It’s no secret that Kyle Grissom has
had success throughout the late
model stock car ranks, but just
because one’s had that success
doesn’t mean it automatically
transfers to the super late model
ranks as many have found out. Kyle
Grissom, however; wasted no time to
making his presence known to the
super late model world winning the
PASS South Easter Bunny 150 Saturday
night at the Hickory Motor Speedway
in Hickory, North Carolina.
Grissom, son of 1993 NASCAR
Nationwide Series Champion Steve
Grissom, was able to fend off
challenges from several different
drivers on multiple occasions before
pulling away for the win in the
final ten laps. The PASS South
Series newcomer set fast time in
qualifying before leading on five
different occasions for a total of
101 laps behind the wheel of his #31
Harrison’s Workwear Chevy Impala in
route to his first series win.
“None of us expected to win this
quick in the PASS South Series,
especially at a race like the Easter
Bunny, but Greg Marlowe built us an
awesome racecar that was hooked up
all night long. I had such good
forward bite through the center of
the turns that I was able to just
focus on saving my right rear tire,”
said Grissom in victory lane. “I had
a lot of fun racing against Andy
(Loden) and everyone else that we
raced against there at the end for
the win because it was just good
clean racing. That’s why there’s so
many people here tonight in the
grandstands at Hickory to watch this
race; they know they are going to
see some good racing when the PASS
Series comes to town. A huge thanks
goes out to Marlowe Chassis,
Harrison’s Workwear, and RE
Suspensions for this one. Hopefully
we can do it again in two weeks at
Orange County.”
Early on in
the 150 lap event it was several
familiar names in the form of Ryan
Blaney and Andy Loden that took
turns leading due to top ten
qualifying efforts before succumbing
to Grissom’s #31 machine. The
starting field stayed tight all
night long as thirty of the
thirty-two car starting field was
still on track at the event’s
halfway point, before a string of
cautions for minor incidents ended a
few drivers nights just past lap
seventy-five.
Just as the
event was heading into the final
stretch, series points leader
Preston Peltier, experienced a
problem that sent him fading through
the field. The mechanical issue
quickly turned into a bigger issue
for the former series champion when
his #26 Sig’s Tire Center Chevy
Impala got collected in a three car
incident ending his night early. The
final caution of the night set up a
twenty-five lap sprint to the finish
when two former Easter Bunny 150
race winners, Ben Rowe and Ryan
Lawler, tangled in turn four
battling for the sixth position.
Brad Keselowski Racing
development driver Landon Cling
finished a career best second after
having to race his way into the
feature event through one of two
last chance races for non qualified
drivers after time trials. Cling,
who is contending for the series
championship in 2012, methodically
made his way through the field
picking off cars one at a time
before edging third place finisher
Trey Mitchell and PASS North Series
regular Cassius Clark for the
position on the white flag lap.
Mitchell, making his first
series start of 2012, and Clark,
driving for southern series car
owner Dick Woodman, put on a show
for the fans to remember that packed
the house at the Hickory Motor
Speedway. The two drivers raced
nose-to-tail and side-by-side
throughout the second half of the
event before settling for their
above stated positions. Last year’s
Orange Blossom Special 125 winner at
the Orange County Speedway, Roger
Lee Newton rounded out the top five.
Next race for the PASS South
Series “Bad Boys with the Bad Fast
Toys” is the Orange Blossom Special
150 at the Orange County Speedway in
Rougemont, North Carolina on
Saturday April 21st. |
1) #31 - Kyle Grissom
2)
#29 - Landon Cling
3) #47 - Trey
Mitchell
4) #8 - Cassius Clark
5) #33 - Roger Lee Newton
6) #25
- Ross Kenseth
7) #12 - Jared
Marks
8) #22 - Kyle Bonsignore
9) #74 - Ryan Lawler
10) #4 - Jay
Fogleman
11) #4n - Ben Rowe
12) #19 - Nate Caruth
13) #02 -
Tim Nooner
14) #62 - Brandon Ward
15) #48 - John Batten
16) #101 -
Trevor Sanborn |
17) #76 - Jerick Johnson
18) #98 - Ryan Blaney
19) #66 -
Steve Wallace
20) #2 - Gray
Gaulding
21) #88 - Kyle Dessouza
22) #89 - David Latour Jr.
23)
#29l - Andy Loden
24) #2n - Matt
Matheson
25) #41 - Wes Burton
26) #26 - Preston Peltier
27) #81
- Craig Goess Jr.
28) #26c -
Tyler Church
29) #11 - Mark
Gibson
30) #71 - Jimmy Doyle
31) #12c - Garrett Campbell
32)
#80 - Dustin Hubbard |
