David Gravel & CJB Motorsports Set To Take On The World Finals
Story By: KYLE LUETTERS / CJB MOTORSPORTS – CARLISLE, PA – The number of World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series events is rapidly dwindling for 2017. With the final north east stretch wrapped up, the tour headed to the Midwest for the final time this season.
Up first was a stop at Lakeside Speedway on Friday, October 20th. David Gravel and the CJB Motorsports team timed in 11th at the half mile oval, located outside of Kansas City, Kan., before finishing third in their heat race. With their ticket punched into the nights feature, the #5 machine would roll off 11th.
“We had a good car as always,” Gravel said. “We made up four spots to finish 7th. It was a nice top-10 for us. We made up some ground. We just missed that dash and that really makes a big difference in how your night goes.”
A relatively short overnight trip of 233 miles led the Outlaws to their next stop, the Salina High Banks near Salina, Okla. Car #5 timed in 6th overall before finishing second in their race and winning the Craftsman Club dash. With an engine change needed and rain forcing officials to speed up the nights program, crew chief Barry Jackson and crew members Derek Miller and Zach Holloway got the GoMuddy.com machine tuned and ready for the nights feature.
“Everything was going right for us at Salina,” Gravel said. “They started to put us on the clock for the feature when I rolled in from the dash. I could tell something was wrong with the engine so Barry, Derek and Zach did a lightning fast change for me. Those guys are truly awesome. On the first lap of the feature, I wanted the outside line and Brad Sweet through a slider and we made contact. That ended our night. It’s frustrating for sure because we knew we had a top-3 machine, if not a racing winning card.”
The ‘Greatest Show on Dirt’ was to complete at the Dodge City (Kan.) Raceway Park for the two-night Boothill Showdown on Friday, October 27th and Saturday, October 28th. Frigid temperatures forced series and track officials to cancel the event. That leaves the Textron Offroad World of Outlaws World Finals at the Dirt Track at Charlotte, November 2nd thru 4th. Gravel and company are hoping that they can be a force to be reckoned with when they qualify for on Thursday, November 2nd.
“The World Finals are unique in that we qualify for both Friday and Saturday night on Thursday night,” said Gravel. “So we’ll run two sets of time trials. It’s different but exciting. I think we’ll have some good speed for both sessions and we’ll be able to get ourselves locked in to good positions for both nights so that we can finish our season strong.”
