Gravel beats Bayston in photo finish for $83,000 at Dennis Roth Classic
Photo by Tyler Carr
TULARE, Calif.—Saturday’s Dennis Roth Classic finale delivered a Sprint Car fan’s dream race.
Tulare, CA’s Thunderbowl Raceway gave the packed grandstands everything they could ask for and then some in 35 laps. A surface with multiple grooves. An early battle for the lead that led to contact and some drama. A late duel for the top spot that resulted in a photo finish for major money. Simply put, the Thunderbowl did not disappoint.
The opening stages of the $83,000-to-win main event pitted a pair of California natives against each other. Templeton, CA’s Kaleb Montgomery led from the pole but had Clovis, CA’s Corey Day close behind. Day slid ahead on Lap 5 restart and took control until Montgomery returned the favor on a restart on the 18th circuit. The two came together down the back straightaway and again in Turn 3 as Montgomery charged back at Day. The result? Montgomery slowed with damage to bring out a caution, and Day ducked into the pits under the yellow also with damage. From racing for $83,000 to both of their nights done just like that.
The woes for that duo put the spotlight on another two as World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series champion David Gravel and Spencer Bayston inherited first and second for the next restart. The laps clicked away, and Bayston kept the Big Game Motorsports No. 2 within his sights as he fended off challenges from Michael “Buddy” Kofoid. The Lebanon, IN native was fully committed to the cushion as Gravel opted for the top in Turns 1 and 2 and the bottom in Turns 3 and 4.
The run Bayston was looking for came when the white flag flew as he pulled the Tarlton Motorsports No. 21 alongside Gravel. Bayston then got tight in the first corner and pounded the right rear tire on the fence, which looked to seal the deal for Gravel. But Bayston wasn’t done. He turned down the hill exiting Turn 2 for a run, and Gravel struggled with a lapped car heading into the final set of turns. Gravel drifted across while Bayston ripped the top and slipped under him exiting the last corner. A side by side drag race to the checkered flag resulted in Gravel edging out Bayston by just .021 seconds for the Dennis Roth Classic victory.
“I saw him (Bayston) go around me coming to the white and knew I had to fill the hole in (Turns) 1 and 2,” Gravel explained. “I knew I wanted to get under Gauge (Garcia) there and just drove in way too hard and couldn’t stick the middle and had to slide all the way across, and I figured he was coming with a run. What a race. Crazy deal what happened in the front there (between Kaleb and Corey) and gave us a shot to win there. I think if those two guys don’t get together, we probably don’t have a shot to win the race. I’m just glad to hang on. You don’t want to lose races like that, especially big paying ones. It feels good to win another race at Tulare. The track had a lot of character.
“It was the race of the year. Hopefully everybody liked that. I’ve always loved Tulare, coming to Trophy Cup with Rod Tiner and driving for Roth Motorsports. I always have fun coming here. You can boo me. You can cheer for me. Thank you for the support. Sprint Car racing is awesome.”
Gravel and the Big Game team pocketed $83,000 and took home 30 pounds of ribeye from Roth Motorsports for their 14th win of 2025. The Watertown, CT native also made a little history as his fourth Thunderbowl triumph with the World of Outlaws equaled him with Joey Saldana and Tim Kaeding for the most. Through four runnings, he’s also now the only one of Dennis Roth’s 16 World of Outlaws winning drivers to claim the Dennis Roth Classic. Gravel wheeled the iconic No. 83 to four victories in 2014.
With every joy of victory, there’s the agony of defeat. That’s what Spencer Bayston was left with following Saturday’s Feature. Yes, it was an encouraging run with the Tarlton team. Yes, he continued to add to the list of impressive runs he’s put together since parting ways in Jason Meyers Racing in August. Yes, it was a healthy $40,000 runner-up. But Bayston so badly wanted that first Sprint Car win since August of 2023 and had to settle for second by inches.
