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Dover Wins King of the Wings Finale to Garner Championship for Second Straight Season

Inside Line Promotions – ROSSBURG, Ohio (July 20, 2026) – Big Game Motorsports increased its lead in the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series championship standings by recording its best results during a five-race stretch in Ohio over the pair of points races.

The best result of the week occurred last Tuesday at Attica Raceway Park in Attica, where David Gravel guided the team to a fifth-place finish during the Ohio Logistics Brad Doty Classic presented by DAC Vitamins and Minerals.

“It’s usually slick, but the track was wet all night long,” he said. “There were a couple of crashes in front of us that we dodged. We were a fifth-to-eighth-place car and we ran fifth so it was a decent way to start our week.”

Eldora Speedway hosted the next four nights with the first two being Interstate Batteries High Limit Racing shows. Gravel set himself up as the high-points driver by setting quick time during qualifying in his group and running from seventh to second place in a heat race on Wednesday. Unfortunately, a problem with the car’s rear end in the main event resulted in a DNF.

“That’s two years in a row in the High Limit races at Eldora that we had something happen that put us behind,” Gravel said. “Luckily we got the final transfer on a very narrow race track on Thursday.”

Gravel advanced from ninth to sixth place in the B Main and from 23rd to 16th place during the $100,000-to-win Joker’s Jackpot main event. That was tied for the second-most positions gained.

The team continued to pass cars the remainder of the week. Gravel timed in 12th quickest in his group and advanced from sixth to fourth place in a heat race to open Friday’s World of Outlaws program.

“We lacked speed pretty bad, which is something we’re not accustomed to,” he said. “It was a wet, rainy day. We had a great effort running fourth in the heat race. That really changed our night and was huge. We ran a safe race in the feature, passed some cars early and maintained at the end.”

Gravel’s charge from 15th to seventh place in the main event was tied for the third-most cars passed.

The week concluded on Saturday with the $200,000-to-win Kings Royal. Gravel qualified second quickest overall, good enough to lock him into the 20th starting position in the main event despite placing fourth in a heat race. He recorded the second-most positions gained in the feature by hustling to 11th.

“We changed some things on the engine and got our speed back for hot laps and qualifying,” he said. “We qualified really well. Being in the first couple of heat races when they do track work, it’s not defined yet and it’s follow the leader. I had a solid start, but couldn’t do anything with it. It was a bummer being in an early heat as the later heats got slicker.

“I think our best car of the week was during the Kings Royal A Main. We had a really good car, but for some reason on the restarts we couldn’t get going for a couple of laps. I feel we had a top-five race car, but the late-race restarts did not help me.

“In the grand scheme of things it went good, but it was definitely a trying week. Typically when you pass a lot of race cars it means you didn’t put yourself in a good position. We struggled to put ourselves in a good position and when we did we had a mechanical problem. That’s part of it. I feel we recovered about the best we could. We didn’t tear anything up. We tried lots of different things and are leaving Eldora more confident and in a better direction.”

Four World of Outlaws races are on tap this week with shows on Tuesday and Wednesday at Ohsweken Speedway in Ohsweken, Ontario, Canada, during the Federated Auto Parts Six Nation Showdown and on Saturday and Sunday at Weedsport Speedway in Weedsport, N.Y., during the Empire State Challenge. Gravel enters the week leading the World of Outlaws championship standings by 122 points.

July 14 – Attica Raceway Park in Attica, Ohio – Qualifying: 3; Heat race: 2 (2); Dash: 6 (6); Feature: 5 (6).

July 15 – Eldora Raceway near Rossburg, Ohio – Qualifying: 1; Heat race: 2 (7); Feature: 24 (10).

July 16 – Eldora Raceway near Rossburg, Ohio – B Main: 6 (9); Feature: 16 (23).

July 17 – Eldora Raceway near Rossburg, Ohio – Qualifying: 12; Heat race: 4 (6); Feature: 7 (15).

July 18 – Eldora Raceway near Rossburg, Ohio – Qualifying: 2; Heat race: 4 (4); Feature: 11 (20).

Tuesday and Wednesday at Ohsweken Speedway in Ohsweken, Ontario, Canada, for the Federated Auto Parts Six Nation Showdown and Saturday and Sunday at Weedsport Speedway in Weedsport, N.Y., for the Empire State Challenge with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series

Eddie Tafoya Jr. Returns to the Podium With Third-Place Finish at Perris

Chino Hills, CA — July 16, 2026 — Eddie Tafoya Jr. capped another successful night by driving his immaculate #51T to a third-place finish in last Saturday’s Avanti Windows and Doors USAC/CRA Sprint Car main event at Perris Auto Speedway. For the popular driver, it was his third third-place result of the year and his sixth top-five finish in 10 starts.

The Chino Hills, California, resident qualified sixth on the famous Riverside County clay oval. That placed him on the outside of the second row for his eight-lap heat race. With a top-five finish needed to advance into the pool for the main event inversion, Tafoya did exactly what was required and came home fourth.

The combination of his strong qualifying effort and fourth-place heat race finish placed the 2018 PAS Young Gun champion on the outside of the front row for the main event.

When the green flag dropped on the 30-lapper, the inside row jumped, and before Tafoya knew it, he had slipped back to fifth. By the end of the third circuit, he had worked his way back into fourth, where he appeared to be locked in for much of the race.

At the halfway point, Tafoya trailed the third-place car by nearly half a straightaway. However, that was about to change.

Tafoya refused to give up. Slowly but surely, he erased the deficit during the second half of the main event. In an impressive display of patience and driving ability, he tracked down the third-place car and completed the pass to earn the final spot on the podium.

“It was a pretty good night,” Tafoya told the crowd after the race. “Of course, all of us racers want more. I just gave up so many spots at the beginning. We were all ripping the top pretty fast. So it kind of took a mistake from someone to make up any ground.”

“I tried searching around, but everything was pretty even,” he continued. I sat there trying to not make any mistakes and just kind of crept back in (into the top three).”

Earlier in the evening, longtime infield announcer Chris Holt made a deal with Tafoya’s mother: If her son finished in the top three, she could serve as his trophy girl. At the conclusion of the post-race interview, Holt invited her to step forward and join her son—something the driver, who had recently celebrated his 29th birthday, greatly appreciated.

“It pretty awesome to have so much support from my parents,” the happy driver said. “Two individuals who would do anything and give me anything I need in racing. It just makes it easier for me to do my job. We will be back in a few weeks and try to go two spots better.”

With the third-place result, Tafoya lowered his overall main event finishing average to 4.90 for the season. He also improved his average finish at Perris by half a point, lowering it to 4.50.

Tafoya will head out on vacation at the end of the month but will return in time for the August 15 race at Perris Auto Speedway.

Eddie Tafoya can be followed on Instagram at eddietafoya51.

Team Tafoya Racing would like to thank Specialty Fasteners, BR Motorsports, King Racing Products, Gasper Transportation, CMI Precision Machining, Owen’s Insurance Services, Keen Concrete, DRC Chassis, and Rider Racing Engines for their continued support of the 2025 season. If you would like to join forces with the team for another fun and exciting year of racing in 2026, please contact Tafoya at Eddie Tafoya Jr. at (909) 393-3999 or mailto:teamtafoya@aol.com