Gresham To Open ASA Southeast Late Model Season With Weekend Doubleheader At Pensacola, Mobile
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
GRIFFIN, GA (March 23, 2009) – Max Gresham will begin his quest for the American Speed Association Southeast Asphalt Tour championship with a racing doubleheader this weekend.
“We’re going to open the ASA season this Friday at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola (FL) and then race again Saturday at Mobile (AL) International Speedway,” stated Gresham who will wheel his familiar family-owned No. 7-11 Late Model Stock Car in the weekend racing twinbill. “Normally, we don’t run races on back-to-back days, so it’s kind of different for me. That’s 100 laps or racing each night plus practice and qualifying laps two days in a row. I’m sure I won’t get tired. I’ve done it a couple of times before, so it’s no big deal. You’re too excited to be racing to get tired.”
Gresham has plenty to be excited about this season as he will take on the entire 17-race ASA Southeast Tour slate as well as compete in four NASCAR Camping World East Stock Car Series events this year. It’s a schedule that will be a challenge for the up and coming 15-year-old Griffin, GA driver.
“I’m really looking forward to this season,” said Gresham. “I have an opportunity to establish myself. You want to show people how good you are. You want to show them how far you have come. This is going to be a good season for us. I’m going to be running different kinds of cars in multiple divisions. Wherever we go, we want people know we’re there to race. I want to run as good as we can and be established by the end of the season. If we can do that, I think we’ll have a great year.”
Gresham hopes to get the 2009 ASA campaign off to a flying start Friday at the famed Five Flags Speedway oval. The last time the impressive young driver competed at the high-banked, half-mile track, Gresham qualified eighth and finished seventh in the Snowflake 100 Pro Late Model division event.
“When we were at Pensacola last year, I learned the key was to take care of your tires and keep the car under you as long as possible,” Gresham stated. “You try to keep off the brakes and keep the car rolling in the turns. You have to charge, but you have to be as easy as you can on your equipment and still be fast.”
According to Gresham, Saturday’s race at Mobile will be equally as challenging despite a significant difference between the Mobile and Pensacola tracks.
“Mobile has longer straights than Pensacola and because of that, it’s a speed track,” said Gresham, who has one previous start at the Alabama raceway qualifying in the Top-10 before falling out of the race with a mechanical problem just short of Lap 100. “It has a lot of grip. It’s all about speed on the straights there and not so much about the corners. Mobile is more about going fast in a straight line. Pensacola is all about momentum and has no grip while Mobile has a ton of grip and you go very fast.”
In the end, Gresham hopes his previous experience, along with a commitment to excellence this season, will provide the keys to victory this weekend.
“We’re looking to go down there and win these races,” said Gresham. “If we can’t do that, we at least want to finish in the top five. We want to start off the 2009 ASA season with great finishes and get a solid start to a championship run. We accomplished what we wanted to last season. We learned some new things that we know will make faster, especially in qualifying this year. It’s all a learning experience for us right now and as long as we can qualify and run near the front, we’ll have a good weekend at Pensacola and Mobile.”
To learn more about Max Gresham and Gresham Motorsports, please log on to www.greshammotorsports.com.
For information about sponsorship/partnering with Max Gresham and Gresham Motorsports, please contact Tony Gresham at tgresham@greshaminc.com.