Andrew Grady has been a dominant force in Limited Late Model competition at Southern National Motorsports Park for years, but after four years of frustration, he was finally able to lock down the championship in 2018.
Grady had dominant seasons in 2014 and 2015 but came up short in championship points battles those years to Haley Moody and Jonathan Findley respectively. This year, Grady would once again be dominant, picking up four wins on the season. A pair of wins in October and a runner-up finish in the season finale allowed Grady to seal the deal and clinch his first Limited Late Model championship.
“Finally,” Grady exclaimed. “We’ve had amazing years where we’ve won 12 races and not won the championship. We’ve been leading going into the last race and blown a motor. To finally lock it up, and with Mike [Darne] winning the Late Model title as well, it’s been an amazing year for Mike Darne Racing.”
Grady made a statement right from the start, finishing second to Chris Chapman in the season opener. That would be his worst finish of the 2018 season. One month later, Grady picked up the first of four wins.
“We came out of the box swinging right from the start,” Grady explained. “We came out and won one of the first two races. The car was amazing all year. We didn’t fight anything. I think the worst finish we had was second. Mike and Derek [Peebles] did an amazing job with the car this year. Every time the car unloaded, it was perfect, if not close. Even in long runs, we were still fast.”
The 2018 season was Grady’s first full season behind the wheel since 2015. He had a handful of starts and victories in 2016 and 2017. He concluded the season with a second place finish in the Limited Late Model portion of the Thanksgiving Classic.
