Lonnie Wheatley, MESQUITE, Texas (October 21, 2023) – It was the most unlikely of scenarios. But, then again, nothing less could be expected as the final checkered flag flew upon the fabled Devil’s Bowl Speedway on Saturday night in front of a standing room-only crowd.
In an otherwise tumultuous 30-lap World of Outlaws Sprint Car feature event, David Gravel snuck around race-long leader James McFadden in the final few feet to capture the $23,023 winner’s share in a thrilling finish to the “Finale Stampede” atop the ½-mile clay oval that hosted its final race.
After outgunning Gravel from the pole at the outset, it was clearly McFadden in control throughout aboard the Roth Enterprises No. 83 after surviving a pair of red flag fuel in the opening eight circuits as the track shifted predominately to the low side with the extended delays.
But Gravel had other ideas aboard the Big Game Motorsports / Huset’s Speedway No. 2 machine.
Gravel kept the Aussie in sight throughout and moved in to pounce over the final pair of circuits. And when traffic played directly into his hands on the final circuit, the Watertown, CT, took full advantage to slip by on the high side exiting the final corner to snare his first Devil’s Bowl Speedway win by just 0.015-seconds.
“We just wanted that long green flag run, what a way to send off Devil’s Bowl,” Gravel said in victory lane. “I was tired of finishing second, to get a win here is amazing.”
After letting a win slip away, McFadden commented, “It sucks to lose it by a nose. I thought I did the right thing, I thought I had boxed him in and then I heard an engine revving a lot harder than everyone else and thought that wasn’t the right decision.”
After starting ninth, Donny Schatz made early inroads towards the front and challenged Gravel for second along the way before settling for third.
“We had a pretty solid night to start ninth and get through there,” Schatz summed up.
Giovanni Scelzi dodged early melees to climb from 15th to fourth with Cory Eliason advancing from 14th to round out the top five. While Spencer Bayston crossed the stripe in sixth, current series points leader Brad Sweet rebounded from an early incident that sent him to the work area on a pair of occasions to claim seventh with Logan Schuchart, Robbie Price and Brenham Crouch completing the top ten.
Sweet established the night’s fastest lap of 14.266 seconds in qualifying with Kasey Kahne, Sheldon Haudenschild and Bayston winning heat races before Schuchart topped the “B” Main.
World of Outlaws Sprint Cars
Devil’s Bowl Speedway (Mesquite, Texas)
October 21, 2023, Results:
NOS Energy Drink Feature (30 Laps): 1. 2-David Gravel[2]; 2. 83-James McFadden[1]; 3. 15-Donny Schatz[9]; 4. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[15]; 5. 11-Cory Eliason[14]; 6. 5-Spencer Bayston[4]; 7. 49-Brad Sweet[3]; 8. 1S-Logan Schuchart[19]; 9. 7S-Robbie Price[20]; 10. 1-Brenham Crouch[16]; 11. 20G-Noah Gass[10]; 12. 4-Austin Mundie[22]; 13. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[11]; 14. 41-Carson Macedo[13]; 15. 1J-Danny Jennings[18]; 16. J2-John Carney II[8]; 17. 21W-Riley Goodno[21]; 18. (DNF) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[17]; 19. (DNF) 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[5]; 20. (DNF) 95-Matt Covington[24]; 21. (DNF) 9-Kasey Kahne[6]; 22. (DNF) 84-Scott Bogucki[7]; 23. (DNF) 52-Blake Hahn[12]; 24. (DNF) 19-Ayrton Gennetten[23]
MicroLite Last Chance Showdown (12 Laps): 1. 1S-Logan Schuchart[2]; 2. 7S-Robbie Price[1]; 3. 21W-Riley Goodno[4]; 4. 4-Austin Mundie[3]; 5. 19-Ayrton Gennetten[6]; 6. 95-Matt Covington[12]; 7. 87J-Jace Park[5]; 8. 72-Harli White[10]; 9. 99X-Dalton Stevens[7]; 10. 17X-Wout Hoffmans[8]; 11. (DNF) 2B-Brett Becker[9]; 12. (DNS) 1T-Tanner Holmes
Toyota Dash (6 Laps): 1. 83-James McFadden[1]; 2. 2-David Gravel[2]; 3. 49-Brad Sweet[4]; 4. 5-Spencer Bayston[3]; 5. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[5]; 6. 9-Kasey Kahne[6]
Case No1 Engine Oil Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 9-Kasey Kahne[2]; 2. 49-Brad Sweet[1]; 3. 84-Scott Bogucki[3]; 4. 20G-Noah Gass[4]; 5. 41-Carson Macedo[8]; 6. 1-Brenham Crouch[6]; 7. 7S-Robbie Price[5]; 8. 21W-Riley Goodno[7]; 9. 99X-Dalton Stevens[9]; 10. 72-Harli White[10]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[2]; 2. 2-David Gravel[1]; 3. J2-John Carney II[3]; 4. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[4]; 5. 11-Cory Eliason[6]; 6. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[5]; 7. 4-Austin Mundie[9]; 8. 87J-Jace Park[7]; 9. 17X-Wout Hoffmans[10]; 10. 1T-Tanner Holmes[8]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 5-Spencer Bayston[1]; 2. 83-James McFadden[2]; 3. 15-Donny Schatz[3]; 4. 52-Blake Hahn[4]; 5. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[6]; 6. 1J-Danny Jennings[10]; 7. 1S-Logan Schuchart[5]; 8. 19-Ayrton Gennetten[7]; 9. 2B-Brett Becker[9]; 10. 95-Matt Covington[8]
Qualifying: 1. 49-Brad Sweet, 00:14.266[28]; 2. 2-David Gravel, 00:14.363[19]; 3. 5-Spencer Bayston, 00:14.439[13]; 4. 9-Kasey Kahne, 00:14.447[22]; 5. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 00:14.513[2]; 6. 83-James McFadden, 00:14.559[8]; 7. 84-Scott Bogucki, 00:14.675[27]; 8. J2-John Carney II, 00:14.676[6]; 9. 15-Donny Schatz, 00:14.678[14]; 10. 20G-Noah Gass, 00:14.722[15]; 11. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss, 00:14.740[7]; 12. 52-Blake Hahn, 00:14.772[17]; 13. 7S-Robbie Price, 00:14.792[4]; 14. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr, 00:14.808[20]; 15. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 00:14.812[11]; 16. 1-Brenham Crouch, 00:14.818[10]; 17. 11-Cory Eliason, 00:14.819[5]; 18. 18-Giovanni Scelzi, 00:14.842[29]; 19. 21W-Riley Goodno, 00:14.855[3]; 20. 87J-Jace Park, 00:14.921[9]; 21. 19-Ayrton Gennetten, 00:14.959[16]; 22. 41-Carson Macedo, 00:15.017[25]; 23. 1T-Tanner Holmes, 00:15.052[24]; 24. 95-Matt Covington, 00:15.080[26]; 25. 99X-Dalton Stevens, 00:15.117[1]; 26. 4-Austin Mundie, 00:15.161[12]; 27. 2B-Brett Becker, 00:15.209[30]; 28. 72-Harli White, 00:15.266[18]; 29. 17X-Wout Hoffmans, 00:15.324[23]; 30. 1J-Danny Jennings, 00:15.407[21]