“I did because I saw him enter down in the bottom of (Turn) 3 and knew I had the top to myself to get a big run,” Bayston said of his chances on the final lap. “I saw him come flying across. I know when you’re racing for $83,000, he doesn’t care where I am to the right of him, so I knew he was coming all the way up. So, I tried to just kind of time it off the cushion as hard as I could to have the advantage on the drag race back to the line. I just didn’t hard enough and spun a little bit. I was looking dead right at him as we went to see if I was edging or not. It was close. It absolutely burns to lose that way when I was in second but kind of had him where I wanted him the whole time.”
Buddy Kofoid put the Roth Motorsports No. 83 on the final step of the podium at the Dennis Roth Classic. That added another $15,000 to the bank account of the sport’s highest earner this year. The Penngrove, CA native has now finished second and third in the race saluting his team owner, and he’s already thinking about how to stand atop the podium next year.
“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, but it just never came. I wanted to be on the top, and Spencer was up there. It was just really dirty and gritty up there and hard to make speed behind someone, but I just felt like I was giving up too much on the bottom in (Turns) 3 and 4. It sucks to run second and third now at Dennis’ race, but again I’m really thankful to be driving Dennis and Teresa Roth’s famous No. 83.”
Carson Macedo and Donny Schatz completed the top five.
Chris Windom marched from 27th to ninth to earn the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger.
David Gravel claimed his 19th Simpson Quick Time of 2025 in Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying.
Heat Races belonged to David Gravel (NOS Energy Drink Heat One), Spencer Bayston (Real American Beer Heat Two), Carson Macedo (Wix Filters Heat Three), and Garet Williamson (DeBoer and Sons Trucking Heat Four).
The SPA Technique #1 Redraw went to Kaleb Montgomery.
Montgomery also topped the Toyota Dash.
Landon Brooks won the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown.
The Smith Titanium Brake Systems Break of the Race went to Corey Day.
UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars head to Ohio where Sheldon Haudenschild’s Buckeye Brawl presented by NOS Energy Drink brings the tour back to Findlay, OH’s Millstream Speedway for the first time in 31 years on Friday, Sept. 26. Then it’s the final “Buckeye State” appearance of the year at Sharon Speedway (Hartford, OH) on Saturday, Sept. 27 for the Federated Auto Parts Showdown. For tickets, CLICK HERE.
If you can’t make it to the track, catch every lap live on DIRTVision.
RESULTS
