Kyle Grissom thought he had a good car and a good chance to win the Rattler 250 a couple weeks ago but he never got the chance to find out.  He was one of several drivers who were caught up in a melee on the second lap of the race.  Now, the 25-year-old hopes to rebound with a victory at Southern National Motorsports Park.

Grissom is one of over 32 drivers who have already entered the Super Late Model portion of Saturday night’s X-1R Performance Products 300, the inaugural race for the Championship Auto Racing Series (CARS) Super Late Model Tour.

Grissom spoke about the accident at South Alabama Speedway which took him out of the race on the second lap, how disappointing it was and how he hopes to rebound.

“We got tore up really bad on the second lap and that was disappointment,” Grissom said.  “We had a really fast car down there all weekend and everything went pretty smooth up until that wreck.  We have some good things to take away from that.  We worked really hard getting this car back to ether.  We pretty much had to rebuild and these guys really helped.  They worked real hard so we’re looking forward to getting back here and having a strong run.”

Grissom has raced at Southern National in the past in the Pro All Stars Series (PASS) southern Super Late Model touring series.  While that experience should give him an advantage over the competition, Grissom is cautious, knowing that it’s a new series, a different set of rules and, most importantly, a new tire that nobody has raced on.

“It helps to have run a couple races here,” Grissom explained.  “I have an idea what the racetrack is like and what it’s like to race here.  I think everybody’s going to be on a pretty level playing field with these new tires because nobody’s ran a race on them yet.  We’ve been trying to get some laps on them and see what they’re like and try to be better prepared.”

Grissom, like many of the drivers in the CARS Tour series, has high hopes for the series which has drawn elite fields for both their Late Model Stock Car and Super Late Model divisions.

“I have really high expectations.  I think this series is going to be, I think it’s going to be amazing.  I think the attention this first race has drawn, it’s something we haven’t seen in quite a while.  I’m excited to be a part of it and I’m really looking forward to it.  There’s going to be some really good competition here.  A bunch of good car in both the Late Model Stocks and Super Late Models so it’s going to be a show that is really going to impress a lot of people and I’m looking forward to it.”

Grissom has raced against many of the drivers in the series, whether in PASS or in the Southern Super Series which is the premier Super Late Model touring series in the Deep South region.  Just last year, Grissom finished second in that league’s premier event, the World Crown 300.  He’ll be facing many of those elite drivers, such as Bubba Pollard, Steve Wallace and Harrison Burton, among others.

“It’s a really impressive list, a lot of talent,” Grissom said of the all-star entry list.  “We’re all kind of coming together on these new tires and new series.  I think everybody’s really looking forward to it.  I think, for the fans, it’s going to be a really neat deal to watch two 150 lap races with some of the best short track racers around.  It’s going to be a really neat deal and I’m really looking forward to it.”

Grissom has scored some big wins in his career, including a victory in the PASS South Series’ Easter Bunny 150 at Hickory Motor Speedway.  However, he feels a victory on Saturday night would certainly be one of the biggest of his career.

“I don’t know about the biggest but it would certainly rank right up there.  That would be really special to come out here with this new series and so many cars and all the attention this new deal has created so it would be definitely a very special win.”

The CARS Tour X-1R 300 at Southern National Motorsports Park will go green Saturday night at 7pm EST.  For fans unable to make it to the race, RACE22.com will have coverage throughout the day and up to the minute updates on Twitter and RACEFEEDX.com will have live, pay-per-view coverage of the race.