Gresham Muscles Up To Finish 14th In Concord North/South Super Late Model Battle
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONCORD, NC (November 8, 2009) – Max Gresham started out strong and then had to muscle his way to the finish coming home 14th in the CRA North/South Shootout Super Late Model 125 at Concord Motorsport Park Saturday.
“For my first real Super Late Model race, I was really pleased,” said Gresham. “To be as strong as we were, I couldn’t have asked for anything more. It was a big learning experience for me, getting used to driving those cars with the throttle. I’m disappointed we didn’t finish better. My guys deserved better.”
After turning in a sold practice time of 16.291 seconds – good enough for ninth on the speed sheets - Gresham piloted his Gresham Motorsports Park/World Crown 300 super late model to a lightening quick time of 15.782 seconds and the fourth starting position in the 27-car starting field.
“We really wanted to be in the Top-5 in qualifying because we didn’t want to run the last-chance race,” said Gresham. “That was huge for us. It allowed our team to get to bed early Friday night and be fresh for the race Saturday. We also didn’t have to use up our race car in the qualifying race. Qualifying well really helped us out a lot. I have to thank Gene (Gresham Motorsports crew chief Gene Roberts) for getting the car right for qualifying. It allowed me to go out there and get a good starting position for us.”
Gresham showed he belonged in the front of the pack running in the Top-5 throughout the first third of the race. Then, a mechanical malfunction made Gresham’s race more about surviving than winning.
“We had a real strong car,” Gresham stated. “Then we broke a power steering line and I had to drive the last 80 laps of the race without power steering. The car was hooked up, real fast, but I just couldn’t do anything with the car. I couldn’t react quickly enough if the car would get loose, so I just had to be patient and not force the issue. I just had to cruise and try to finish the race.”
The result was Gresham slightly off the winning pace, just enough to get him one lap down and 14th in the final running order.
“I certainly got a lot more respect for the old race car drivers who drove these things without power steering,” laughed Gresham. “I’d rather not do that again.”
Gresham will be looking for smoother sailing when he points his No. 7-11 racer toward Northeast Georgia and the World Crown 300 at Gresham Motorsports Park this Friday-Sunday, November 13-15.
The event at the totally refurbished former Peach State Speedway will get underway with Late Model practice Friday and conclude with the 300-lap World Crown event on the freshly minted GMP half-mile oval on Sunday at 2 p.m. Eastern Time.
For information about sponsorship/partnering with Max Gresham and Gresham Motorsports, please contact Tony Gresham at tgresham@greshaminc.com.