Denver, N.C. (November 5, 2013)-Max Gresham has never been to the Phoenix International Raceway, so Friday night’s Lucas Oil 150 will be a unique experience for the 20-year-old driver.But that doesn’t mean he will not be ready for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race.
As a team, Sharp-Gallaher Racing has four NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts at the track, with two top-10 finishes.
“I’ve never seen the place. You can’t really prepare for a track until you have driven on it,” Gresham said. “Our No. 8 Scottsdale Insurance Company Chevrolet will show up and unload, and we hope to figure it out by Lap 2 of practice.”
Gresham has heard all the stories about the quirky one-mile racetrack. He knows of the dogleg on the backstretch. He knows it’s basically flat. He’s heard about the big rattlesnake roundups before the race.
Track officials spend several days walking around the track collecting rattlesnakes before each race. The speedway is in the Arizona desert, pressed against the Estrella Mountain range.
In 36 career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts the Milner, Ga., native has plenty of experience with other tracks one-mile in length – tracks like Dover International Speedway. He has two starts at Dover in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series with an average start of 11.5 and average finish of 29th-place.
Gresham’s truck has a winning pedigree. It once was part of Kevin Harvick Inc.’s fleet, and Clint Bowyer drove it to a victory at the Kansas Speedway in 2011. Earlier this season Gresham drove it to a 13th-place finish at the Iowa Speedway.
“We’ll spend a lot of time early Thursday helping Max get acclimated to the track,” said crew chief Chris Showalter. “He’s always been a quick study, so we should be able to concentrate on fine-tuning our Scottsdale Insurance Company Chevrolet in the second practice.”
“I can’t wait to see Phoenix for the first time,” Gresham said. “I feel like we’re going to become old friends.”
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About Sharp-Gallaher Racing
Established in 2013, Sharp-Gallaher Racing (www.SGRracing.com) was formed with the partnership between team owner Eddie Sharp Jr. (Eddie Sharp Racing) and businessman Bill Gallaher. SGR is a championship-winning organization, claiming the 2009 ARCA Racing Series Championship title with driver Justin Lofton. In 2010, SGR began the transition into the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, moving to full-time competition in 2011 and expanding as a multi-truck team in 2012. SGR earned its first victory in the team’s 36th Camping World Truck Series event. The 2013 lineup includes Max Gresham (No. 8 Chevrolet Silverado) and Justin Lofton (No. 6 Chevrolet Silverado) in the Camping World Truck Series, and Will Gallaher (No. 8 Chevrolet Impala) in the UARA Stars Series. Additionally, SGR continues to build its driver development program fielding various drivers in the ARCA Racing Series, the UARA STARS Series and other late model events across the southeast.
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