Mechanical Problems Relegate Gresham To 13th-Place Finish In Anderson ASA Southeast Event
FOR IMMEDITATE RELEASE
ANDERSON, SC (August 9, 2009) – Starting fourth in Saturday’s Anderson 100 American Speed Association Southeast Asphalt Tour event at Anderson (SC) Speedway, Max Gresham knew he had one of the best cars in the field.
“We were fastest or second fastest in practice all day,” said Gresham of his No. 7-11 Gresham & Associates late model racer. “We had a really good car. It was good in race trim and it qualified well. At the start of the race, I could tell something wasn’t right. It was hardly drivable. I couldn’t do anything with it.”
After the race, Gresham found out a faulty rear end gear was the culprit, turning his dreams of winning a third ASA Southeast Tour event this season into a 13th-place finish.
“I would get back in the gas and the car would just want to spin out,” said Gresham. “One tire would spin and the other wouldn’t sometimes. One tire was free spooling and the other was still driving. The car would over rotate every time I got back on the gas. Every lap was different, a new ballgame. I never knew what it was going to do coming off the corner. It was pretty unnerving and frustrating too. We were so good in practice and I was hoping to win and expecting no worse than a Top-5 finish.”
Despite the problem, Gresham was able to stay on the lead lap until just 30 circuits remaining in the 100-lap ASA test. While the 13th-place effort wasn’t what he and his Gresham Motorsports team had in mind when they invaded the 3/8-mile paved Anderson oval, Gresham was able to take some positives out of the event.
“We’ve got two races until the championship chase starts,” said Gresham, who entered the event third in ASA Southeast Tour season points. “I’m sure we’re going to recover in those and be better than we have been all season when the chase starts. The guys on this Gresham Motorsports team work very hard and I can’t thank them enough for the great cars they put on the racetrack. I know we’ll bounce back and be right in the middle of the championship battle.”
Gresham will next take the green flag in ASA Southeast competition at Orange County Speedway in Rougement, NC Saturday August 22. The event is a make-up date for a rained out event earlier this season and will roll off at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time.
For information about sponsorship/partnering with Max Gresham and Gresham Motorsports, please contact Tony Gresham at tgresham@greshaminc.com.