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A Night To Remember – David Gravel - August 2013 Knoxville Nationals Preliminary Night

By: Joe Burrage

 The Knoxville Nationals is the race all sprint car drivers and teams dream about winning but in order to have a chance at starting in the Saturday Night Knoxville Nationals A-Main all drivers have to qualify and all drivers have to run their preliminary night and it can make or break your Knoxville Nationals and back in 2013 David Gravel had a night to remember with an unbelievable result.

 

Wednesday the opening night of the 2013 Knoxville Nationals, David Gravel was helping the team unload in the hot and humid pit area and all he could think about was the upcoming race in the Bill Rose No.6 sprinter.  The team was down to their last three engines and the one in the car was there best big track motor they had and the spare motor was down on horsepower in case anything happened. 

 

Gravel pushed off for his qualifying lap and he timed in 11^th quick overall after everything was all said and done.

 

“Getting a good qualifying lap at the Knoxville Nationals is very important, it can make or break or break your week,” said Gravel.  “Timing in 11^th quick overall is not to bad and my Crew Chief at the time Tyler Swank and my car chief was Leonard Lee and they both told me it’s done lets focus on the Heat Race and move on, but they said it with a confidence tone that they both knew were in good shape so I just stayed focused and kept an eye on the track until it was time for our upcoming Heat Race.”

 

Next was the Heat Race and more points were on the line and Gravel was fast from the start.  Gravel got the start he was looking for and was able to capitalize on all of his passes and that allowed him to move into second place in the first couple of laps.  From there he set his sights on the leader who was in catchable distance.  Gravel continued to push his black No.6 car as the race continued the car started to slow down and by the end of the race Gravel was credited with a third place finish and a transfer to the A-Main.

 

“Early in the race we were really good and once I got to second place I tried to run down the leader,” said Gravel.  “I was running around the cushion and kept pushing the car and then I heard something strange with the motor and I started to lose power, and you never want to lose power at Knoxville because it’s a motor and power track.  When we hurt the motor on the back stretch I was just hoping to get the car home in a transfer spot and we finished in third place.”

 

After the Heat Race was completed Gravel returned to his pit where Tyler Swank and the rest of the crew were waiting for him.  The crew had to change engines but the motor they wanted to use had a different motor plate and it wouldn’t fit in the car so the crew had to push the car to the trailer that was parked outside the track.  The only motor they had left was their short track motor that was not supposed to be used on big half mile tracks like Knoxville Raceway.

 

“When we hurt that motor and had to go back to our trailer outside the track I knew we were going to be pushing it for time,” said Gravel.  “We were one of the only teams at the time running Kistler Mopar Motors Engines because that’s all we could afford at the time and when we had to put our short track motor in and that power plant was down nearly 60 Horsepower and it had no business being out there but that was all we had so we had to run it or our Knoxville Nationals was over.  We were able to get the motor replaced in time and luckily we made the A-Main because we returned to the track just in time.  Looking back at it I was 21 years old and I was so nervous because we were starting on the outside of the second row and I didn’t want to miss this opportunity to try win a race at the Knoxville Raceway during the Nationals but Leonard Lee did one hell of a job in  keeping me calm and focused.”

 

Gravel pushed off for the Wednesday Night Knoxville Nationals Preliminary feature and when green lights turned on the black No.6 was on the move using the bottom of the racing surface.  Gravel quickly moved into second place right behind the race leader Greg Hodnett.  Gravel continued to run the bottom and Hodnett moved down to the bottom to protect but Gravel powered around him and immediately started to pull away from everyone.

 

“I remember getting a great start and the car really took off on the start and I stayed on the bottom going into turns one and two and that allowed me to move into second place,” said Gravel.  “I saw Hodnett running the cushion and I showed him my nose and once he saw me he instantly changed his line.  There was an early yellow flag and two laps later we powered right around him to take the lead and that told me we had a good car, and after that I just continued to run my race and stay clear of the lapped cars and I just kept ripping the top of the track.”

