COWBOY UP: Gravel Wheels From Fourth to Front for Cotton Bowl Victory

The defending champion takes the lead from Kofoid on Lap 10 and holds off the Californian’s late charge for fourth win of 2025

Another day, another David Gravel win.

The defending World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car champion is at the top of his game. His title campaign in 2024 was plenty impressive, but he’s out for domination in 2025.

The latest testament to he and Big Game Motorsports’ excellence was an impressive drive on Friday night at Cotton Bowl Speedway. Gravel started fourth for the 30-lapper and methodically worked his way to the front by the 10th lap, but it wasn’t over yet. The Watertown, CT native had to hold off a fierce charge from Michael “Buddy” Kofoid. The Roth Motorsports driver got the top side of Turns 1 and 2 wound up and showed Gravel a nose entering Turn 3 multiple times.

But Gravel showed the poise of a champion as he sensed the need to move to the cushion in the first set of corners. That slowed Kofoid’s momentum, and that was all she wrote in the Federated Auto Parts Texas Two-Step opener. Gravel drove away through lapped traffic on the path to yet another victory with The Greatest Show on Dirt.

“I think just reacting from what he (Kofoid) was doing,” Gravel said on what led him to victory. “He was running the top, and I was kind of running low and then I had the bottom of (Turns) 1 and 2 all to myself. The 17 and 83 didn’t really try it much, and it was really good down there. When I got the lead, it started taking rubber through the middle not all the way to the bottom. I could hear him and knew he was getting a run on me in (Turns) 1 and 2, so I had to move up and moved up at the right time.”

The win was Gravel’s fourth in the last seven races in the Cody Jacobs-wrenched No. 2. He’s still yet to miss the top 5 through 11 nights in the 2025 campaign. His second Cotton Bowl checkered flag put him alongside Sheldon Haudenschild and Brad Sweet as multi-time winners at the Paige, TX track. The point lead for the 32-year-old grew to 70 markers in his quest for back-to-back titles.

“These guys continue to give me great race cars,” Gravel said. “We’re qualifying amazing and racing just as good. We were just patient there. We kind of figured they were all going to be pretty aggressive and kind of let the race come to us and it worked out.”

The runner-up position belonged to Buddy Kofoid as he came up one spot shy of two wins in a row aboard the Roth Motorsports No. 83. The Penngrove, CA native continues to build momentum with his third top five finish in the last four races after no top five appearances in the first seven.

“David and the Big Game guys have been really good obviously,” Kofoid said. “I think we were better than him for a while, and then when he found it we kind of got back even. Then you just kind of got to surrender and chase him into there, and then the top kind of gave out again down there and had to move down. Just a race where you’ve got to work both pedals and find the lines. I feel like everything changes here so fast.”

The final spot on the podium went to Carson Macedo. He and the Jason Johnson Racing crew have been in the top three in three of the last four, and Friday’s effort helped lift them back into the second spot in points.

“It was a bit of a marathon race,” Macedo said. “There was a lot of moving parts. I felt like throughout the race there was a lot of comers and goers. You kind of had to chase the track a little bit. I feel like early it started out the bottom was really good both ends, and then down in (Turns) 1 and 2 I found the top and was actually kind of creeping back a little bit. I found the top and drove back by a few guys and got to third.”

Sheldon Haudenschild and Donny Schatz completed the top five.

A 24th to 13th run gave Skylar Gee the KSE Racing Hard Charger.

David Gravel grabbed his sixth Simpson Quick Time in 11 tries this year during Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying.

NOS Energy Drink Heats One and Two belonged to David Gravel and Carson Macedo. WIX Filters Heat Three went to Buddy Kofoid.

Sheldon Haudenschild topped the Toyota Dash after also getting the SPA Technique #1 Redraw.

Christopher Thram won the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown.

The Smith Titanium Brake Systems Break of the Race went to Bill Balog.

UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars are back at Cotton Bowl Speedway for the Federated Auto Parts Texas Two-Step finale on Saturday, March 22. Reserved seating is sold out, but general admission tickets can be purchased by CLICKING HERE.

For the complete 2025 schedule, CLICK HERE.

If you can’t make it to the track, catch every lap live on DIRTVision.

FEATURE RESULTS:

NOS Energy Drink Feature (30 Laps): 1. 2-David Gravel[4]; 2. 83-Michael Kofoid[2]; 3. 41-Carson Macedo[6]; 4. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[1]; 5. 15-Donny Schatz[10]; 6. 27-Emerson Axsom[9]; 7. 1S-Logan Schuchart[11]; 8. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[3]; 9. 2C-Cole Macedo[14]; 10. 7S-Chris Windom[16]; 11. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[8]; 12. 24T-Christopher Thram[19]; 13. 99-Skylar Gee[24]; 14. 28M-Conner Morrell[20]; 15. 23-Garet Williamson[5]; 16. 2KS-Cory Eliason[12]; 17. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[17]; 18. 6-Zach Hampton[13]; 19. 17B-Bill Balog[7]; 20. 22M-Rees Moran[15]; 21. J2-John Carney II[21]; 22. 45X-Jace Park[18]; 23. 17GP-Landon Crawley[22]; 24. 73-Logan Julien[23]

For complete results, CLICK HERE.

Friday, March 21st to Saturday, March 22nd

Cotton Bowl Speedway

1175 Co Rd 202

Paige, TX, 78659

Event Schedule

Friday March 21
2PM Pit Gates Open
5PM Grandstand Gates Open
6:30PM Hot Laps/Qualifying

World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Hot Laps
World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying
Factory Stock Hot Laps
Open Ceremonies
World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Heat Races (8 Laps)
World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Toyota Dash Draw
Factory Stock Heats
World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car C-Main (10 Laps)-If Required
World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Toyota Dash (6 Laps)
World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Last Chance Show Down (12 Laps)
Factory Stock Feature
World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Feature (30 Laps)


Saturday March 22
2PM Pit Gates Open
5PM Grandstand Gates Open
6:30PM Hot Laps/Qualifying

World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Hot Laps
World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying
SportMod Hot Laps
Open Ceremonies
World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Heat Races (8 Laps)
World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Toyota Dash Draw
SportMod Heats
World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car C-Main (10 Laps)-If Required
World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Toyota Dash (6 Laps)
World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Last Chance Show Down (12 Laps)
SportMod Feature
World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Feature (30 Laps)

*All times Central

Cotton Bowl Speedway

1175 Co Rd 202

Paige, TX, 78659