Max Gresham Wins ASA Southeast Opener At Mobile, Finishes 10th At Pensacola
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MOBILE, AL (March 29, 2009) – Max Gresham opened the 2009 American Speed Association Southeast Asphalt Tour season just the way he wanted to – with a trip to Victory Lane - when he captured the Ride-On Tire Protection System 100 event at Mobile International Speedway Saturday.
The 15-year-old Griffin, GA driver then backed up the win with a 10th-place effort in Sunday’s rescheduled ASA Estrol Oil 100 at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, FL making it a big weekend for the Gresham Motorsports team.
“We couldn’t be happier about how the season started,” stated Gresham, who became the youngest driver ever to win an ASA Southeast Tour main event with the Mobile victory. “To win at Mobile right away was phenomenal. I was so happy for my race team. They have put so much time into getting this right. It was awesome to win. We kept saying all week long that we were going to win. We knew we could do it. It was great that we could go out and prove it.”
Gresham gridded his No. 7-11 Late Model Stock Car 16th in the 28-car starting field Saturday and quickly headed to the front at the drop of the green flag. Along the way, several cautions provided some anxious moments for the young driver.
“I had a couple of close calls,” said Gresham. “I had to miss a couple of wrecks early. The name of the game was staying out of trouble and using the cautions, slower cars lapped traffic to our advantage. Doing that, we were able to pass two and sometimes three cars at a time, so we wound up getting to the front pretty quickly.”
Eventually, Gresham worked his way up to the runner-up spot and was in position for the win when the race was slowed by a pair of attempts at a green, white, checkered flag finish. On the second and final restart, Gresham decided it was now or never.
“We had gained quite a bit of ground on the leader to get in a position to win,” said Gresham. “On the second restart, it was time to go for broke. I drove hard into Turn 1 and the car stuck. We had a little contact, but we held on and raced for it down into Turn 3. Somehow, I was able to grab the lead and come home first.”
Jeff Choquette, John Bolen, Joel Anderson and Taylor Satterfield completed the Top-5 finishers while Jerrod Foley, Johanna Long, Ryan Crane, Terry Horak and Tyler Millwood rounded out the Top-10.
“The guys got the car just right for the race,” said Gresham. “I can’t thank them enough. It means so much to win at this level. It was a pretty amazing experience and can only help our race team the rest of this season.”
Gresham rode a wave of confidence into Sunday’s ASA race at Pensacola. Rained out Friday night, the rescheduled show proved to be a tougher task for the teenage driver.
“Sunday’s race at Pensacola was a lot more difficult than Saturday’s event at Mobile,” Gresham stated. “Because the race was in the heat of the day, the track was much harder to race. We were sliding around a lot, but I still learned quite a bit and that’s what we’re trying to do at each event.”
Gresham nearly replicated Saturday’s win qualifying 13th in the 30-car field and then driving straight to the front taking the lead by Lap 55.
“The car was absolutely wonderful during the early part of the race,” said Gresham. “The last two times we have raced at Pensacola, we had a loose car at the start of the race. Today, it was perfect from the start and I was able to drive it to the front. It was great to drive right to the lead, especially after winning the night before at Mobile.”
Gresham held the top spot for 10 circuits Sunday before losing the lead on a restart.
“I had burned the tires off the car by about Lap 75,” stated Gresham. “From there, I was just holding on trying to get the best finish I could. We still got the good finish – a top-10 – that we were looking for, but it could have been a lot more.”
Paul Kelley wound up winning the 100-lap Pensacola ASA clash with Bolen second. T.J. Reaid, Crane, Jason Hogan, Brandon Carlson, Patrick Long, Foley, Josh Hamner and Gresham completed the Top-10 finishers Sunday at Pensacola.
“We couldn’t have had a better start to the 2009 ASA season,” said Gresham. “We proved we could win and we posted a solid Top-10 finish in the race we didn’t win. That’s our goal all year – to run well consistently and compete for wins. We did that this weekend and hope to do that the rest of the season.”
Gresham, who will wheel a Joe Gibbs Racing NASCAR Camping World East entry in four races this year in addition to competing on the full ASA Southeast Asphalt Tour, will return to action Saturday, April 11 at Lanier, GA.
The 100-lap ASA clash on the 3/8-mile Lanier Speedway oval will take the green flag at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.
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.