Columbus, OH (July 24, 2011): Seventeen-year-old Andrew Gipson made his NASCAR K&N Pro Series East debut in the Jegs 150 at Columbus Speedway last night with a 25th place finish. Gipson got collected in an accident involving two other cars in turn four. The damage was too extensive to continue and the No. 5 Florida Suncoast Vanlines Chevrolet had to retire from the race with only 61 laps complete.
Gipson, who started his racing career at Charlotte County (FL) Speedway in the Fastruck Pro Touring Series, was under the direction of crew chief Mario Gosselin, a well-respected driver and car-owner who has found success in the USAR ProCup Series, ARCA, and the NASCAR Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series’.
“I think our first race went really well. We moved up quite a few positions from our start and I think we had the potential for a top-10 finish. It was really fun and everybody races pretty clean,” said Gipson. “We’re very optimistic for the next race.”
Gipson’s day began on a positive note with consistent practice times in the first and second rounds. His qualifying lap of 14.992 seconds (79.963 mph) mirrored his efforts earlier in the day during practice, however, the No. 5 would have to start at the tail end of the field in the 150-lap feature event.
“We started the car off really loose for qualifying because we knew it would tighten up during the race,” said Gipson. “And the plan worked out for us because we were moving through the field pretty fast.”
Gipson was impressive in the first half of the event. He advanced thirteen positions to the 12th spot before getting collected in the accident that started with contact between Ali Kern and Ben Kennedy. Gipson moved to the high side of the track to avoid it, but the No. 5 Florida Suncoast Vanlines Chevrolet would have to head to pit road.
“You really couldn’t see anything,” Gipson said about the accident. “It all happened so fast – I don’t know who it was, but I was just trying to avoid it. The throttle was sticking and we got it back into the pits and the lower A-frame and tie rods were bent. Everything on the right side was pretty much done.”
Grogan Motorsports, which fields the No. 5 Florida Suncoast Vanlines Chevrolet for driver Andrew Gipson, will return to action at Greenville-Pickens Speedway on September 5.
The Jegs 150 will air on SPEED on Aug. 6, at 6 p.m. ET.
