Mooresville, N.C.- The Grand National Super Series presented by Engineered Components Company will head to Virginia this Saturday, July 1st. It will be the tour’s first appearance at Pulaski County Motorsports Park and the first of three race weekends in July.
This historical track has played host to several superstars of the racing industry since its inception in 1952. The drivers of GNSS are looking forward to adding their name to the track’s exceptional list of winners. Joe Wilder of Jody Cash’s Mopar Mafia will have a fresh motor this weekend. Owner Jody Cash has worked vigorously on his Gen 3 Mopar Hemi engine for the yellow 42 driven by Wilder. Wilder’s teammate Jason McDowell will also be in action. McDowell is coming off a stellar run at Montgomery Motor Speedway which ended early due to mechanical failure. The Mopar Mafia will only be fielding two cars this weekend as Welsey Scott will be absent for a previously scheduled engagement.
Jeremy Mayfield will be back after a busy week. Mayfield participated in the CARS Tour Late Model Stock Car event at Caraway Speedway Wednesday. Mayfield has had his nose to the grind lately driving anything in his path. At Montgomery not only did he run both GNSS races he also raced an outlaw late model in between the twin fifty-lap events. Mayfield will be in the 51 car as Bob Schacht returns to the driver’s seat in his “fast 75”. “Pulaski was definitely one of the races I wanted to run this year. I don’t mind Jeremy driving my car some of the time, but I wanted the 75 back for one of my favorite places,” Schacht said Thursday.
A.J. Henriksen is another driver looking to add his name to the Pulaski County Motorsports Park win column. Henriksen missed the event at Caraway Speedway in June and slipped from first in driver points. He has since re-engaged and is on a mission to be a two-time champion in GNSS. He is well on his way with a 25% win rate.
The current point leader Kevin Kromer has something to say about that. Kromer is currently the only driver to not miss an event in the 2023 season and sits seventy points ahead of Henriksen. Kromer is hungry for his first win of 2023. He, unfortunately, suffered motor issues at Montgomery but was given a ride by ShowTime Motorsports to complete the evening.
Jason Kitzmiller has also been a busy man this week. Like Mayfield, he partook in Wednesday’s CARS Tour festivities. Friday he is at Wake County Speedway running a Legends car with his son and teammate Isaac Kitzmiller. Kitzmiller has a good inaugural season with GNSS. He has one win at Dominion and a pole at Tri-County. Kitzmiller may not have been racing as long as some of the other drivers, but what he lacks in years he makes up for in drive and determination.
Donnie Doster will also be back in action. Doster is coming off his career-best finishes at Montgomery and has definitely gained momentum during his rookie season. Marc Jones will also return to competition after missing the trek to Montgomery Motor Speedway. Cody Dennison will be absent as his motor expired in the final event at Montgomery Motor Speedway.
Saturday’s festivities will begin with an early test session from noon until two. GNSS will have two rounds of practice; 3:30-3:44, and 4:30-4:44. Qualifying will begin at 6:11. racing will commence at 7 p.m. with GNSS being the second and fifth events of the evening. If you can’t make the show don’t fret. You can catch every lap on our YouTube channel @TheGrandNationalSuperSeries, or follow along on Twitter, twitter.com/GrandNationalSS.
