Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Gresham 21st at New Hampshire

Max Gresham found out just how quickly a great finish can turn into a disappointing one Friday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Gresham ran in the Top-5 for the first half of the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East New Hampshire 125 and was in the Top-10 with less than 15 laps remaining. A cut left rear tire, subsequent spin and trip to pit road, changed all that however as Gresham fell to Lady Luck for the second-straight NKNPSE event finishing 21st. Gresham proved he was ready to compete at NHMS hitting his marks and qualifying third Thursday with a lap of 30.438 seconds (125.133 miles per hour). Gresham and his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota played the waiting game falling into third during the first 20 laps of the New Hampshire 125 Friday. The 17-year-old Woodward Academy (College Park, GA) senior student then provided the fans with some of the best racing of the day swapping the third through fifth spots with Ryan Truex, Kevin Swindell, Ryan Gifford and Ty Dillon over the next 30 circuits. Gresham was fourth as the field rumbled by the half-way point of the 125-mile test on the NHMS ‘Magic Mile.’ Gresham, who won K&N events earlier this year at South Boston (VA) Speedway and Iowa Speedway, finally got a break in the extended green-flag run when the caution flew on Lap 83. Gresham headed for pit road twice during the break in the action – once for fuel, a second time for fresh rubber and adjustments. The pit cycle scrambled the field with Gresham in hammering off 10th on the Lap 90 restart. Things went South for Gresham in a hurry as his car developed a loose condition quickly dropping him in the running order. Gresham came to the pits for adjustments during another caution on Lap 109 only to see his chance of a good finish hit the spin cycle in Turn 4 when the left rear tire went down just 11 laps from the finish. Gresham returned to the race two laps down and rode out the final handful of laps remaining in the race. He was unofficially credited with 21st in the final running order. In his last NASCAR K&N Pro Series East event at Martinsville, Gresham suffered a flat right-front tire just 29 laps into the race saddling him with a 17th-place finish. Friday’s New Hampshire 125 will be telecast on SPEED on Thursday, July 1 at 6 p.m. ET. Next up for Max Gresham and his Gresham Motorsports Park/World Crown 300 sponsored Toyota will the first road course event of his career – a NASCAR K&N Pro Series East event at Lime Rock (CT) Speedway - on Saturday, July 3. For more information about Max Gresham, please log on to www.MaxGresham.com

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