RIGHT PLACE & TIME: Lady Luck Favors David Gravel at Commonwealth Clash

Running second, more than six seconds behind the leader, with two laps to go, was the perfect spot for David Gravel.

His hopes of curing the hunger for another win went from being unattainable to nearly guaranteed with the sound of a pop Saturday night at Lernerville Speedway.

Sheldon Haudenschild, who was in his own world as the leader, lapping up into the top-15 around the 4/10-mile track, blew a tire with two laps to go. His strangle hold on the lead was released and fell to Gravel.

After a month of failing to return to Victory Lane with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series, Gravel found a golden horseshoe in Pennsylvania and made the most of the opportunity handed to him. He led the final two laps and parked the Jason Johnson Racing #41 in Victory Lane at Lernerville for the second time in two years – his fourth career win at the track.

“Sheldon was the class of the field,” said Gravel, of Watertown, CT. “If he didn’t blow a tire, I would’ve run second. But a little bit of racing luck got us the win tonight. I don’t know where Sheldon was running, but I’m guessing he was running aggressive on the top and ran a torrid pace.”

Gravel didn’t feel like the team unloaded well at the start of the night, qualifying third in his flight. However, that sentiment changed after he won his Drydene Heat Race.

“The Heat Race, we had a really really good race car,” Gravel said. “Then we drew a seven (in the DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash draw). I didn’t get too upset because 35 laps here, this is one of the best racing tracks we go to. There’s always lanes to run three wide. That’s why it’s one of my favorite places to go to.”

Gravel started sixth in the 35-lap Feature and quietly made his way up through the field, while Haudenschild set a blistering pace as the leader. He went from sixth to fifth on the initial start but found himself stuck there for the first 18 laps. After moving his wing back, Gravel found traction and speed.

By Lap 19 he was fourth. By Lap 25 he was third. And by Lap 30 he was second. However, with five laps remaining, his chance of a win was out of the question. Haudenschild, coming off a hometown win in Ohio from the night before, made himself untouchable. After taking the lead on the first lap, he pinned his NOS Energy Drink #17 car to the top of the track and found a level of speed others couldn’t.

James McFadden ran second for the majority of the event, before getting passed by Gravel, and only saw Haudenschild for a handful of laps before he was a blur that disappeared in traffic.

Then everything changed with a pop. Haudenschild brought out the first caution of the night with two laps to go as he limped to the infield work area with a deflated right rear tire.

When the race resumed, Gravel pulled ahead of McFadden and ran away with the $10,000 Commonwealth Clash victory – his fifth Series win of 2020. McFadden finished second and Daryn Pittman rounded out the podium. Haudenschild was able to make it back on track and salvage a 13th place finish.

For McFadden, the runner-up finish is his second podium in three races behind the wheel of the Karavan Trailers #9 car.

“We were actually really really good there on the last restart,” said McFadden, of Warrnambool, VIC, Australia. “I started struggling there the last five or eight laps. Whatever happened on that last restart, must have built up air pressure in the tires or something, and started to feel really good again. Hats off to David (Gravel). He doesn’t make many mistakes.”

This week marked Pittman’s first time driving for Heffner Racing in 2020. In three World of Outlaws races, so far, they’ve improved each time. He finished 14th in the Red Robins #72 car at Plymouth Speedway on Thursday. Then finished 10th at Wayne County Speedway the next night. And then third at Lernerville.

“We’re tickled to death,” said Pittman, of Owasso, OK. “That’s a win for us in our first week together in five straight nights. First off, I have to thank Kale (Kahne) and Heath (Moyle) for the amount of work that they put in. Man, we’re ready for a day off tomorrow, I can tell you that, and there’s no better way to finish it up with a solid run like we had here tonight.”

Logan Schuchart put a small stop to the bleeding in his championship hunt by finishing fourth at Lernerville. Points leader Brad Sweet had gained 36 points on Schuchart the two previous nights but lost four points to him after finishing sixth Saturday night.

With nine races remaining this season, five drivers are still in contention for the driver championship and six teams are in contention for the team championship. Sweet leads Schuchart by 40 points for the driver title and his Kasey Kahne Racing team leads Gravel’s Jason Johnson Racing team by 26 points for the team title.

While the crown wouldn’t be for him, Gravel is committed to delivering a championship for JJR.

“Hopefully we’re going to get hot here and finish the season strong,” Gravel said. “We’re in contention to win this points championship, so we’re going to keep fighting until the last race.”

UP NEXT

The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series, on Fri, Oct. 2 and Sat., Oct. 3, return to Williams Grove Speedway for the Champion Racing Oil National Open, which will pay $75,000-to-win on Saturday. Click here to get tickets.

If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch both nights live on DIRTVision.

