ASHEBORO, NC :: Kyle Grissom took the lead from Brandon Ward on a lap 84 restart and held off points leader Jay Fogleman to win the “Krazy” Kevin Powell 150 for the Pro All Stars Series (PASS) South Super Late Models Friday night at Caraway Speedway. Grissom’s seventh career PASS South Super Late Model win moves him to within four points of Fogleman headed to the next series event in two weeks at South Boston Speedway.
“I wasn’t crazy about taking the lead that early, but I was getting good restarts and took advantage of it,” said Grissom, after becoming the first two-time winner this season in PASS South. “Once the 2 car (Fogleman) got up there, that was pretty tough, that was nerve wracking having Jay Fogleman back there those last 60 laps.”
Grissom began the night by breaking his own track record in qualifying with a lap of 100.485 miles per hour around the .455 mile Caraway Speedway. Following the top 10 qualifier redraw, Grissom slid back to the seventh starting position while veterans Brandon Ward and Randy Gentry would move up to row one for the start.
Ward jumped into the lead at the drop of the green flag, but Gentry would take command on lap six setting a blistering early pace. Meanwhile, Grissom was pacing himself, moving around Spencer Davis for fifth on lap 36. Davis would slow just seven laps later, struggling through the rest of the night to eventually finish 12th. The race would go caution free until lap 53 when Jerrick Johnson spun exiting turn four, making contact with the inside wall.
On the restart, Ward reassumed the lead from Gentry as they entered turn one. At halfway, Ward and Gentry continued to lead the field with Grissom and Bobby Measmer, Jr. not far behind. The hardest crash of the night occurred on lap 78 when the caution flew for the second time in the race for a grinding crash by Karl Weber into the inside pit wall. Despite heavy damage to the car, Weber was uninjured in the incident.
Following a spin by Measmer on lap 84, Ward struggled to come up to speed on the ensuing restart which allowed Grissom and Gentry to move into the top two spots. Ward’s strong run ended when he fell from the race just seven laps later due to clutch problems and finished 15th.
On lap 93, Fogleman, who was driving the #2 entry from Coulter Motorsports, muscled his way by Gentry for second and set his sights on Grissom. Despite applying heavy pressure throughout the final third of the race, Fogleman had to settle for second behind Grissom at the finish.
“We just missed on the setup a little bit and I had to use up my tires too early, but that’s just the way it goes,” said Fogleman. “To finish second and stay up in this points hunt is about all we could ask for.”
PASS South rookie Jared Irvan drove from 13th to finish third, a career best run for him. The son of 1991 Daytona 500 winner Ernie Irvan stormed into the top five in the final 50 laps and was happy to get a strong finish.
“That one restart when the whole inside line went backwards really helped us because I had been running the outside for a while,” said Irvan. “Towards the end, the brakes started to fade and I didn’t have anything left for the leaders.”
Veterans John Batten and Justin Allison finished fourth and fifth respectively, both career bests in PASS South. Rounding out the top ten were Kevin Powell, Measmer, Brandon Lynn, Kyle Moon, and Gentry.
The PASS Pro Late Models returned to action and it was a familiar face back in victory lane. Trevor Noles started first and led every lap for his series best third win of the season in the Foothill Ford 50. Following Noles to the checkered flag were Jared Fryar, Jeff Batten, Harrison Burton and Kodie Connor.
The PASS Pro Late Models will be in action again next weekend at Dillon Motor Speedway, while the PASS South Super Late Models will return in two weeks for a 150 lapper at South Boston Speedway.
