning out to be an event with talented names like Kyle Larson, Kerry Madsen, Logan Schuchart, Jacob Allen, Rico Abreu, Brent Marks, Cale Thomas, Dominic Scelzi, Dave Blaney and Bradley Howard filling out the starting grid. When the green flag waved, Gravel used his Kistler Racing Engines/Engler Machine & Tool, Inc. power to drive into the lead over Larson. The Watertown, Connecticut native was flying and not looking back as the air flowed over the top of his Vortex Racing Products wings. Gravel would take the heat race victory over Larson by 1.924 seconds with Schuchart coming home third as Allen, Madsen and Marks secured the final three transfer positions to the feature from this heat race.
For the DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash, David would pull the ‘6’ pill, which put him in the last row along with Daryn Pittman for the six lap sprint to align the feature starting order for the qualifiers. Kyle Larson and Brad Sweet made up row one with Gio Scelzi and Donny Schatz in row two. Larson would lead from start to finish taking the victory over Scelzi as Pittman drove up to third followed by Sweet with Gravel securing fifth in the Durst Inc./Pro Powder Coating (PPC) #41 as Schatz came home sixth.
The last race of the night was the 30-lap Patriot Nationals on the red clay. Philip, Tyler and Patrick were hard at work making the final adjustments to the Mesilla Valley Transportation (MVT)/Team Jack Foundation Maxim to so their driver could compete for the win. After the smoke from all the fireworks cleared, it was time to go racing at The Dirt Track of Charlotte! The green lights illuminated around the track and Kyle Larson drove into the lead over Gio Scelzi as Gravel drove into third as he passed Daryn Pittman. On lap 4 he would move into the second spot briefly before Scelzi drove back into the runner-up position. Larson was setting a torrid pace up front, but Scelzi was determined to track him down and Gravel was close behind. On lap 25, Scelzi took over the lead shuffling Larson back to second as Logan Schuchart made his move and stole the show position from Gravel. A few laps later, Brad Sweet would also get by the forty-one for fourth as Gio Scelzi went on to take the win on the first night of the Patriot Nationals over Larson, Schuchart and Sweet as Gravel brought the MVT #41 home with his 10th top five finish of the season so far. A great 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.