An Era Ends At CJB Motorsports; 2018 Season Marks Another Successful Chapter For WoO Team

Story By: KYLE LUETTERS / CJB MOTORSPORTS – CARLISLE, PA – Another season has yielded success on multiple fronts for CJB Motorsports. The Pennsylvania based team contested the highly competitive World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series schedule for the sixth consecutive year.

Coming off their best season as an organization in 2017, the expectations for 2018 were quite high. With driver David Gravel behind the wheel of the GoMuddy.com, Big Game Treestands, Weikert’s Livestock, JRC Transportation, Nyce, Crete and Landis Block and Concrete #5 for a third season, the season began with strong runs at the annual DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park near Barberville, Florida. From there, the tour made it’s first of two treks to the west coast by way of Texas and Nevada. Cancellations and postponements due to rain were, unfortunately, a common theme throughout the year.

Once the Outlaws returned from California, Gravel found victory lane at Cotton Bowl Speedway near Paige, Texas on April 26th. Less than a month later, Gravel returned to victory lane at Tri-State Speedway near Haubstadt, Indiana. The #5 machine would claim victory at I-96 Speedway near Lake Odessa Michigan to open the month of June. The 4th victory of the season would occur on the last day of June at Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway.

One month later, a 5th win at Ransomville (New York) Speedway gave the team added momentum heading into the month of August and the famed 5-Hour Energy Knoxville Nationals. Gravel and the team dominated the event in 2017 but faced a more uphill battle in 2018 as they had to fight their way into the main event from the B-main.

“We went in to Knoxville with some high expectations,” Gravel said. “I was very proud of how our team responded when we didn’t get off to the best of starts. We fought back and made our way into the show. We then fought hard to score a top-10.”

Following Knoxville, the series embarked on their second West Coast swing for the season. As the Outlaws snaked their way through states such as North Dakota, Montana, Washington, Oregon and California, the team pressed on. One final run through the Midwest and East Coast brought the tour to the World of Outlaws World Finals presented by Can-Am. Gravel finished out the season on a high note with a pair of top-10 finishes. With those finishes, CJB Motorsports secured the 3rd place spot in the final series points standings for the 5th time in the last six seasons. For the final stat line, CJB tallied 71 starts in the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series in 2018. Along the way, five wins were achieved along with 29 top-5’s and 54 top-10’s. The team also started two Arctic Car All Star Circuit of Champions events to begin the season and recorded a pair of top-5 finishes.

“Overall, it was a good season but disappointing based on what we had achieved in the prior year,” Gravel said. “We had some highlights. One of them for me was the win at I-96. I really enjoyed the season and my time with CJB Motorsports. We won a lot of big races. One that sticks out to me was the National Open at Williams Grove. That one will stick with me because of what it meant to Barry (Jackson) and Chad (Clemens.) I wish the team well going forward.”

Oklahoma native Shane Stewart will take over the wheel of the #5 machine beginning in 2019. Though a new driver fills the seat, the expectations will remain the same.

“We want to thank David and his family for being members of our team for the past three years,” said Chad Clemens, on behalf of the Clemens family. “We had some exciting and memorable times and those couldn’t have been made possible without the support of all of our wonderful partners. We look to 2019 to achieve even more of our goals. We also aim to continue to deliver outstanding value for our partners as they look to increase their brands’ awareness.”