 

As the race continued Gravel kept a torrid pace as he was passing lapped cars and hitting his marks lap after lap.  Meanwhile Brad Sweet had taken over second place and was slowly catching up to Gravel during the last five laps of the feature.  Gravel had built up a sizeable lead but traffic was starting to slow him down and Sweet clearly was starting to catch him.

 

“We were leading and things were looking good and all of the sudden I could hear our motor start to sputter and I was like oh shit were starting to run out of fuel and a yellow flag could end this for us,” said Gravel.  “I knew we had built up a lead but I never saw Brad (Sweet) but I knew he had to be near us once our motor started run low of fuel.  I did everything I could to hold on and the motor actually shut off and came back on coming off of turn four and we limped to finish line.  I was so excited but I also was nervous about making weight because we literally had no fuel left in the car when we weighed in, but we made weight and it felt so good to win during the Nationals and I believe it was my first Knoxville Nationals A-Main that I was locked into and it was a roller coaster ride that night to go from the highest of highs to lowest of the lows and things happen so fast in this sport that you have to be ready for anything.”

 

The work was not done for David Gravel and the team they prepared the car the next couple of days for the biggest sprint car race in the world they were starting in the seventh position.  Gravel moved up to the sixth position before he pulled in due to motor problems.

 

“We had a solid starting position and when we started racing we were very competitive and were mixing it up for the top five and then we blew another motor,” said Gravel.  “I felt bad because we all worked so hard to get where we were and now it’s over, and it only got worse from there I found out I was diagnosed with Mono and I missed five weeks racing because I was so sick. I missed the entire West Coast Swing with the World of Outlaws and I was awarded show up points but it was the final year of our DDR Motorsports Team and once I was healthy enough to race it was very important to me to put up good results to show that I can run out here with the best of the best and I knew we were capable of winning races, and I did land a ride and I am very grateful for all the opportunities that have happened so far in my career.  A lot of great people have helped me and given me a chance to race at the highest level in sprint car racing.”

 

David Gravel is currently racing for Jason Johnson Racing on the World of Outlaws Tour.  Gravel and the JJR No.41 Team picked up their fourth World of Outlaws win at the Harford Speedway located in Hartford, Michigan and are currently sitting in the third place in the World of Outlaws Point Standings.

 

This interview happened before the Knoxville Nationals and hopefully I can sit down with David again and talk about his exciting win at the 59^th Annual Knoxville Nationals in more detail.  Congratulations to David Gravel, Jason Johnson Racing, all of the sponsors including Axalta for coming on board for the Knoxville Nationals.

 

David Gravel would like to thank all his fans and supporters Jason Johnson Racing, Weikert’s Livestock, Jonestown KOA, Dissolvalloy Downhole Revolution, Mesilla Valley Transportation, Saich Family, High Performance Lubricants, The Boyd Family, J.R.C. Transportation Inc., MSD, Edelbrock, JE Pistons, VP Racing, Kistler Racing Engines, Super Flow, Comp Cams, Hoosier, Jansen Transportation, Cody Monaco Racing, T-Fab Custom Metal, Mark Burch Motorsports, Pro Powder Coating, Waco Metal, Durst, Team Jack Foundation, Tiger Towing, Maxim Racing Chassis, All Pro Cylinder Heads, All-Pro Auto Reconditioning, Auto Meter, Bell Helmets, BMRS, BuckwalterTrucking LLC., C & R Racing, Chalk Stix Torsion Bars, Crow Enterprizes, Engler Machine and Tool, Factory Kahne Shocks, KaidenKares, Weld Racing, KSE, FK Rod Ends, Willwood, Greber Racing Component’s, Schoenfeld Racing, Indy Performance Component’s, MPI, Winters Rear Ends, www.racediecast.com,

 

 

 

 

 

A Night To Remember – Chad Kemenah World of Outlaws Win At Fremont Speedway 2016
 

By: Joe Burrage

The World of Outlaws were at Fremont Speedway on June 3rd, 2016 to Chad Kemenah it was another chance to try and beat the World of Outlaws at a track he learned to race at when he first started racing.

