(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)
By Aaron Bearden
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — David Gravel’s stock car career got off to a rocky start at Daytona International Speedway.
Gravel is renowned as one of the best drivers in the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series, having won its biggest race – the Knoxville Nationals – and finished third in the championship just last year.
But the 27-year-old forewent Saturday’s sprint car races at Volusia Speedway to make his ARCA Menards Series debut in the Lucas Oil 200 Driven by General Tire, part of a plan to integrate himself into stock car racing with the Driver’s Edge Development program at GMS Racing and JR Motorsports.
He emerged from the race with a car missing its right-side door, looking more akin to a short track race than a trip around the aero-sensitive Daytona oval.
“I screwed up a couple of times just being a, being a rookie and uh, got myself in a bad spot,” Gravel said of his race.
Gravel will run in six Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series races for GMS Racing this season, but first he had to complete the ARCA opener with KBR Development.
The Connecticut native had no issues in January’s preseason test at Daytona, and qualified a respectable ninth. But it took little time for him to learn the dangers of pack racing in Saturday’s race.
On the opening lap of the 200-mile event, Gravel was running on the inside line when Andy Seuss attempted to cut in front of him in the draft.
Seuss wasn’t clear. The two made contact, and Seuss was sent into the infield grass before spinning up into Turn 3 and setting off a secondary crash as the field tried to avoid him.
🚨 Andy Seuss goes off road on the backstretch. 🚨
Getting ready to restart on @FS1 #ARCAMenards | #LucasOil200 pic.twitter.com/u98fbTZ4VG
— ARCA Menards Series (@ARCA_Racing) February 8, 2020
Gravel continued on with minimal damage, but he wouldn’t run trouble-free for much longer.
Running behind Hailie Deegan on the outside line, Gravel was given a large shove from behind. So strong was the run that Gravel elected to try to go outside of Deegan for the spot. But when he made the move, the line behind him stayed with Deegan.
That left Gravel without a drafting partner and sent him falling through the pack, leaving him in the wrong place when the ‘Big One’ kicked off on Lap 39.
We're 🔴 at @DISUpdates after this.#ARCAMenards | #LucasOil200 pic.twitter.com/ajeVscLVMV
— ARCA Menards Series (@ARCA_Racing) February 8, 2020
“That was just me being a rookie, got myself in a bad position,” Gravel said. “Big wreck happened and I got through most of it, but got collected…I just put myself in a bad spot.
“I made a couple of mistakes that put me back in the pack and just got caught up in a wreck. It’s all pretty much my fault (for putting myself) in that spot.”
From there Gravel could only ride around. His No. 28 Chevrolet held pace near the draft for a while, but eventually, the damage proved too much. The right side door of his car blew off, causing a late caution and forcing his crew to tape up the entire right side of the machine for the final laps.
He ultimately finished one lap down in 12th.
While the end result wasn’t what Gravel or his team wanted, he completed the end goal of reaching the end of the race. He also learned firsthand how the limited visibility inside of the cars can cause issues.
“You just can’t see (anything) in front of you because the spoiler’s so tall,” he said. “So you’re just really judging off the guy right in front of you.
“You just can’t see much in front of you once they start wrecking,” Gravel later continued. “You’re in trouble. So it’s one of those things. You live and learn and I’ll definitely learn from this.”
When the race was over, Gravel limped his machine back to the ARCA garage area. He climbed out alongside smiling veterans Frank Kimmel and Ken Schrader and broke down his first stock car experience as his crew ripped the tape off of his damaged machine.
He’ll be back in a sprint car for Sunday’s DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park, and those cars are where he’ll spend the majority of his season.
But Gravel will return to a stock car for at least six more races, where he’ll look to complete laps and hit goals as part of a large NASCAR goal.
“I wish we could’ve done better, but, I guess we finished the race,” he said of his ARCA debut. “That was my first goal and I’ll move on to the next one.”
