David Gravel put all the blame on himself for a last lap wreck with Bryce Lucius that cost him the win at El Paso County Raceway with the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series on Monday night.
Early on in the race, it looked like Buddy Kofoid might run away with it after he passed Gravel on lap three to take the lead and began to pull away. Kofoid would extend his lead to nearly two seconds, but once he got into lap traffic, Gravel began reeling him back in. However, Kofoid would work his way through it and then extend his lead to nearly two and a half seconds by lap 15.
A caution for Sheldon Haudenschild on lap 17 tightened the field back up. It looked like Kofoid might pull away again as he did after he took the lead, but this time Gravel never let him get away and began to challenge for the lead on lap 27 showing his nose on the inside of turn 3.
Kofoid fended off that initial challenge, but Gravel was persistent. On lap 32, he took advantage of Kofoid getting caught behind a lap car and motored past him on the inside. Kofoid attempted to reclaim the lead in the turns 3 and 4 with a slide job, but Gravel crossed him over on the front shoot to take control of the lead. In fact, Kofoid fell into the clutches of Carson Macedo, who took the second spot with two laps to go. While those two battled, Gravel jetted away to over a second lead…