“When I first started racing sprint cars I wanted to beat the World of Outlaws because they were the best and if you could beat Steve Kinser, Sammy Swindell, Dave Blaney and Mark Kinser you were doing something right,” said Kemenah. “To win a World of Outlaws race in Ohio in front of family and friends that helped jump start my career in racing is truly special and this night at Fremont Raceway was a great night that not only for our Team but for our family as well.”

Chad Kemenah and David Gravel set the tone for the feature event in Dash where they engaged in a fierce battle for the pole and a front row starting position in the A-Main. Gravel would get the advantage and take the lead away from Kemenah on the second lap running the bottom of the track, and Kemenah was running the cushion that was nearly gone but he did learn something in that Dash that helped him for the feature.

“When we pushed off for the Dash I was thinking the top of the racing surface was faster than the bottom at that point of the night,” said Kemenah. “I got a great start to get ahead of Joey Saldana and I immediately went to the cushion, then all of the sudden I see David Gravel running the low line and pulling away from me. I continued to run the cushion as we started to gain on Gravel towards the end of the Dash and the car hooked up really good so I knew if we could run consistent laps in the feature we would be great shape for the feature.”

“We lined up on the outside of the front row and when we went green I stayed in the middle of the track because there was some pretty good grip there and no one else was running there, until I saw Donny Schatz nearly pass me after an early restart.”

“Donny Schatz is one of the smartest sprint car drivers out there and when he nearly passed me going through the middle of turns three and four I knew I was going to have my hands full for the rest of the race so I kept telling myself to stay calm hit your marks, hit your marks and stay patient. After that restart Gravel went to the bottom in turns one and two and the top in three and four and I followed him for a few laps until another caution flag would come out and then I decided to try something on the restart.”

“I knew Gravel would not be leaving the bottom of the track so if I could keep my momentum going and keep pace with him I knew exactly how to get around him when or if the opportunity presented itself. I remember thinking and saying Gravel is staying put on the bottom and all of the sudden he jumped to the cushion in three and four and I was not close enough to try and make a move but if he continued to run up there I could try to make a move later if we were close enough. We continued to race and we were gaining on Gravel and another yellow flag would come out and I did not want that to happen because the car was feeling great and I was in a perfect rhythm.”

“During the caution flag I knew Schatz was going to be around and then I saw Greg Wilson had made his way forward and I have raced with Wilson enough to know if he was moving forward he had the bottom of the track wired so I could not make a mistake in the middle or the cushion or I would go from second to third in a blink of an eye.”

“I remember we had a restart and Schatz got a great run on us on the outside and actually passed me going into turns three and four and that really surprised me but luckily the yellow came out and that was a quick reminder I can’t miss my marks. The next restart I was able to keep our momentum up and stay close to Gravel and he went back to the top in three and four like he did earlier and this time I was right there. I continued to stay close to Gravel and was able to pass him a few laps later using the middle line.”

“Once I got by Gravel and was in the lead I knew the track was going to slick off and if I could run a mistake free race and make the right moves in traffic I had a chance to win this race. After getting the lead I was in clean air for what seemed like forever then traffic was just ahead. I was able to negotiate traffic with no problems and when I saw the white flag I talked myself through the final lap telling myself don’t screw up Chad don’t screw up, and it was a great feeling to take the checkered flag and get the win.”

“Winning that World of Outlaws race at Fremont Speedway was a great feeling, my brother Brian (Kemenah) gave me a great car that worked anywhere on the track and when Fremont Speedway gets slick it’s one of the most technical tracks in Ohio and if your car is dialed in and you can be patient anything can happen. Getting that win in front of our friends and family was special and I wish Rob Hunter was there with us because he has never seen his car win a World of Outlaws race. It takes a lot of good people to run a top caliber sprint car team and the Hunter Racing Team was an excellent team with great partners and I can’t thank them enough.”

   Contact Joe Burrage djburrage63@gmail.com