Danny Gravel won a drag race to the checkered flag, edging Spencer Bayston by .021 seconds in a photo finish for an $83,000 payday in the Dennis Roth Classic at Tulare Thunderbowl on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025. (GV Wire Composite/Paul Marshall/File)
- David Gravel edged Spencer Bayston by .021 seconds in the Dennis Roth Classic at Tulare Thunderbowl in a result that drew boos.
- Gravel, of Watertown, Connecticut, embraced his role as sprint car racing's villain and tells crowd to "suck it."
- Buddy Kofoid finished third in the Roth Motorsports No. 83, but never challenged the leaders.
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David Gravel won a drag race to the checkered flag, edging Spencer Bayston by .021 seconds in a photo finish for an $83,000 payday in the Dennis Roth Classic at Tulare Thunderbowl on Saturday night.
Gravel, of Watertown, Connecticut, drew boos from a majority of the fans at the packed raceway while standing on the winner’s podium.
Upon hearing a smattering of boos, the defending World of Outlaws series champion told the crowd to “suck it” before adding that he liked the Tulare track and the region’s strong support of sprint car racing.
“It was the race of the year. Hopefully everybody liked that. … I always have fun coming here,” Gravel said. “You can boo me. You can cheer for me. Thank you for the support. Sprint car racing is awesome.”
Some of the negative reaction to Gravel’s victory in California’s richest sprint car race stemmed perhaps from the fact that his car clearly wasn’t the fastest in the field.
Corey Day, of Clovis, who drove five in five NASCAR Xfinity races for Hendrick Motorsports this year, rode the high line to the early lead. Right behind him: Kaleb Montgomery of Templeton. However, they tangled in turn four and both exited the 35-lap main event with damaged cars.
Exciting Finish to Wreck-Marred Race
Gravel dominated from there most of the way in a race marked by numerous stoppages. Was it because of the pressure to win such a rich race? Was it because of the many challenges presented by the Thunderbowl’s high-banked, one-third mile clay “paper clip” track? Perhaps it was both.
Credit goes to Bayston, of Lebanon, Indiana, for whittling away at Gravel’s lead. With Gravel committed to the high line, Bayston piloted his car on a razor’s edge down low, only to lose by an eyelash.
Buddy Kofoid finished third in the Roth Motorsports No. 83, but never challenged the leaders. The driver from Penngrove, California, now has a second and a third in the race honoring his Fresno area team owner.
“Once I got to third, I felt pretty good and felt like I was kind of starting to contend with Spencer and David a little bit,” Kofoid said. “I was waiting for traffic (to slow the leaders), but it just never came.”
Feature Top 10
1. David Gravel 2. Spencer Bayston 3. Michael Kofoid 4. Carson Macedo 5. Donny Schatz 6. Logan Schuchart 7. Tanner Holmes 8. Dominic Scelzi 9. Chris-Windom 10. Kerry Madsen
For complete results, go to this link.
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