Gravel Gets First Taste of Florida Glory
The Wheatley Chronicles – Volume V, No. 2
Lonnie Wheatley, BARBERVILLE, Fla. (February 16, 2017) – David Gravel enjoyed his first Florida victory as he wired the field in Thursday night’s 30-lap All Star Circuit of Champions feature event atop the ½-mile Volusia Speedway Park clay oval on the second night of DIRTcar Nationals Sprint Car action.
“It’s nice to finally get one of these Gators,” the Watertown, Connecticut racer said in victory lane.
Gravel outgunned pole starter Caleb Armstrong at the outset then held off Donny Schatz over the final portion of the race to secure the $5,000 triumph aboard the CJB Motorsports No. 5.
“He’s the best, you want to beat him,” Gravel said of fending off Schatz for his third career All Star score. “The track took rubber, but you’ll take them any way you can get them.”
Gunning for a fourth win in five Florida All Star events, Schatz raced into second on the opening lap but was never able to make has way past Gravel for the point.
“It’s a good start,” Schatz said of his second runner-up finish to go along with three wins thus far. “We’d like to have won all five, but who wouldn’t.”
Schatz put the pressure on Gravel but was unable to finish the move. “The track caught us, I didn’t expect it to take rubber,” Schatz said. “It made for a difficult last half of the race.”
Brad Sweet filled out the podium in third with Chad Kemenah taking advantage of a late caution to take fourth away from Armstrong, who rounded out the top five.
The Vitals
Series: All Star Circuit of Champions
Track: Volusia Speedway Park (Barberville, FL)
Car Count: 33
Quick Time: With sights on a fourth win in five All Star nights, Donny Schatz was the ninth car out and set the standard at 13.271.
Heat Winners (starting position in parentheses): Chad Kemenah (1), Caleb Armstrong (1), Kerry Madsen (1), Justin Henderson (1).
Heat Moments: Pole starters went four-for-four with heat race wins, although Armstrong had to counter a last-lap move from Donny Schatz to preserve the win in heat three; The lone caution of heat race action flew after Wednesday night Hard Charger Kraig Kinser lost an engine one lap into the third heat.
Dash Winners (starting position in parentheses): Caleb Armstrong (1), David Gravel (1).
“B” Main Winner (starting position in parentheses): Joey Saldana (1).
“B” Main Moments: It was all Saldana in a caution-free “B” Main with Ian Madsen taking the final transfer for a second night in a row.
“A” Main Cautions: Two
1 Lap – Shane Stewart spins to a stop in turn with what proved to be race-ending front end damage.
26 Laps – Lucas Wolfe rolls to a stop in turn four with a shredded right rear tire.
“A” Main Hard Charger: Early rubber kept charging to a minimum, though Daryn Pittman picked his way forward nine positions from 17th to eighth.
The Box Score…
Qualifying: 1. 15-Donny Schatz 13.271, 2. 5-David Gravel 13.311, 3. 49-Brad Sweet 13.317, 4. 21-Brian Brown 13.357, 5. 9-Daryn Pittman 13.415, 6. 14-Christopher Bell 13.420, 7. 27-Greg Hodnett 13.475, 8. 10h-Chad Kemenah 13.479, 9. 13JT-Mark Dobmeier 13.497, 10. 5w-Lucas Wolfe 13.513, 11. 17s-Joey Saldana 13.528, 12. 2-Shane Stewart 13.554, 13. 2m-Kerry Madsen 13.558, 14. 4-Paul McMahan 13.599, 15. 11k-Kraig Kinser 13.607, 16. 17-Caleb Helms 13.612, 17. 24-Rico Abreu 13.617, 18. 7c-Caleb Armstrong 13.622, 19. 87-Aaron Reutzel 13.703, 20. 59h-Justin Henderson 13.741, 21. 59-Ryan Smith 13.770, 22. 13d-Danny Dietrich 13.783, 23. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild 13.790, 24. 17b-Steve Buckwalter 13.800, 25. 18-Ian Madsen 13.818, 26. 19-Brent Marks 13.846, 27. 7w-Tasker Phillips 13.907, 28. 07-Jacob Wilson 14.129, 29. 13-Brandon Matus 14.298, 30. 51-John Garvin 14.354, 31. 33-Brent Matus 14.651, 32. 1z-Dale Blaney NT, 33. 8m-T.J. Michael NT.
