David Gravel grabs Commonwealth Clash winner's check in Lernerville's richest race

When the Commonwealth Clash A-Main rolled to green Tuesday night at Lernerville Speedway, it looked as if brothers-in-law and co-owners of the High Limit Sprint Car series, Brad Sweet and Kyle Larson, were going to have a duel for the win.

But David Gravel and a treacherous cushion in turn two spoiled their fun.

Gravel passed Sweet with five laps remaining to snatch away the $50,000 winner’s check in front of a standing room only crowd at the first High Limit race held at Lernerville.

Gravel has won multiple World of Outlaws races at the track, but Tuesday he took home the winner’s share of the highest paying sprint car event in Lernerville’s history.

“It feels good to take some of Brad Sweet and Kyle Larson’s money,” Gravel said in victory lane.

Gravel used the low line in turn two to pass Sweet in lapped traffic and held on from there. Sweet tried one last-ditch effort to rip past Gravel on the high side with two laps to go, but his car biked on the cushion and Rico Abreu slid past for second.

Sweet ended up third, James McFadden was fourth, and Cory Eliason rounded out the top five.

Prior to Tuesday’s race, Dale Earnhardt Jr. hosted a live recording of his podcast, the Dale Jr. Download, where he and co-host Mike Davis interviewed Sweet and Larson for about 45 minutes.

It was Earnhardt’s first time at a sprint car race, and he and everyone else in attendance was treated to an exciting main event.

Cool and cloudy conditions made for a lightning-fast surface.

Sweet set a new track record in qualifying at 12.300, breaking a mark that has stood for over a decade.

Sweet and Larson shared the front row for the main event. Sweet got the initial jump and led the first eight laps before the race was red flagged for Ryan Timms, who had a vicious accident in turn four. Timms climbed from his car and walked to an ambulance under his own power.

Sweet continued to lead until lap 16 when Larson got by while the pair were battling in lapped traffic. Meanwhile, Gravel was lurking behind in third.

Then, disaster struck for Larson on lap 27. He entered high in turn two and jumped the cushion, which sent him over the hill. By the time he reentered the track, he was in ninth place and ended up settling for an eighth-place finish.

Sweet inherited the lead, but Gravel made his move low in turn two two laps later and powered to the lead.

He held on for the final five laps to add another win to his long list of victories at Lernerville in his first visit in two years.

“I felt like I was doing really well in three and four running low and nobody else was doing that,” Gravel said. “Then, I knew the bottom would come into play in one and two. I didn’t do a good job on the restarts on the bottom, but after that last restart, I was able to run really well low and exit low and I felt like I was the first one that could do that.

“This wasn’t a typical slick Lernerville, but this is definitely my track.”

Gravel, Sweet and McFadden were three World of Outlaws drivers in attendance Thursday using their fourth and final free pass away from the Outlaws series for this year.

Sweet, the current Outlaws points leader and four-time defending champion, has won multiple races at Lernerville but fell just short of adding another trophy to his collection.

“I just made a few too many mistakes,” Sweet said. “I was just trying to stay aggressive with it being $50,000 to win. I knew Kyle, Rico and David were all right there, so I tried not to leave any gaps, but the cushion got a little tricky on turns one and two. David got the bottom off two and was able to carry that speed down the backstretch. I just didn’t make enough speed off two and he got by. I was trying to pace him and saw there were two laps to go and knew I needed to try and make a move. I entered as high as I could in turns one and two and it just grabbed me.”

There were 59 entries.

Sweet, Justin Sanders, James McFadden and Larson won heat races.

Evans City native Brandon Spithaler won the C-Main. Brent Marks took the B-Main over former NASCAR cup series driver Kasey Kahne, who also qualified for the main event.