“Nah, no pressure here,” said Gresham, who will take a 17-point lead (1125-1,108) over his nearest challenger, Matt DiBenedetto, into Friday’s race on the NHMS ‘Magic Mile.’ “We pretty much restarted our season after the first race at Greenville and it’s been top-five finishes ever since. This Joe Gibbs Racing team has been awesome. It’s been a long march back to the front and I don’t feel like there’s any extra pressure on the team or me. We had a talk after the last race and we all agreed that we’re going to just keep doing what we have been doing. We’re going to keep running the way we have been these last six races. We’re going to be good from here on out.”
The first step in that process will be the New England 125 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Friday. While the NHMS oval is one of Gresham’s favorite tracks, the raceway hasn’t produced the kind of finishes the 18-year-old driver would have liked. To date, Gresham’s best effort at New Hampshire has been a ninth, that coming in his first-ever NKNPS race at the track in 2009.
Last year, a cut tire early in the July race put Gresham two laps down early and relegated him to a 21st-place finish. In the fall, Gresham was in the thick of a battle for a top-five finish only to be swept up in a crash in the final 10 laps producing an 24th-place effort.
“I’m looking forward to getting a solid finish this weekend,” said Gresham, who has qualified no worse than third in his three NKNPSE events at NHMS. “I should have had three top-five finishes at New Hampshire, but we just had little things effect us in the end. I’m looking for a little redemption after last year because we finished poorly in both races at New Hampshire. It would be great to win, but the bottom line is that we want to continue to finish every lap and get another top-five finish.”
Gresham will be riding a string of six-straight top-five NKNPS finishes into Friday’s race after a solid third-place finish in the most recent division event – the VisitHamptonVA 175 at Langley Speedway on June 19. Gresham and his JGR mates have been the model of consistency completing all 1060 laps contested in K&N Pro Series East competition this season.
According to Gresham – who recently moved from Griffin, GA to Huntersville, NC – working in at the JGR shop every day has paid big dividends for him and the team.
“That’s helped exponentially,” Gresham stated. “To be at the shop every day and to learn how things work, what changes do to the car, makes it so much easier for me and the team. If Bryant (JGR crew chief Bryant Frazier) has a question about what the car has been doing, he doesn’t have to call me. We don’t have wait to talk. Being there at
the shop every day allows him to ask me every single question he can think of and have immediate feedback. It’s been a great learning experience for me and I think it’s made the team better.”
Gresham and his No. 18 World Crown 300 / JGR Toyota will take the green flag in the New England 125 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Friday, July 15 at approximately 5 p.m. Eastern Time. The event will be part of a full NASCAR weekend that will also feature the Whelan Modified, Nationwide and Sprint Cup divisions.
Friday’s event can be heard on Internet radio at www.NASCARHomeTracks.com. Fans can also follow Gresham throughout Thursday’s practice/qualifying sessions and Friday’s race on Twitter@MaxGresham and on Facebook at Max Gresham Fan Page.
Gresham will also be a part of ‘NASCAR Night’ at the Lowell (MA) Spinners baseball game Wednesday, July 13. The team is a minor league affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. The event will feature an autograph session and several promotions. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. at LeLacheur Park in Lowell.
Additional information about Max Gresham can be accessed at www.MaxGresham.com.
- Max Gresham Motorsports Press Release
