Tensions Flare Between Larson & Gravel After Eldora Battle

Kyle Larson (left) and David Gravel (right) had a heated rivalry Friday night at Eldora Speedway. (Brent Smith photos)

ROSSBURG, Ohio – The recent simmer between David Gravel and Kyle Larson erupted into a full-blown blaze of rivalry at the end of Friday’s Knight Before the Kings Royal at Eldora Speedway.

After a back-and-forth duel between the pair, which took up most of the second half of the 30-lap feature, things came to a boil in the final two circuits around the historic half-mile dirt oval.

Larson’s No. 57 and Gravel’s No. 2 traded slide jobs virtually every corner, with the coup de grace coming in turns three and four on the final lap, when the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion pitched his car to the inside and sliced across the front wing of Gravel’s machine exiting the corner.

It was a tight move, but the end result was a podium finish for Larson in third, while defending World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series champion Gravel was forced to settle for fourth.

That didn’t mean the drama was finished, however.

As the pair worked through turn two on the cooldown lap, contact was made that spun Larson around, stalling him out at corner exit as Gravel continued around a second time.

But Gravel came back to Larson and stopped to driver’s right, engaging in a heated conversation on the racing surface complete with hand gestures before the pair was rolled back to the pits.

Larson – who also co-owns the rival Kubota High Limit Racing tour – conducted his podium interview in front of the DIRTvision cameras moments after and chalked up the fire to little more than fierce competition between two top-tier drivers.

“It was good hard racing, you know? That’s two hard racing drivers right there,” said a matter-of-fact Larson. “I hope the fans enjoyed it. I know it’s tight from my seat, but sometimes you come out ahead [and] sometimes you don’t. Tonight, we got in front of him and beat him once again on the last lap.”

No more had Larson finished that response than the pair was directed to the World of Outlaws command center to speak with longtime series director Carlton Reimers.

A closed-door conversation was had between the trio – and continued between just Larson and Gravel – before they later exited the trailer.

Gravel spoke to DIRTvision following that discussion and admitted that he still wasn’t entirely happy with how he was raced and Larson’s current outlook on the Big Game Motorsports team that Gravel drives for.

“I don’t know if I’m satisfied about it yet," Gravel said of the responses he got from Larson, noting he feels the feud between them goes back to the High Bank Nationals at Huset’s Speedway last month.

“He’s been running me same way for the last couple of weeks; it started at Huset’s and he’s got a vendetta toward us. We could keep playing that game, but eventually it’s not going to be good. He should be a professional. He thinks our team’s not professional, but he should be the ultimate professional … and he’s not driving like that on the racetrack.

“We’re friends, but I guess right now we’re not.”

Asked his feelings on the final pass that gave Larson third place coming to the checkers, Gravel minced no words.

“That is past the point [of frustration],” admitted the Watertown, Conn., native. “It was all the stuff before that [which led to Gravel’s emotions]. He did it to me twice in that feature before that. I gave it back to him once, and then he gave me it back again.

“Him running third or fourth [in] this race doesn’t change his life. He doesn’t do this for a living, and he’s got to remember that,” Gravel pointed out. “We’ll see [what happens next].”

If those words weren’t enough, the pair continued their back-and-forth jabs on social media into the early morning hours on Saturday.

Larson had a more lighthearted tone in his comments, while Gravel pointed to a seeming lack of respect for racecraft and the several vicious incidents that had already taken place through the week at Eldora.

Two of your top drivers got hurt this week maybe that would open your eyes on how to race with respect. If you and all your fans think that how you race in a sprint car is racing with respect you are fooled. I will take all the smoke. As far as the contract better make it good. https://t.co/S6FHHmqg7C

— David Gravel (@DavidGravel) July 19, 2025

Gravel carries a 174-point lead in the Outlaws standings into Saturday night’s 42nd Kings Royal, while Larson will practice and qualify his Hendrick Motorsports Cup Series car at Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway earlier in the day before returning to Eldora for the $200,000-to-win grand finale.

If their recent battles are any indication of what might ensue – given that both Larson (who topped the postponed 2020 running) and Gravel (the defending event winner) are past Kings Royal champions – then the 42nd Kings Royal may be an all-out war for sovereign supremacy.

In Gravel’s mind, though, it needs to be a straight-up, clean fight – with none of the drama that the Knight Before produced.

“It’s just got to stop,” he told Sprint Car Unlimited of the growing feud between he and Larson.

Coverage of the 42nd Kings Royal finale airs Saturday evening beginning at 5:30 p.m. ET on DIRTvision.