Gravel Earns Pole For Saturday’s Knoxville Nationals With ‘Perfect’ Prelim Night

Story By: ANTHONY CORINI / WORLD OF OUTLAWS – KNOXVILLE, IA – David Gravel became the seventh different driver, and first in 25 years, in the 57-year history of the 5-Hour ENERGY Knoxville Nationals, to complete a perfect score by setting quick time, winning his heat race and winning the feature.

Gravel’s perfect night will earn him the pole of Saturday’s $150,000 to-win Feature alongside nine-time Knoxville Nationals Champion, Donny Schatz.

A first lap incident saw Dominic Scelzi and defending 5-Hour ENERGY Nationals Winner Jason Johnson get together, ultimately ending the latter’s evening.

“I don’t know exactly what happened, I stepped on the throttle and the car got way loose on me,” Johnson said following the evening. “We’re going to have to go to work tomorrow. It’s obviously not the position we want to be in, but we’re thankful for the way format is now to get to run tomorrow.”

The melee moved Gravel from his original eighth starting position up a row to sixth. Gravel rocketed off the top of turn two and was third by the completion of the opening circuit. Gravel worked his way to second before a caution for then third place running Brooke Tatnell on lap 10 bunched the field together.

Brian Brown, who fell as far back as seventh, restarted third and passed Gravel for the runner-up position, allowing race-long leader Mark Dobmeier to extend his lead. Gravel found moisture on the bottom of the speedway, passed Brown back and set his sights on the leader. Dobmeier stumbled a bit in lapped traffic and Gravel pounced and took the lead on lap 18 and never looked back. “Clean air is so important these days. It’s better to be running second in lapped traffic,” Gravel said about his pass for the race lead.

Gravel drove away and completed the perfect night by winning by 3.413 seconds. The perfect score for David Gravel was the first recorded since Steve Kinser did so in 1992, coincidentally the same year Gravel was born. “It’s surreal. We’re going to enjoy try and enjoy this tonight and end up with a solid finish Saturday,” a modest Gravel said in regard to his perfect evening.

Brown settled for second after an adventurous evening that saw him get crossed up on a couple of starts. “After being in the C-main here last year, I had some newfound respect for this place. I am thrilled to start fifth in the feature this year,” Brown said following his evening.

Following the qualifying nights, World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series drivers own the top three in points with Gravel, Donny Schatz and Brad Sweet. Daryn Pittman (7th), Shane Stewart (10th) and Paul McMahan (12th) are also locked into Saturday’s 50-lap finale.

Jason Sides will start third in the Last Chance Showdown on Saturday, while the rest of the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series drivers will re-qualify on Friday night to determine their fate for Saturday’s program.

RACE RESULTS FROM: Toyota Qualifying Night #2 5-Hour ENERGY Knoxville Nationals

FEATURE (25 Laps): 1. 5 – David Gravel, 2. 21 – Brian Brown, 3. 13JT – Mark Dobmeier, 4. 18 – Ian Madsen, 5. 9 – Daryn Pittman, 6. 24. 41 – Jason Johnson, 7. 24 – Terry McCarl, 8. 29 – Danny Dietrich, 9. 39 – Spencer Bayston, 10. 24T – Rico Abreu, 11. 3K – Tim Kaeding, 12. 17X – Josh Baughman, 13. 44S – Dominic Scelzi, 15. 7S – Jason Sides, 16. 83 – Justin Henderson, 17. 54 – Jack Dover, 18. 10V – Kyle Reinhardt, 19. 1 – Thomas Kennedy, 20. 11K – Kraig Kinser, 21. 44 – Chris Martin, 22. 1Z – Dale Blaney, 23. 55 – Brooke Tatnell, 24. 41 – Jason Johnson.

Qualifying: 1. 5 – David Gravel, 15.072; 2. 83 – Justin Henderson, 15.185; 3. 24 – Terry McCarl, 15.291; 4. 21 – Brian Brown, 15.377; 5. 24R – Rico Abreu, 15.493; 6. 44S – Trey Starks, 15.500; 7. 9 – Daryn Pittman, 15.520; 8. 7S – Jason Sides, 15.543; 9. 41 – Jason Johnson, 15.566; 10. 55 – Brooke Tatnell, 15.575; 11. 81 – Lee Jacobs, 15.589; 12. 7W – Tasker Phillips, 15.606; 13. 2C – Wayne Johnson, 15.626; 14. 19P – Paige Polyak, 15.638; 15. 13JT – Mark Dobmeier, 15.640; 16. 18 – Ian Madsen, 15.649; 17. 3S – Sammy Swindell, 15.667; 18. 10H – Chad Kemenah, 15.721; 19. 71A – R.J. Johnson, 15.722; 20. 3 – James McFaden, 15.759; 21. 1A – Jacob Allen, 15.781; 22. 41S – Dominic Scelzi, 15.785; 23. 15H – Sam Hafertepe Jr. , 15.790; 24. 1X – Don Droud Jr. , 15.791; 25. 29 – Danny Dietrich, 15.795; 26. 39 – Spencer Bayston, 15.808; 27. 10V – Kyle Reinhardt, 15.811; 28. 49J – Josh Schneiderman, 15.832; 29. 12N – Cole Duncan, 15.850; 30. 9Z – Jared Goerges, 15.894; 31. 53 – Jack Dover, 15.906; 32. 17M – Max McGhee, 15.947; 33. 1 – Thomas Kennedy, 16.019; 34. 1Z – Dale Blaney, 16.022; 35. X1 – Mason Moore, 16.047; 36. 00 – Dane Lorenc, 16.057; 37. 44 – Chris Martin, 16.067; 38. 3K – Tim Kaeding, 16.112; 39. 11K – Kraig Kinser, 16.117; 40. 17X – Josh Baughman, 16.133; 41. 99G – Skylar Gee, 16.215; 42. 13V – Seth Brahmer, 16.280; 43. 9N – Wade Nygaard, 16.284; 44. 15M – Bobby Mincer, 16.288; 45. 5J – Jeremy Schultz, 16.325; 46. 23W – Scott Winters, 16.424; 47. 13 – Clyde Knipp, 16.470; 48. W20 – Greg Wilson, 16.496; 49. 19L – Todd King, 16.709; 50. 94 – Jeff Swindell, 17.190; 51. 9C – Roger Campbell, 17.346; 52. 19 – Brent Marks, DQ; 53. 71CC – Robert Bell, NT; 54. 35V – Jamie Veal, NT;

