Chase Elliott scored one of the biggest wins of his young career capturing the Monolith Companies 100 Pro Late Model race Saturday at Gresham Motorsports Park.
The 14-year-old Dawsonville native saw his strongest challengers self-destruct in the 100-lap event. In the end, Elliott still had the best car and roared away to a half-lap lead over Johnny Henderson, Nick Potts, Gene Kirila and Kevin Stephens.
14-year-old Chase Elliott celebrates in victory lane after winning his first event at Gresham Motorsports Park. Photo courtesy GMP media
Chase Elliott grabs victory at Gresham
“We just had a really good car start to finish,” said Elliott. “We were a little loose at the beginning of the race, but as the tires came in, it tightened up and this thing was awesome.”
Elliott was at or near the top of the leader board all day in practice before just losing the pole to his teammate, Casey Roderick, by a scant three one-thousandths of a second.
At the drop of the green, Elliott jumped to the lead only to have Dwayne Buggay take over the top spot for the next 15 laps. Elliott then roared back into the top spot with a nifty outside pass and built a half straightaway lead before a series of yellows slowed the action.
Elliott saw his competition fall by the wayside as Buggay slammed the turn four wall on lap 58 and Roderick tangled with T.J. Reaid on lap 65. That left Beau Slocumb as Elliott’s main challenger and he fell out of contention when he jumped the green flag on a lap 68 restart.
That opened the door for Elliott to cruise away from the field and score his first-ever Gresham Motorsports Park victory.
“You never know,” said Elliott. “You just can’t be out front and know you are going to win the race. That’s just how racing is. You just have to try as hard as you can every lap.”
Local divisions were also on tap Saturday night. In the Outlaw Late Model division, Mike Davidson ended Jason Bates’ two-race win streak winning in a three-wide battle with David Murphy at the checkered flag. Brian Huff made his first GMP appearance of the season a profitable one beating Brittany Finley, Bill Hoose, Joel Townsend and Branden Franklin in the 35-lap Truck Series finale.
Jefferson’s Steve Hill scored the Mini Stock win besting Ken Candiotti, Tim Greer, Bill George and Spanky Hicks. Mike Childers made a last lap pass in turn three to take the Renegade division win over Brian Beckner.
For more on this story, see Wednesday's edition of The Jackson Herald or The Braselton News.
Elliott was at or near the top of the leader board all day in practice before just losing the pole to his teammate, Casey Roderick, by a scant three one-thousandths of a second.
At the drop of the green, Elliott jumped to the lead only to have Dwayne Buggay take over the top spot for the next 15 laps. Elliott then roared back into the top spot with a nifty outside pass and built a half straightaway lead before a series of yellows slowed the action.
Elliott saw his competition fall by the wayside as Buggay slammed the turn four wall on lap 58 and Roderick tangled with T.J. Reaid on lap 65. That left Beau Slocumb as Elliott’s main challenger and he fell out of contention when he jumped the green flag on a lap 68 restart.
That opened the door for Elliott to cruise away from the field and score his first-ever Gresham Motorsports Park victory.
“You never know,” said Elliott. “You just can’t be out front and know you are going to win the race. That’s just how racing is. You just have to try as hard as you can every lap.”
Local divisions were also on tap Saturday night. In the Outlaw Late Model division, Mike Davidson ended Jason Bates’ two-race win streak winning in a three-wide battle with David Murphy at the checkered flag. Brian Huff made his first GMP appearance of the season a profitable one beating Brittany Finley, Bill Hoose, Joel Townsend and Branden Franklin in the 35-lap Truck Series finale.
Jefferson’s Steve Hill scored the Mini Stock win besting Ken Candiotti, Tim Greer, Bill George and Spanky Hicks. Mike Childers made a last lap pass in turn three to take the Renegade division win over Brian Beckner.
For more on this story, see Wednesday's edition of The Jackson Herald or The Braselton News.
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