Governors Reign

Race Story

GRAVEL HOLDS OFF LARSON IN IN THRILLING GOVERNORS REIGN FINISH

ROSSBURG, Ohio (September 23, 2020) – Watertown, Connecticut’s David Gravel etched his name in the Eldora Speedway history books twice in the last two days, first setting a new Eldora Speedway track record of 12.599 during the Governors Reign opener on Tuesday, September 22, then trumping that statistic with a victory in the Governors Reign finale the following evening, scoring a $52,000 top prize in the process while also earning a fourth-career Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 victory.

The pilot of the Jason Johnson Racing/Weikert’s Livestock/Durst/JRC Transportation/High Performance Lubricants/The Boyd Family/Mesilla Valley Transportation/Saich Family/No. 41 sprint car led all 35 circuits of the Governors Reign finale, but certainly not without a challenge, forced to navigate through doses of heavy traffic, all while trying to fend off a late surge by Elk Grove, California’s Kyle Larson.

“I just gotta thank this entire team. I am confident we had one of the best cars all week,” David Gravel said in Eldora Speedway victory lane. “To come out here and set two quick times, one a track record, and get a win says a lot about this team. I’m happy to win tonight rather than last night because tonight pays way more. This field was just as stout as any field we’ve seen all season. All of the best are here. It feels really good to beat the best. Anything that pays over 50 grand is a crown jewel to me.”

Larson, who started tenth on the grid, powered his way into the top-five just before the halfway point, eventually snagging fourth from Sheldon Haudenschild on lap 18, then gaining another position over his hired gun, Carson Macedo, the following circuit. A caution on lap 20, the main event’s first and only besides a hiccup on the initial start involving Jacob Allen and James McFadden, allowed Larson to advance again, this time getting by Tuesday night winner, Brent Marks, on the bottom of turns one and two.

Meanwhile, Gravel continued to set a torrid pace, quickly escaping to a healthy advantage after the lap 20 restart. Although traffic eventually re-entered the picture, Gravel was able to maintain his momentum, using both grooves of the speedway to drive under or around bundles of slower cars.

By lap 33, Gravel’s advantage had all but depleted, now feeling some pressure by the season-leading All Star winner, Kyle Larson. In a last-ditch effort on the final lap, Larson dove to the bottom of turn three and attempted to slide the familiar No. 41, only to lose in a drag race to the finish. Sheldon Haudenschild would cross under the final checkers behind Gravel and Larson, followed by Brent Marks and Carson Macedo.

“When you get into lapped traffic, it gets tough to see the cushion. It’s all you can do to not slide the tires,” David Gravel continued. “When I saw the top open up in three on the last lap, I figured I gotta take it. Even if (Kyle Larson) would have slid me, I figured I could turn back underneath him. I saw someone poke their nose before that and I figured it was him. I was just worried about making a couple good laps. I knew he was closing. Sometimes you’re better off being in second in traffic.”

Race Results

Event Box Score

Lincoln Electirc Qualifying: 1. 41-David Gravel, 00:12.816[14]; 2. 14P-Parker Price Miller, 00:12.916[11]; 3. 21-Brian Brown, 00:12.946[10]; 4. 15-Donny Schatz, 00:12.959[6]; 5. 57-Kyle Larson, 00:12.967[4]; 6. 14-Tim Kaeding, 00:12.970[9]; 7. 17S-Sheldon Haudenschild, 00:12.996[35]; 8. 1A-Jacob Allen, 00:13.001[41]; 9. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 00:13.020[23]; 10. 49-Brad Sweet, 00:13.030[20]; 11. 2-Carson Macedo, 00:13.036[42]; 12. 18-Giovanni Scelzi, 00:13.042[34]; 13. 71-Shane Stewart, 00:13.043[25]; 14. 28-Tim Shaffer, 00:13.076[8]; 15. 39M-Anthony Macri, 00:13.081[37]; 16. 72-Daryn Pittman, 00:13.089[16]; 17. 12N-Joey Saldana, 00:13.100[40]; 18. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss, 00:13.102[31]; 19. 5-Brent Marks, 00:13.103[21]; 20. 2M-Kerry Madsen, 00:13.107[45]; 21. 26-Cory Eliason, 00:13.143[36]; 22. 7BC-Tyler Courtney, 00:13.161[24]; 23. 17B-Bill Balog, 00:13.164[26]; 24. 9-James McFadden, 00:13.166[29]; 25. 3-Jac Haudenschild, 00:13.166[13]; 26. 17A-Austin McCarl, 00:13.171[22]; 27. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg, 00:13.173[1]; 28. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 00:13.176[46]; 29. 11-Zeb Wise, 00:13.181[17]; 30. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 00:13.187[15]; 31. 67-Buddy Kofoid, 00:13.216[5]; 32. 13-Paul McMahan, 00:13.217[2]; 33. 69-Brady Bacon, 00:13.220[3]; 34. W20-Greg Wilson, 00:13.222[28]; 35. 70-Cale Thomas, 00:13.223[12]; 36. 41S-Dominic Scelzi, 00:13.228[30]; 37. 17-Ian Madsen, 00:13.241[7]; 38. 3C-Cale Conley, 00:13.283[43]; 39. 5T-Travis Philo, 00:13.286[33]; 40. 21B-Christopher Bell, 00:13.291[39]; 41. 83-Spencer Bayston, 00:13.314[19]; 42. 4-Cap Henry, 00:13.402[27]; 43. 99-Skylar Gee, 00:13.409[32]; 44. 15K-Chad Kemenah, 00:13.412[38]; 45. 39-Sammy Swindell, 00:13.535[44]; 46. 24-Rico Abreu, 00:26.126[18]