NOS Energy Drink Feature (35 Laps): 1. 2-David Gravel[5]; 2. 21-Spencer Bayston[2]; 3. 83-Michael Kofoid[6]; 4. 41-Carson Macedo[4]; 5. W-Donny Schatz[10]; 6. 1S-Logan Schuchart[9]; 7. 18T-Tanner Holmes[13]; 8. 41S-Dominic Scelzi[12]; 9. 7S-Chris Windom[27]; 10. 15S-Kerry Madsen[15]; 11. 18-Emerson Axsom[25]; 12. X1-Chance Grasty[14]; 13. 2C-Cole Macedo[18]; 14. 73-Ryan Bernal[24]; 15. 99-Skylar Gee[17]; 16. 21L-Landon Brooks[21]; 17. 17B-Bill Balog[26]; 18. 0-Tim Kaeding[19]; 19. 2K-Gauge Garcia[23]; 20. 121-Caeden Steele[20]; 21. 88N-DJ Netto[8]; 22. 14BC-Corey Day[3]; 23. 3-Kaleb Montgomery[1]; 24. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[22]; 25. 23-Garet Williamson[7]; 26. 17W-Shane Golobic[11]; 27. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[28]; 28. 45-Cory Eliason[16]
MicroLite Last Chance Showdown (12 Laps): 1. 21L-Landon Brooks[2]; 2. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[5]; 3. 2K-Gauge Garcia[4]; 4. 73-Ryan Bernal[3]; 5. 7S-Chris Windom[6]; 6. 29-Bud Kaeding[8]; 7. 10-Dominic Gorden[9]; 8. 88A-Joey Ancona[10]; 9. 33-Dylan Bloomfield[16]; 10. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[12]; 11. 14-Mariah Ede[7]; 12. 17S-Jace Park[15]; 13. 18-Emerson Axsom[1]; 14. 2XM-Max Mittry[13]; 15. 28M-Conner Morrell[11]; 16. 6-Zach Hampton[14]; 17. 17B-Bill Balog[17]
Toyota Dash (6 Laps): 1. 3-Kaleb Montgomery[1]; 2. 21-Spencer Bayston[3]; 3. 14BC-Corey Day[5]; 4. 41-Carson Macedo[2]; 5. 2-David Gravel[4]; 6. 83-Michael Kofoid[6]; 7. 23-Garet Williamson[7]; 8. 88N-DJ Netto[8]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 2-David Gravel[1]; 2. 14BC-Corey Day[3]; 3. 1S-Logan Schuchart[2]; 4. 18T-Tanner Holmes[6]; 5. 99-Skylar Gee[4]; 6. 73-Ryan Bernal[8]; 7. 18-Emerson Axsom[5]; 8. 10-Dominic Gorden[7]; 9. 2XM-Max Mittry[9]; 10. 17B-Bill Balog[10]
Real American Beer Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 21-Spencer Bayston[1]; 2. 83-Michael Kofoid[3]; 3. W-Donny Schatz[2]; 4. X1-Chance Grasty[5]; 5. 2C-Cole Macedo[4]; 6. 2K-Gauge Garcia[7]; 7. 14-Mariah Ede[9]; 8. 88A-Joey Ancona[6]; 9. 6-Zach Hampton[8]
WIX Filters Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 41-Carson Macedo[1]; 2. 88N-DJ Netto[2]; 3. 17W-Shane Golobic[4]; 4. 15S-Kerry Madsen[3]; 5. 0-Tim Kaeding[6]; 6. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[7]; 7. 21L-Landon Brooks[5]; 8. 28M-Conner Morrell[8]; 9. 17S-Jace Park[9]
The Greatest Show on Dirt Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 23-Garet Williamson[1]; 2. 3-Kaleb Montgomery[2]; 3. 41S-Dominic Scelzi[4]; 4. 45-Cory Eliason[5]; 5. 121-Caeden Steele[3]; 6. 7S-Chris Windom[7]; 7. 29-Bud Kaeding[8]; 8. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[6]; 9. 33-Dylan Bloomfield[9]
Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying (2 Laps): 1. 2-David Gravel, 00:13.157[6]; 2. 21-Spencer Bayston, 00:13.246[19]; 3. 41-Carson Macedo, 00:13.288[4]; 4. 23-Garet Williamson, 00:13.323[10]; 5. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 00:13.329[36]; 6. W-Donny Schatz, 00:13.350[15]; 7. 88N-DJ Netto, 00:13.361[29]; 8. 3-Kaleb Montgomery, 00:13.363[13]; 9. 14BC-Corey Day, 00:13.379[27]; 10. 83-Michael Kofoid, 00:13.384[31]; 11. 15S-Kerry Madsen, 00:13.422[8]; 12. 121-Caeden Steele, 00:13.432[7]; 13. 99-Skylar Gee, 00:13.432[24]; 14. 2C-Cole Macedo, 00:13.432[25]; 15. 17W-Shane Golobic, 00:13.444[33]; 16. 41S-Dominic Scelzi, 00:13.452[30]; 17. 18-Emerson Axsom, 00:13.476[1]; 18. X1-Chance Grasty, 00:13.494[11]; 19. 