Heat One (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to “A” Feature): 1. 10h-Chad Kemenah (1), 2. 14-Christopher Bell (2), 3. 49-Brad Sweet (3), 4. 5-David Gravel (4), 5. 2-Shane Stewart (6), 6. 17s-Joey Saldana (5), 7. 7w-Tasker Phillips (7), 8. 13-Brandon Matus (8). DNS: 8m-T.J. Michael.
Heat Two (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to “A” Feature): 1. 7c-Caleb Armstrong (1), 2. 15-Donny Schatz (4), 3. 4-Paul McMahan (2), 4. 27-Greg Hodnett (3), 5. 17b-Steve Buckwalter (5), 6. 51-John Garvin (7), 7. 07-Jacob Wilson (6). DNS: 1z-Dale Blaney.
Heat Three (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to “A” Feature): 1. 2m-Kerry Madsen (1), 2. 5w-Lucas Wolfe (2), 3. 21-Brian Brown (4), 4. 13JT-Mark Dobmeier (3), 5. 19-Brent Marks (8), 6. 18-Ian Madsen (7), 7. 17-Caleb Helms (6), 8. 11k-Kraig Kinser (5).
Heat Four (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to “A” Feature): 1. 59h-Justin Henderson (1), 2. 87-Aaron Reutzel (2), 3. 24-Rico Abreu (3), 4. 13d-Danny Dietrich (6), 5. 9-Daryn Pittman (4), 6. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild (7), 7. 59-Ryan Smith (5), 8. 33-Brent Matus (8).
Dash 1: 1. 7c-Caleb Armstrong (1), 2. 15-Donny Schatz (5), 3. 2m-Kerry Madsen (2), 4. 10h-Chad Kemenah (4), 5. 87-Aaron Reutzel (3).
Dash 2: 1. 5-David Gravel (1), 2. 49-Brad Sweet (2), 3. 5w-Lucas Wolfe (4), 4. 59h-Justin Henderson (3), 5. 14-Christopher Bell (5).
“B” Feature (12 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to “A” Feature): 1. 17s-Joey Saldana (1), 2. 11k-Kraig Kinser (2), 3. 17-Caleb Helms (3), 4. 18-Ian Madsen (4), 5. 7w-Tasker Phillips (7), 6. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild (5), 7. 51-John Garvin (6), 8. 13-Brandon Matus (8), 9. 33-Brent Matus (9). DNS: 59-Ryan Smith, 07-Jacob Wilson, 1z-Dale Blaney, 8m-T.J. Michael.
“A” Feature (30 Laps): 1. 5-David Gravel (2), 2. 15-Donny Schatz (3), 3. 49-Brad Sweet (4), 4. 10h-Chad Kemenah (7), 5. 7c-Caleb Armstrong (1), 6. 2m-Kerry Madsen (5), 7. 14-Christopher Bell (9), 8. 9-Daryn Pittman (17), 9. 4-Paul McMahan (12), 10. 87-Aaron Reutzel (9), 11. 24-Rico Abreu (13), 12. 27-Greg Hodnett (14), 13. 19-Brent Marks (20), 14. 21-Brian Brown (11), 15. 13JT-Mark Dobemier (15), 16. 17s-Joey Saldana (21), 17. 59h-Justin Henderson (8), 18. 18-Ian Madsen (24), 19. 17-Caleb Helms (23), 20. 11k-Kraig Kinser (22), 21. 5w-Lucas Wolfe (6), 22. 13d-Danny Dietrich (16), 23. 2-Shane Stewart (18), 24. 17b-Steve Buckwalter (19).
Lap Leaders: David Gravel 1-30.
The Wheatley Chronicles brings insight and highlights from all variety of racing series throughout the nation in 2017 and beyond along with the Open Wheel Power Rankings on a regular basis. Please send any comments, questions or advertising inquiries regarding The Wheatley Chronicles at www.sprintcarmania.com to Lonnie Wheatley at lonniewheatley@gmail.com.