RESULTS

NOS Energy Drink Feature (35 Laps) – 1. 41-David Gravel [6][$10,000]; 2. 9-James McFadden [4][$5,500]; 3. 72-Daryn Pittman [3][$3,200]; 4. 1S-Logan Schuchart [10][$2,800]; 5. 2M-Kerry Madsen [1][$2,500]; 6. 49-Brad Sweet [8][$2,300]; 7. 11K-Kraig Kinser [5][$2,200]; 8. 2-Carson Macedo [7][$2,100]; 9. 1A-Jacob Allen [12][$2,050]; 10. 15-Donny Schatz [13][$2,000]; 11. 71-Shane Stewart [11][$1,500]; 12. 4-Cap Henry [20][$1,200]; 13. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [2][$1,100]; 14. 14-Parker Price-Miller [9][$1,050]; 15. 55-Hunter Schuerenburg [18][$1,000]; 16. 70-Cale Thomas [21][$900]; 17. 7S-Jason Sides [15][$800]; 18. 3C-Cale Conley [16][$800]; 19. 81-Lee Jacobs [14][$800]; 20. 15K-Chad Kemenah [17][$800]; 21. 6X-Ryan Smith [22][$800]; 22. 7K-Dan Shetler [25][$]; 23. 42-Sye Lynch [23][$800]; 24. 2F-A.J. Flick [24][$800]; 25. 28-Tim Shaffer [19][$800]; Lap Leaders: Sheldon Haudenschild 1-33, David Gravel 34-35; KSE Hard Charger Award: 4-Cap Henry[+8]

Qualifying Flight-A – 1. 14-Parker Price-Miller, 12.746; 2. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 12.808; 3. 72-Daryn Pittman, 12.938; 4. 2-Carson Macedo, 12.961; 5. 15-Donny Schatz, 12.967; 6. 71-Shane Stewart, 13.045; 7. 9-James McFadden, 13.047; 8. 7S-Jason Sides, 13.148; 9. 42-Sye Lynch, 13.177; 10. 28-Tim Shaffer, 13.22; 11. 15K-Chad Kemenah, 13.323; 12. 70-Cale Thomas, 13.338; 13. 2C-Wayne Johnson, 13.344; 14. 6-Bill Rose, 13.368; 15. 22-Brandon Spithaler, 13.4; 16. 5K-Adam Kekich, 13.425; 17. 19R-Michael Walter, 13.468; 18. 11-Carl Bowser, 13.474; 19. 7NY-Matthew Farnham, 13.494; 20. 13-Brandon Matus, 13.505; 21. 3G-Darin Gallagher, 13.764; 22. 33-Brent Matus, 14.766; 23. 4K-Rick Holley, 15.019; 24. 10P-Jim Perricone, 15.382

Qualifying Flight-B – 1. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 12.961; 2. 2M-Kerry Madsen, 13.059; 3. 41-David Gravel, 13.14; 4. 49-Brad Sweet, 13.156; 5. 83-Spencer Bayston, 13.157; 6. 1A-Jacob Allen, 13.165; 7. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 13.216; 8. 7K-Dan Shetler, 13.268; 9. 55-Hunter Schuerenburg, 13.297; 10. 3C-Cale Conley, 13.321; 11. 6X-Ryan Smith, 13.378; 12. 19-Paige Polyak, 13.381; 13. 81-Lee Jacobs, 13.467; 14. 4-Cap Henry, 13.536; 15. 2F-A.J. Flick, 13.6; 16. 23JR-Jack Sodeman, 13.622; 17. 35-Jared Zimbardi, 13.635; 18. 33M-Mason Daniel, 13.636; 19. 29-Michael Bauer, 13.637; 20. 23-Darren Pifer, 13.798; 21. 40-George Hobaugh, 13.899; 22. O8-Dan Kuriger, 13.991; 23. 76-Davey Jones, 14.181

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Commonwealth Clash
Saturday, September 26, 2020
Lernerville Speedway
313 N Pike Rd
Sarver, Pennsylvania 16055 

Event Description
After hosting one of the best races in the history of the World of Outlaws early this year, the best Sprint Car drivers in the world return to do it again.

Series Racing
World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series

To Win Amount
$10,000.00

Event Schedule
Pit Gates Open: 4 pm
Grandstand Gates Open: 5 pm
Hot Laps/Qualifying: 6:30 pm
Opening Ceremonies/Racing: 7:30 pm
*All times Eastern

Options And Prices
General Admission Adult: $35
General Admission Student (6-12): $25
General Admission Kids (5 and under): Free


Discounts
None

Grandstand Type
Bleachers

Family Section Location
Sec AA

Handicapped Seating Location
In front of main concession stand

Pit Pass Price
$35 Members and $40 Non-Members

Pit Age Requirement
No age Requirement

Pit Gate Location
North side of the track

Parking Cost
$0.00

Handicapped Parking Location
In front of main gate

Camping Availability
non-electric, onsite, waste services

Camping Cost
$75 (ALL Weekend)

To Win Amount
$10,000.00

Type of Grandstand
Bleachers

Stadium Seating
Small stadium seats are allowed

Handicapped Seating
In front of main concession stand

Handicapped Parking
In front of main gate

Pit Age Limit
No age Requirement

Pit Gate Location
North side of the track

Personal Coolers
Small (14") coolers are permitted, no glass or alcohol

ATMs
1

Alcohol Sales
Alcohol is available at the track

Smoking Policy
No smoking in the grandstands

Family Section
Sec AA

Parking Cost
$0.00

Camping Availability
non-electric, onsite, waste services

Camping Cost
$75 (ALL Weekend)

Lernerville Speedway
313 N Pike Rd
Sarver, Pennsylvania 16055 

Track Phone
(724) 353-1511

Track Email
[email protected]

Track Type
0.400;

Sprint Car Track Record
12.334 seconds by Joey Saldana on 5/15/02

Late Model Track Record
14.812 seconds by Mike Marlar on 6/22/18

Closest Airport
Pittsburgh International

Other Airport
Latrobe

Pit Gate Location
North side of the track

Track Map

Competitor Downloads
 https://www.dirtcarmembers.com/downloads.php