21L-Landon Brooks, 00:13.561[9]; 20. 45-Cory Eliason, 00:13.564[20]; 21. 18T-Tanner Holmes, 00:13.592[5]; 22. 88A-Joey Ancona, 00:13.599[17]; 23. 0-Tim Kaeding, 00:13.609[34]; 24. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg, 00:13.611[37]; 25. 10-Dominic Gorden, 00:13.612[14]; 26. 2K-Gauge Garcia, 00:13.613[23]; 27. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 00:13.631[32]; 28. 7S-Chris Windom, 00:13.645[18]; 29. 73-Ryan Bernal, 00:13.668[22]; 30. 6-Zach Hampton, 00:13.670[3]; 31. 28M-Conner Morrell, 00:13.780[21]; 32. 29-Bud Kaeding, 00:13.781[28]; 33. 2XM-Max Mittry, 00:13.790[2]; 34. 14-Mariah Ede, 00:13.939[16]; 35. 17S-Jace Park, 00:14.006[12]; 36. 33-Dylan Bloomfield, 00:14.820[35]; 37. 17B-Bill Balog, 01:00.000[26]
CURRENT WORLD OF OUTLAWS SERIES STANDINGS
Points Updated: September 20, 2025
Pos. No. Driver Hometown Points Gap Starts Wins Top 5s Top 10s
1 2 David Gravel Watertown, CT 7810 57 14 49 55
2 83 Michael Kofoid Penngrove, CA 7660 -150 57 11 36 49
3 41 Carson Macedo Lemoore, CA 7546 -264 57 10 32 44
4 1S Logan Schuchart Hanover, PA 7450 -360 55 2 28 44
5 17 Sheldon Haudenschild Wooster, OH 7248 -562 57 2 23 36
6 W Donny Schatz Fargo, ND 7120 -690 57 0 9 30
7 17B Bill Balog North Pole, AK 6966 -844 55 3 14 30
8 23 Garet Williamson Columbia, MO 6822 -988 55 0 5 22
9 7S Chris Windom Canton, IL 6792 -1018 52 0 4 21
10 2C Cole Macedo Lemoore, CA 6634 -1176 49 0 4 15
11 55 Hunter Schuerenberg Sikeston, MO 6446 -1364 46 0 1 13
12 6 Zach Hampton Mooresville, IN 6324 -1486 44 0 1 6
13 99 Skylar Gee Leduc, AB, CA 6290 -1520 39 0 2 8
14 28M Conner Morrell Bradenton, FL 5968 -1842 39 0 2 3
15 7BC Giovanni Scelzi Fresno, CA 5250 -2560 41 1 7 28
16 18 Emerson Axsom Franklin, IN 4934 -2876 36 0 3 14
17 15 Kerry Madsen Knoxville, IA 2852 -4958 20 0 3 12
18 39M Anthony Macri Dillsburg, PA 2772 -5038 23 3 6 12
19 45X Landon Crawley Benton, AR 2584 -5226 10 0 1 2
20 24T Christopher Thram Sanborn, MN 2518 -5292 17 0 0 0
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IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 23-George Tristao Jr[1]; 2. 2-Davey Pombo[8]; 3. 38N-Kyle Rasmussen[4]; 4. 11T-Tylor Henson[5]; 5. 15-Rino Felicioni[2]; 6. 36B-Kevin Barnes Sr[9]; 7. 3-Anthony Pombo[6]; 8. 18-Lance Jackson[7]; 9. 64C-Koen Shaw[14]; 10. 12E-Brandon Emmett[11]; 11. 81A-Jeremy Alves[17]; 12. 87-Jake Vermeer[3]; 13. 22-Maverick Myrick[10]; 14. 7-Andy Smith[16]; 15. 31H-Phil Heynen[13]; 16. 28-David Knott[12]; 17. 88J-Joe Delisle[15]
Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 3-Anthony Pombo[1]; 2. 87-Jake Vermeer[2]; 3. 18-Lance Jackson[3]; 4. 22-Maverick Myrick[6]; 5. 31H-Phil Heynen[5]; 6. 7-Andy Smith[4]
Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 11T-Tylor Henson[2]; 2. 15-Rino Felicioni[1]; 3. 2-Davey Pombo[3]; 4. 12E-Brandon Emmett[4]; 5. 64C-Koen Shaw[6]; 6. 81A-Jeremy Alves[5]
Heat 3 (6 Laps): 1. 38N-Kyle Rasmussen[1]; 2. 23-George Tristao Jr[4]; 3. 36B-Kevin Barnes Sr[5]; 4. 28-David Knott[2]; 5. 88J-Joe Delisle[3]
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