By ohnson 
David Gravel has been blazing fast right from the get-go this season.
The past two nights at Volusia Speedway Park, he has been second-quick among the top Outlaws and All Stars runners. However, the team is facing a serious predicament, and the year hasn’t kicked off in the way any of them could have envisioned.
In 80 races, there had never been a need for an engine change during the night. But that streak came to an abrupt end on Thursday. Right after his time trial, he was pushed to the pits, where an engine change was initiated. He then came back to claim the All Star feature victory.
Friday was a complete nightmare. Once again, after the time trials, he was immediately pushed off to the pits, and the second engine change in a span of 24 hours was underway. In the second heat, he was leading the race with just two laps to go when a massive cloud of white smoke accompanied by a burst of flames consumed the second engine of the night.
Engine number three was installed, and starting from the pole position, he finished second to Shane Stewart in the B-Main. As he came down the front stretch after the checkered flag, the car coasted to the infield, and he was once again pushed to the pits.
He started at the very back of the feature, probably for points, as he had blown his third engine in less than 26 hours.
Talking to those on the team, it was noted that they were out of engines and had a crew member fly back to the home base in Carlisle, Pennsylvania to bring back two more engines for the remaining two nights of racing at Volusia County.
The gremlins have come to haunt the CJB Motorsports team as they begin the 2017 season. Losing three engines right off the bat is not the way any race team wants to start their season.