Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Notes from CRA-Gresham's 3/13

Headlines Galore In Season Opener At Gresham Motorsports Park FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE JEFFERSON, GA (March 16, 2010) - There was so much cool stuff at this past weekend's Gresham Motorsports Park season-opening event that didn't make headlines that we thought we list a few of them here. Augie Grill not only won the 125-Lap Champion Racing Association (CRA) main event, but he set a new track record in Super Late Model qualifying with a 16.169 second tour of the GMP half-mile oval. The previous track record of 16.178 seconds was set by Chase Elliott in a Pro Late Model during Monolith Pole Qualifying for the World Crown 300 last November. In addition to the Monolith Pole Award, Grill took away just about every CRA contingency award available Saturday including the WearCrete Racing with Jeff Fultz Fast Qualifier Award, the Team Construction Clean Sweep Award, the RaceTrailerSales.com Halfway Leader Award, and the VDL Fuel Systems Hot Lap of the Race Award. Grill also earned a guaranteed starting spot in the 2010 World Crown 300 with his win Saturday. This year's Crown will be held November 11-14 at GMP. Congratulations Augie on a great night of racing. Doug Sexton was the only Renegade competitor to show up for Saturday's season opener, so he started in the back of the Truck Series race and finished seventh. As a show of appreciation for his efforts, Sexton and his No. 69 Monte Carlo were invited to Victory Lane after the race where he was presented the first-place trophy for the Renegade division. Hopefully, Sexton's efforts will encourage more Renegade racers to compete at GMP this season. The cold and wet weather didn't deter a large crowd of fans from attending Saturday's season-opening event. In appreciation of those GMP track owner Jim Gresham called 'die-hard race fans,' Gresham had GMP General Manager Dan Elliott make an announcement that the track would give a $5 discount on an adult ticket to the next event to any fan who presented a ticket stub from Saturday's March 13 event. Everyone at GMP sends out a big a thank you to all who came out and stuck it out under less than ideal conditions. The next event at GMP is a USAR Pro Cup event Saturday, March 27. Defending CRA champion Johnny Van Doorn had a tough day losing his No. 61 racer to mechanical problems in practice. He started the 125-lap main event in Scott Hantz' back-up car and ran one lap to get valuable CRA championship points. Bubba Pollard had a much better outing at GMP this time around finishing third in the CRA 125 Saturday. Pollard rolled his Pro Late Model racer last fall in the World Crown 300 after impacting the front stretch wall. Longtime Late Model standout Jason Hogan battled an ill handling car during practice and qualifying starting 13th in the 26-car starting field. He patiently moved through the pack to finish fourth and earned a Hoosier Racing Tire Performance Award for his efforts. T.J. Reaid had a tough night running as high as third in his first-ever ride in the Kyle Busch Motorsports No. 51 super before a rear end leak with just a handful of laps remaining saddled him with an 11th-place finish. Chase Elliott continues to impress as the 14-year-old driver posted a CRA best second-place finish at GMP Saturday. It's just a matter of time before this youngster starts winning and winning big. Elliott's teammate, Casey Roderick, also looked to be in position for a strong finish starting on the pole thanks to the inversion and running in the top-five throughout the early stages of the race. Mechanical gremlins got the best of the young Dawsonville, GA driver dropping him to 22nd in the final running order. Russell Fleeman, the 2008 World Crown 300 champion, started 20th and finished seventh also copped a Hoosier Racing Tire Award as well as the DMR Motorsports Hardcharger Award. Mike Garvey made his return to the cockpit an interesting one rallying from the tail end of the field on Lap 91 to finish fifth. Garvey, who has competed in the several NASCAR divisions including the Cup Series during his long and successful career, earned the AR Bodies Cool Move of the Race Award for his solid run. Outlaw Late Model driver Tina Stephens and Truck Series competitor Brittany Finley gave the ladies in attendance something to cheer about Saturday night at GMP. Stephens wheeled her way to third place in the Outlaw main event while Finley drove a solid race and finished fourth in the Truck headliner. CRA Series officials were very impressed with the remodeled GMP facility and its new pavement, grandstands, concession stands and restrooms. "It is probably one of the most beautiful short tracks in the country," stated CRA partner R.J. Scott. "The folks at Gresham have done an awesome job." The CRA Super Late Model cars will return to Gresham Motorsports Park on Saturday, July 17. Perhaps the competitor with the most mettle Saturday at GMP was Terry Martin. Martin was obviously dejected after crashing his Outlaw Late Model in practice Saturday afternoon. The disappointment didn't last long as Martin went home, borrowed another race car, and returned to the track to finish fourth in the Outlaw main event. Meanwhile, the worst luck of the night had to go to Aaron Calvert, who saw his Truck Series racer destroyed on a late-race restart. The entire rear end assembly was torn from his truck and ended up halfway down the main straight after the Turn 4 incident. Another Truck Series racer, Ruben Tarca, didn't have Lady Luck on his side either as a practice crash scratched him from Saturday's main event. Finally, we'd like to salute one of our own - Brandon Reed - for the outstanding job he did managing out first web cast of the 2010 season. Reed, the Sports Editor at the Jackson Herald in nearby Jefferson, is one of the most well-versed Georgia stock car racing historians and it showed as his up to the minute reports of Saturday's GMP action were spiced with plenty of references to past glories at GMP. Reed will head the web casts of all our stock car races on www.GreshamMotorsportsPark.com throughout the 2010 season, so make sure you dial up the site on your phone's web browser at the track or at home on your computer if you're not able to attend our next event. Speaking of our next event - Gresham Motorsports Park will next host an Electric Car Competition this Saturday, March 20. The event - which begins at 9 a.m. Saturday - will feature several area high schools and different types of electric vehicles in multiple competitions. The event is free of charge to the public. The next racing action on the GMP half-mile oval will be on Saturday, March 27 when the USARacing Pro Cup cars make their first of two appearances this season. Tickets for the 250-lap event are just $25 and are available at http://greshammotorsportspark.ticketforce.com/. And remember - if you have a ticket stub from Saturday's season opener, you'll get $5 off an adult admission for the USAR event courtesy of Jim Gresham and Gresham Motorsports Park.

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