Catchfence

LAS VEGAS, NV (October 15, 2011) – A pair of incidents not of his own making spoiled Max Gresham’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut Saturday in the Smith’s 350 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Gresham, the 2011 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East champion, was credited with 25th in the final running order of the event that featured 10 caution- and one red-flag periods.

“We got in a wreck with Max Papis early on,” said Gresham, who piloted the No. 66 Rheem / World Crown 300 Chevrolet Silverado in the event. “There was nothing I could do about it. He came right up in front of me. It was the same thing on the second one. In both cases, there wasn’t a thing I could do about it.”

Gresham’s first foray into the Truck Series proved to be bumpy on Friday as well as the engine in his mount failed on the first of his two qualifying laps. That meant his Turn One Racing team had to put in extra time swapping out engines – and relegated Gresham to the rear of the 34-truck starting field when the green flag fell Saturday.

Undaunted, Gresham quickly picked up a number of spots in the early going racing up to the 18th position by Lap 10. The 18-year-old Griffin, GA driver took advantage of one of the several caution flags early in the event to pit for fresh tires and a chassis adjustment to his black and red Chevrolet.

Again back in the field, Gresham got his first taste of Truck Series contact when Papis swept up in front of him coming off of Turn 4. Papis pounded the front-straight wall while Gresham headed to pit road not once, but five times during the ensuing caution for repairs.

Now a lap down and in the 27th position, Gresham drove through a multi-truck wreck that put the field under red-flag conditions on Lap 30. He then got back on the lead lap – courtesy of the ‘Lucky Dog’ rule – and appeared to be headed for a good finish when the No. 73 of Brent Raymer lost control coming off of Turn 4 collecting Gresham in the process.

With heavy damage to the front of his truck, Gresham had little choice to wheel his racer to the garage area – done for the day after just 40 of the 146 scheduled laps.”

“I just hate it for these Turn One Racing guys,” said Gresham. “They worked their guts out all weekend. It stinks for them. Our truck was pretty fast. We just had an unfortunate day.”

Gresham will return to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series on Saturday, October 29, in the Kroger 200 at Martinsville (VA) Speedway. The event will take the green flag at 1 p.m. Eastern Time and will be telecast live on SPEED and will be broadcast as it happens on Motor Racing Network (MRN) radio.

Additional information about Max Gresham can be accessed at www.MaxGresham.com.

Information about Turn One Racing can be viewed at www.Turn1Racing.com.

- Turn One Racing Press Release