KNOXVILLE, Iowa – After Trey Starks took down a major upset on Wednesday night at Knoxville Raceway, David Gravel made sure there would be no such occurrence on Thursday at the Marion County Fairgrounds half-mile.
With NASCAR Hall of Famers Jeff Gordon and Ray Evernham in attendance and a fresh Axalta paint scheme aboard his Jason Johnson Racing No. 41, Gravel raced to victory during Fraternal Order of Eagles Qualifying Night on Thursday for the 59th annual NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals.
Gravel started sixth, but charged to third within the first revolution and was locked in a fierce battle with polesitter Brock Zearfoss for the top spot by lap eight of the 25-lap preliminary night feature.
Though Zearfoss re-passed Gravel to take the lead back on the ninth circuit, when he slowed moments later in turn one with ignition issues and brought out the caution, Gravel was elevated back to the point for good.
From there, Gravel weathered one more restart with 11 laps complete and worked through traffic perfectly in the closing laps, beating defending Knoxville Nationals champion Brad Sweet to the twin checkers by 1.733 seconds in the end.
Thursday night’s victory was Gravel’s fifth career triumph at Knoxville Raceway. His combined point total places him on the outside of the front row, next to Aaron Reutzel, for Saturday’s $150,000-to-win finale.
“This is the same hot rod as (at the) Capitani, and it ran just as well,” noted Gravel in victory lane. “I really feel good about where we’re at, but I was nervous (after) drawing a 71 out of 75 … but we’ve been qualifying really well all year and were able to capitalize on that.
“It’s an awesome night,” Gravel added. “We’ve got all the Axalta people here – Jeff (Gordon) and everybody – so it can’t get any better than this.”
Zearfoss, the heat three winner, started from the pole after the top-eight inversion and raced away from his pursuers early as Gravel challenged Sweet for second from the outset, passing three cars in one lap.
It wasn’t until lap seven that Gravel finally moved past Sweet for second, but once he did he quickly erased Zearfoss’ lead and edged ahead the next time by the flagstand.
Undeterred, Zearfoss charged back past Gravel to retake the point on lap nine, just before a slowing Sye Lynch brought out the first of two yellows on the night, after Lynch blew a right-rear tire in turn two.
Lynch was able to return, but at the tail of the field, while Zearfoss led the field back to green over Gravel and Sweet. Moments later, however, the Pennsylvania native slowed in turn one with electrical issues – later diagnosed as an ignition box problem – that relegated him to the work area for repairs.
At that point, Zearfoss’ bid to become the second-straight upset winner in Knoxville Nationals preliminary competition was over, while Gravel assumed a lead he would never relinquish again.
Though Gravel paced the remaining distance, it wasn’t without a few nerves in the final laps, as Sweet chopped a two-second advantage down under a half second with five to go as Gravel fought through lap traffic.
“I felt like my last five laps were pretty terrible,” Gravel admitted. “I don’t know if Brad got close to me or not, but I know I’d hit some good laps before that and got past a few lap cars pretty well.
“If I could hit (turns) three and four like I wanted to, I knew I was really, really good … but we struggled there a bit at the end tonight, for sure.”
Sweet could not get close enough to pounce and had to settle for second in the Kasey Kahne Racing-owned, NAPA Auto Parts-sponsored No. 49. Carson Macedo came from 13th to complete the podium.
A pair of Californians – Cory Eliason and Rico Abreu – followed in fourth and fifth, respectively.
Thursday night’s KSE Hard Charger was Tim Shaffer, who transferred in by winning the Last Chance Showdown, started 21st and charged past 14 cars to finish seventh.
To view complete race results, advance to the next page.
