INSIDE THE NUMBERS: David Gravel’s Historic Start to 2025
The defending champion is assembling a potential all-time great season
LAWTON, OK (March 27, 2025) – True greatness in any sport doesn’t come often.
It requires the perfect blend of dedication and talent to ascend to the highest level of any discipline. When the greats do arise, they leave a permanent mark. They rewrite the history books.
In Sprint Car racing, tales of accomplishments from names like Steve Kinser, Sammy Swindell, Donny Schatz, and few others will stand the test of time as generations pass them along down the line.
David Gravel is laying the foundations of one of those rare runs with the Big Game Motorsports team. They’ve been nearly perfect to begin the 2025 season as they look to defend their World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car championship. There’s a long way to go, but the first 12 races of the campaign suggest Gravel could be heading toward one of those seasons that’s viewed among the greatest ever.
Let’s look at some numbers for insight into his historic start:
30 – the target number? Gravel has won five times through a dozen races – a nearly 42-percent clip. Looking at what that could mean for his season-long total, if Gravel continues at his current pace and the final race count ends around 71 races – the average number of races the last five seasons* – he could be looking at a potential 30-win season. Only four drivers – Steve Kinser, Sammy Swindell, Mark Kinser, and Donny Schatz – have ever reached 30 in a year. Only 24 competitors have even reached 30 career wins. (*excludes 2020 due to shortened season.)
10 – the amount of times Gravel has stood on the podium this year. Some drivers simply hope to reach double digit top threes over the course of a full campaign, and Gravel already got there less than one-sixth of the way through. His career high for podiums in a season is 35, and based on the metrics from above, he’s on pace for nearly 60 in 2025.
0 – the amount of times Gravel has missed the top five. Gravel may be facing off with names like Donny Schatz, Carson Macedo, Sheldon Haudenschild, Logan Schuchart, Buddy Kofoid, Gio Scelzi, and more every night, but it’s not stopped him from a perfect top five percentage so far. The streak sits at 18 total races dating back to last year.
7 – the amount of Simpson Quick Times for Gravel this year. And all seven of them have come in the last eight races. No other driver has more than one. Gravel’s average result in Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying this year is 2.25. The most Quick Times he’s collected in one season is 21 in 2019. He’s on pace for about 41, which would be the most since Mark Kinser’s 42 in 1996.
126 – the amount of laps Gravel has led in Feature competition in 2025, which is 37% of the total amount of laps completed. Gravel’s mark is 75 laps greater than the second highest lap-leader.
2.17 – the average Feature finish of the Big Game No. 2 in 2025. For reference, the last five average finishes for championship winning World of Outlaws seasons are 5.57, 5.47, 5.87, 5.13, and 4.88.
3.92 – the average Feature start of Tod Quiring’s car. Gravel has had to work a little bit to post the average finish listed above. He’s had runs from 12th to fourth at Volusia and came from fourth for his win this past Friday at Cotton Bowl.
21 – the amount of cars Gravel has passed in Feature competition this year. He’s lost positions in only two main events this year, and when he did it was only one spot lost per Feature.
1.42 – the average Heat Race finish for Gravel this year. He’s racked up eight Heat wins, a trio of runner-ups, and a single third-place finish. The Heat Race performance has put him in all but one of the 12 Toyota Dashes.
4 – the number of laps Gravel has spent outside of the top 10 during the Feature this year. On the night he came from 12th to fourth at Volusia, he cracked the top 10 by the fifth circuit.
Gravel and Big Game Motorsports continue the 2025 World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car season this weekend at Oklahoma’s Lawton Speedway on Friday, March 28, and Kansas’ 81 Speedway on Saturday, March 29.
FOR LAWTON TICKETS, CLICK HERE
FOR 81 TICKETS, CLICK HERE
For the complete 2025 schedule, CLICK HERE.
If you can’t make it to the track, catch every lap live on DIRTVision.
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The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink® Sprint Car Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners. Official partners include, NOS Energy Drink (Official Energy Product), DIRTVision (Official Live Broadcast Partner), Federated Auto Parts, Hoosier Racing Tire (Official Tire), iRacing (Official Online Racing Game), Milton Hershey School (Official Education Partner), Racing Electronics (Official Radio Supplier), Simpson Performance Products (Preferred Safety Gear Partner), SIS Insurance (Official Insurance Provider), Toyota (Official Vehicle), and VP Racing (Official Racing Fuel). Also supported by : AMKUS, ARP (Automotive Racing Products), CASM Safety Products, Cometic Gasket, COMP Cams, Evolve Transporters, FIREBULL, Honest Abe Roofing, Intercomp, J&J Auto Racing, KSE Racing Products (Hard Charger Award), Lifeline USA, Micro-Lite LLC, MSD, Smith Titanium Brake Systems, SPA Technique, WELD Racing, and WIX Filters.
Founded in 1978, the World of Outlaws®, based in Concord, NC, is the premier national touring series for dirt track racing in North America, featuring the most powerful cars on dirt, the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series and the World of Outlaws Late Model Series. Annually, the two series race nearly 140 times at tracks across the United States and Canada. CBS Sports Network is the official broadcast partner of the World of Outlaws. DIRTVision® also broadcasts all World of Outlaws events over the Internet to fans around the world. Learn more about the World of Outlaws.
Sources: Alex Nieten, World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series PR