By Victoria Beaver

David Gravel denied Donny Schatz his 21st win of the season with a last-lap pass for the lead at the Textron Off Road World Finals on Saturday night at The Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, NC.

Ryan Smith started on the outside pole and led the first lap before “Blackjack” Brian Brown secured the spot with a slide job on Smith. Once Brown was fully in control, the first caution flag waved for Brad Sweet who spun in turn two to draw the first caution flag.

Schatz made it by Smith for second on the restart after starting third. Schatz took the lead on the lap-five restart. Before the lap was completed, a huge incident occurred in turn two. Jason Johnson, Shane Stewart, Greg Hodnett, and both Sheldon and Jac Haudenschild took wild rides.

The cleanup for the crash led to a long open red.

With two attempts to complete the lap already in the books, the field lined up for a single final restart. Brown was able to stay within striking distance of Schatz as the duo ran together until the final caution on lap 16.

On the restart, Gravel lined up third after starting fifth. He maneuvered around Brown for the second spot and set his sight on the lead. It took an addition four laps for Gravel to catch up with Schatz. He attempted to pass the leader for the first time with seven laps remaining.

He was unsuccessful.

Gravel tried again with five laps to go as he locked in on the cushion. However, he could not quite get the run up off the corner during his first several attempts when he started too early in the corner.

Gravel saw his final chance at the win in turn one of the final lap. He and Schatz raced neck-and-neck as they cut through traffic coming to the white flag. In turn two, Gravel took his chance and slid by Schatz for the lead. In three and four, Gravel took the high line to soar to victory. Schatz bid from the hub put him inches behind.

“That was a blast,” Gravel said. “I hope this crowd enjoyed it. Barry Jackson, Derek, and Zach give me an awesome car every night. It’s been a badass year.”

While Schatz would’ve loved to top off the weekend and season with an extra win, the now nine-time champion went into the night already to winner. He secured the championship during hot laps Thursday night and hit the 20-win milestone Friday night.

“It’s been a great year," Schatz said. "This race team is phenomenal. We are top three seemingly every night and the car does not drop out of races."

After leading early, Brown settled for the final step on the podium.

While hoping for a win, Brown explained his view of third. 

“We got beat by two of the best drivers in the world,” he said.

Kerry Madsen and Bill Balog completed the top five.

Logan Schuchart secured the KSE Hard Charger award by making it up to sixth position after starting in 22nd.

Top-10 Finishers 
1. David Gravel
2. Donny Schatz
3. Brian Brown
4. Kerry Madsen
5. Bill Balog
6. Logan Schuchart
7. Daryn Pittman
8. Cole Duncan
9. Brent Marks
10. Ryan Smith