CHARLOTTE, NC :: Over the last year and a half, Pro All Stars Series (PASS) South Super Late Model front runners Jay Fogleman and Kyle Grissom have been seemingly inseparable. Fogleman began racing full-time with PASS in 2009 and has since gone on to win 8 races and claim the 2012 PASS National Championship. Grissom stormed on to the PASS South scene in 2012 winning, the prestigious Easter Bunny 150 at Hickory Motor Speedway before going on a Summer tear that saw him win three races in-a-row en route to the series championship.
Through eight PASS South races that have been contested so far this year, Fogleman and Grissom are neck-and-neck with one another again, each scoring five top five’s and six top 10’s. While Grissom does have a two-to-one edge in race wins compared to the Durham, NC veteran, Fogleman holds a 24 point advantage in the standings based mostly on a tough weekend for both drivers in the last PASS South event at Southern National Motorsports Park. Grissom finished 23rd due to an engine problem, while Fogleman fared slightly better, finishing 15th after being involved in a late race crash. Despite the intense nature of the competition on the track, Grissom has enjoyed his new found rivalry.
“If there was somebody that I was going to have to be around all the time, I would prefer it to be him,” said Grissom referring to Fogleman. “Honestly, I’ve just tried to watch him and learn a little bit from him this year. He’s really got it figured out on how to be there at the end of these races and knows what pace to run.”
As the PASS South Super Late Models make their way back to Virginia’s South Boston Speedway this weekend, much of the focus will again be on Fogleman and Grissom since the two are again in the midst of a championship battle. For Fogleman, South Boston is one of the tough Mid-Atlantic bullrings that he cut his racing teeth on back in the 1980’s and 90’s. And, after driving for three different teams this year looking for that elusive PASS South championship, this weekend’s event will again test the veteran’s resolve.
“Kind of got my hands full with keeping Tate [Fogleman’s son] going and it’s just been unbelievably busy running from hauler to hauler on race day and then doing everything else during the week,” said Fogleman. “Just looking forward to going back to South Boston and running in front of so many people that have helped me in the past and continue to help me now. It’s close enough to home that they can come to that race and that makes it special.”
Grissom returns to SoBo as the defending winner of this event. Prior to last year’s win, however, South Boston was a track Grissom struggled at during his Late Model Stock career. With those challenges now behind him, Grissom will be looking for another win to try and cut into Fogleman’s advantage.
“You always have to race really, really hard at South Boston,” said Grissom. “It’s a dogfight every single lap there, so you’ve just got to have a car that’s under you and I always really look forward to running at SoBo.”
While the points leaders will be keeping an eye on one another, they will have another stellar field of challengers to contend with including Ross Kenseth, the winner at South Boston back in May. Brandon McReynolds will be making his PASS South debut Saturday night driving the Coulter Motorsports #2. Southern National winner Daniel Hemric returns driving the second Woodman Racing entry as a teammate once again to Fogleman. Two-time PASS South winner Austin Theriault will be looking for another win in the Brad Keselowski Racing entry. Brandon Ward and the New Day Motorsports’ #62 will be back following their tragic weekend at Southern National. Championship contending rookies Spencer Davis and Brandon Lynn hope to continue their strong seasons along with fellow rookies Tate Fogleman, Karl Weber, Joseph Mursuli, Bobby Gower, Cole Timm, Jared Irvan, Joe Ryan Osborne. Virginia’s own Tanner Rumburg and Tim Pinion will be looking to make the home state fans proud. Veterans John Batten and Bobby Measmer, Jr. have been strong as of late, but are still looking for their wins of the year. And, the Godfather Motorsports entries owned by Dave Moody and driven by Tyler Dippel and Jerrick Johnson hope South Boston will be where they can turn the season around.
Action gets underway on Friday at South Boston Speedway with rotating practice for the PASS South Super Late Models, NASCAR Late Model Stocks and Legends from 10 AM – 4 PM. On Saturday, practice rolls from 2 – 4 PM, qualifying begins at 4:30 PM, followed by the Pit Party at 5:45 PM. Main event racing is slated to begin at 7:00 PM with a 25 lap feature for the Legends, Twin 75’s for the NASCAR Late Model Stocks and a $2,000 bounty on Lee Pulliam, and 150 green flag laps for the PASS South Super Late Models
Entry lists and schedule for this week’s PASS South events at South Boston Speedway and the PASS North events at White Mountain Motorsports Park can be found at ProAllStarsSeries.com.
PASS South Super Late Model entry forms for South Boston Speedway as well as PASS North Super Late Model entry forms for White Mountain Motorsports Park can also be found at ProAllStarsSeries.com.
The Pro All Stars Series is recognized as North America’s premier sanctioning body for asphalt Super Late Models and boasts such marquee events as the PASS Northwest Triple Crown at Wenatchee Valley Super Oval, PASS South’s Easter Bunny 150 at the historic Hickory Motor Speedway, the Autobus La Qubecoise Triple Crown at Autodrome Chaudiere, and the legendary TD Bank 250 at Oxford Plains Speedway. For technical information concerning all PASS divisions please contact Scott Reed at 207-625-3230 or [email protected]. For media or marketing questions, please contact Alan Dietz at 704-231-2039 or [email protected]. Please visit ProAllStarsSeries.com for more information and don’t forget to “Like” the Pro All Stars Series on Facebook to keep up with breaking news as it happens.