Ford Performance Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 57-Kyle Larson[2]; 2. 21-Brian Brown[4]; 3. 14-Tim Kaeding[1]; 4. 15-Donny Schatz[3]; 5. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[6]; 6. 28-Tim Shaffer[5]; 7. 13-Paul McMahan[8]; 8. 67-Buddy Kofoid[7]; 9. 17-Ian Madsen[10]; 10. 69-Brady Bacon[9]

All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 72-Daryn Pittman[2]; 2. 41-David Gravel[4]; 3. 3-Jac Haudenschild[1]; 4. 14P-Parker Price Miller[3]; 5. 11K-Kraig Kinser[6]; 6. 83-Spencer Bayston[8]; 7. 24-Rico Abreu[9]; 8. 70-Cale Thomas[7]; 9. 11-Zeb Wise[5]

Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 5-Brent Marks[1]; 2. 49-Brad Sweet[3]; 3. 71-Shane Stewart[2]; 4. 87-Aaron Reutzel[4]; 5. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[5]; 6. 17A-Austin McCarl[7]; 7. 17B-Bill Balog[6]; 8. 4-Cap Henry[9]; 9. W20-Greg Wilson[8]

Mobil 1 Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 17S-Sheldon Haudenschild[4]; 2. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[1]; 3. 39M-Anthony Macri[2]; 4. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[3]; 5. 9-James McFadden[6]; 6. 26-Cory Eliason[5]; 7. 41S-Dominic Scelzi[7]; 8. 5T-Travis Philo[8]; 9. 99-Skylar Gee[9]

Kistler Racing Products Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 2M-Kerry Madsen[1]; 2. 12N-Joey Saldana[2]; 3. 1S-Logan Schuchart[5]; 4. 2-Carson Macedo[3]; 5. 21B-Christopher Bell[7]; 6. 1A-Jacob Allen[4]; 7. 3C-Cale Conley[6]; 8. 15K-Chad Kemenah[8]; 9. (DNS) 39-Sammy Swindell

Kears Speed Shop Dash 1 (4 Laps): 1. 41-David Gravel[1]; 2. 21-Brian Brown[2]; 3. 15-Donny Schatz[3]; 4. 17S-Sheldon Haudenschild[4]; 5. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[5]; 6. 87-Aaron Reutzel[6]

Elliotts Custom Trailers and Carts Dash 2 (4 Laps): 1. 5-Brent Marks[1]; 2. 2-Carson Macedo[2]; 3. 72-Daryn Pittman[3]; 4. 14P-Parker Price Miller[4]; 5. 57-Kyle Larson[6]; 6. 2M-Kerry Madsen[5]

Computer Man Inc C Feature (10 Laps): 1. 67-Buddy Kofoid[1]; 2. 70-Cale Thomas[2]; 3. 4-Cap Henry[3]; 4. 11-Zeb Wise[5]; 5. 5T-Travis Philo; 6. 15K-Chad Kemenah[4]; 7. 99-Skylar Gee[7]; 8. W20-Greg Wilson; 9. (DNF) 17-Ian Madsen[6]; 10. (DNS) 69-Brady Bacon; 11. (DNS) 39-Sammy Swindell

Classic Ink USA B Feature (12 Laps): 1. 1A-Jacob Allen[1]; 2. 28-Tim Shaffer[2]; 3. 9-James McFadden[4]; 4. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[3]; 5. 11K-Kraig Kinser[6]; 6. 26-Cory Eliason[8]; 7. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[5]; 8. 83-Spencer Bayston[10]; 9. 21B-Christopher Bell[7]; 10. 17B-Bill Balog[11]; 11. 41S-Dominic Scelzi[13]; 12. 24-Rico Abreu[15]; 13. 13-Paul McMahan[12]; 14. 17A-Austin McCarl[9]; 15. 70-Cale Thomas[17]; 16. 3C-Cale Conley[14]; 17. 67-Buddy Kofoid[16]

Ollies Bargain Outlet A Feature (35 Laps): 1. 41-David Gravel[1]; 2. 57-Kyle Larson[10]; 3. 17S-Sheldon Haudenschild[7]; 4. 5-Brent Marks[2]; 5. 2-Carson Macedo[4]; 6. 49-Brad Sweet[13]; 7. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[9]; 8. 2M-Kerry Madsen[12]; 9. 1S-Logan Schuchart[20]; 10. 1A-Jacob Allen[21]; 11. 72-Daryn Pittman[6]; 12. 14-Tim Kaeding[16]; 13. 87-Aaron Reutzel[11]; 14. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[24]; 15. 21-Brian Brown[3]; 16. 9-James McFadden[23]; 17. 26-Cory Eliason[25]; 18. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[15]; 19. 15-Donny Schatz[5]; 20. 12N-Joey Saldana[14]; 21. 39M-Anthony Macri[18]; 22. (DNF) 14P-Parker Price Miller[8]; 23. (DNF) 13-Paul McMahan[26]; 24. (DNF) 71-Shane Stewart[17]; 25. (DNF) 3-Jac Haudenschild[19]; 26. (DNF) 28-Tim Shaffer[22]

Photos