Augie Grill beat the rain, the competitors and the heat to pick up his second victory of the season at Gresham Motorsports Park in Saturday night's U.S. Auto Sales 100.
Grill held off a hard charging T.J. Reaid on the final restart with two laps to go to pick up the win, with Bubba Pollard third, Ryan Blaney fourth and Jeff Fultz rounding out the top five.
"It feels very good to win tonight," Grill said in victory lane. "We didn't get the pole and I wish we had but the win more than makes up for it. This car is great to drive and they have built a good machine.
"I'm lucky to drive this car."
The run didn't look much like luck. After rolling off seventh after an inverted start from a second fastest qualifying run, Grill charged to the lead, passing Pollard on lap 34, and didn't look back all night.
Meanwhile, Pollard would scramble with Reaid, Jimmy Garmon, Jason Hogan and Jeff Fultz for position.
Grill's strong run was challenged only twice on the night, both during double file restarts.
Pollard challenged briefly on one restart near the midpoint of the race, while Reaid would make a run on a late restart. Grill held off both charges to hold the top spot.
The event was fast and furious, being slowed twice by red flags. The first flew on lap 74 when the cars of Donnie Wilson and Ben Kennedy tangled on the backstretch. Kennedy's car was pushed up the wall, and rode into turn three on the driver's side before coming down on all four tires in the third turn. Both drivers walked away uninjured.
The second red flag flew in the closing laps. While racing for a top five position, Jason Hogan spun after contact with another car in the third turn with three laps remaining. Hogan's car made hard contact with the outside wall, lifting off the ground. It landed on all fours, and came to rest between turns three and four. The crash ended Hogan's night, but he walked away uninjured.
Jimmy Weller, Greg Simpson, Jody Lavender, Daniel Johnson and Randy Gentry rounded out the top ten.
After being flagged for second, however, T.J. Reaid did not pass post-race tech, and was relegated to 20th place.
Results are unofficial until certified by CRA officials.
Grill's win in March at GMP qualified him for a guaranteed starting spot in the 27th annual World Crown 300 on November 14, so the starting spot for this event's winner went unclaimed.
There was also lots of action in the local divisions.
Curt Britt charged to the lead from the drop of the green flag in the Truck division race, and was never seriously challenged again. Brian Huff took second, while Cohen Motes made a late charge to finish third, and Brittney Finley took fourth and Chris Wagner finished fifth.
Spanky Hicks became a four-time winner at GMP with a wire-to-wire run for the win in the Mini-Stock division. He beat out Avery Burgess for the win while Steve Hill took third, Scott Beck fourth and Troy French fifth.
Jason Bates, and his dog Roscoe, made their fourth trip to GMP's victory lane in the Outlaw Late Model division, as they held off hard charges from Mike Davidson, Tina Stephens and David Murphy in a tight four car battle for the win. Brian Hardman rounded out the top five.
Greg Jarrett held off a hard charging Mike Childers to take the victory in the Renegade feature. Jody Trivette, Brian Beckner and Nathaniel Carlisle rounded out the top five.
Will Fagen outdistanced the field to win the first Mini-Cup feature of the night on the GMP quarter-mile. Emilee Riley took second with Brody Bullard third, Mason Elzey fourth and Austin Raines fifth.
Casey Willingham made an early charge to the lead in the second Mini-Cup event and never looked back, taking the win over Will Fagen and Emilee Riley.
Next up at Gresham Motorsports Park will be a 100-lap Pro Late Model event on Saturday, August 14.
For more information, call 706-367-9461 or go online to www.greshammotorsportspark.com.