Heat #1 (10 Laps): 1. 5 – David Gravel, 2. 18 – Ian Madsen, 3. 53 – Jack Dover, 4. 1A – Jacob Allen, 5. 39 – Spencer Bayston, 6. 44S – Trey Starks, 7. 99G – Skylar Gee, 8. 00 – Dane Lorenc, 9. 81 – Lee Jacobs, 10. 23W – Scott Winters. (First four finishers transferred to the A-Main)

Heat #2 (10 Laps): 1. 44 – Chris Martin, 2. 41S – Dominic Scelzi, 3. 9 – Daryn Pittman, 4. 10V – Kyle Reinhardt, 5. 3S – Sammy Swindell, 6. 83 – Justin Henderson, 7. 7W – Tasker Phillips, 8. 13V – Seth Brahmer, 9. 17M – Max McGhee, 10. 13 – Cylde Knipp. (First four finishers transferred to the A-Main)

Heat #3 (10 Laps): 1. 1 – Thomas Kennedy, 2. 3K – Tim Kaeding, 3. 24 – Terry McCarl, 4. 2C- Wayne Nygaard, 5. 15H – Sam Hafertepe, 6. 7S – Jason Sides, 7. 10H – Chad Kemenah, 8. 49 – Josh Schneiderman, 9. W20 – Greg Wilson, 10. 9N – Wade Nygaard. (First four finishers transferred to the A-Main)

Heat #4 (10 Laps): 1. 1Z – Dale Blaney, 2. 11K – Kraig Kinser, 3. 21 – Brian Brown, 4. 71A – R.J. Johnson, 5. 1X – Don Droud Jr, 6. 12N – Cole Duncan, 7. 15 – Bobby Mincer, 8. 71A – R.J. Johnson, 9. 19P – Paige Polyak, 10. 19L – Todd King. (First four finishers transferred to the A-Main)

Heat #5 (10 Laps): 1. 17 – Josh Baughman, 2. 29 – Danny Dietrich, 3. 13JT – Mark Dobmeier, 4. 55 – Brooke Tatnell, 5. 24 – Rico Abreu, 6. 3 – James McFadden, 7. 1X – Mason Moore, 8. 5J – Jeremy Schultz, 9. 9Z – Jared Goerges. DNS: 94 – Jeff Swindell. (First four finishers transferred to the A-Main)

Last Chance Showdown (12 Laps): 1. 24R – Rico Abreu, 2. 83 – Justin Henderson, 3. 44S – Trey Starks, 4. 7S – Jason Sides, 5. 3 – James McFadden, 6. 10H – Chad Kemenah, 7. 15H – Sam Hafertepe Jr, 8. 7W – Tasker Phillips, 9. 1X – Don Droud Jr, 10. 49J – Josh Schneiderman, 11. 12N – Cole Duncan, 12. 99G – Skylar Gee, 13. 19P – Paige Polyak, 14. 71A – R.J. Johnson, 15. 5J – Jeremy Schultz, 16. 81 – Lee Jacobs, 17. X1 – Mason Moore, 18. W20 – Greg Wilson, 19. 15M – Bobby Mincer, 20. 9N – Wade Nygaard, 21. 1A – Jacob Allen, 22. 13V – Seth Brahmer, 23. 00 – Dane Lorenc, 24. 3S – Sammy Swindell. (First four finishers transferred to the A-Main)

C-Main (10 Laps): 1. 81 – Lee Jacobs, 2. 19P – Paige Polyak, 3. W20 – Greg Wilson, 4. 9N – Wade Nygaard, 5. 19L – Todd King, 6. 13 – Clyde Knipp, 7. 9Z – Jared Goerges, 8. 9C – Roger Campbell, 9. 17M – Max McGhee. DNS: 23W – Scott Winters, 94 – Jeff Swindell, 19 – Brent Marks, 35V – Jamie Veal. (First four finishers transferred to the A-Main

CONTINGENCY WINNERS: MSD Ignitions ($25 cash): Jason Johnson; MSD Ignitions ($50 cash): David Gravel; JE Pistons ($50 cash): Daryn Pittman; VP Racing Fuels ($50 cash): Jason Sides; Edelbrock ($50 cash): Jason Sides; Comp Cams ($50 cash): Jason Sides; Extended Stay America ($50 cash): Jason Sides; Cometic Gasket ($50 cash): Jason Sides; Super Flow ($50 cash): Jason Sides; Craftsman/Sears: N/A; KSE Hard Charger: Brandon Hanks; Comp Cams ($50 product certificate): Daryn Pittman; JE Pistons (Set of Rings): Brandon Hanks; JE Pistons (Set of Rings): Shane Stewart.

5-Hour ENERGY Knoxville Nationals Points Standings (As of 8/10):