After losing their preliminary feature Saturday to the wet weather, the World of Outlaws Sprint Tour completed their two-race Empire State Challenge Sunday night before a packed house at the Weedsport Speedway.
By Dick O’Brien | Contributing Writer
Although 34 sprinters were on hand, David Gravel of Watertown, CT dominated the 35-lap, $20,000-to-win program and took over sole possession of the top spot in the WoO point standings.
This Watertown, Connecticut racer took over first place from Danny Varin on the third lap and was never seriously challenged down the stretch.
Carson Macedo, who set fast time of 13.479 seconds in the pre-race time trials, wheeled into second early in the main event, but Gravel was long gone by then. It was Gravel’s 86th career World of Outlaws sprint victory and moves him into a tie for ninth place in the all-time WoO win list with Daryn Pittman.
Veteran Dave Blaney ended up third, followed by Brad Sweet, Gio Scelzi, Logan Schuchart, Larry Wight, Brock Zearfoss, Dale Blaney and Donnie Schatz.
The only serious mishap in the program occurred in the Outlaw last chance qualifier event when Derek Hauck popped the wall and flipped several times. He was uninjured.
It was Gravel’s third WoO triumph at Weedsport, leaving him tied with Donnie Schatz and Steve Kinser for the most Outlaw victories at the ⅜-mile Weedsport oval.