Grubb Scores Career Best Short Track Finish with Third at Richmond

Richmond, VA (September 7, 2001) … Kevin Grubb scored his career best short track finish in the NASCAR Busch Series with a third place run in the Autolite/Fram 250 at the Richmond International Speedway on Friday, September 7th. His previous best finish on a short track was a fifth-place run at Richmond in the past two September events at the .75-mile track. Grubb also matched his season best finish (3rd) set earlier this year at The Milwaukee Mile and the Gateway International Raceway.

Grubb was one of fifty-two competitors who attempted to qualify for one of the starting positions in the Autolite/Fram 250 when practice began on Thursday, September 6th. Grubb and his Timber Wolf Team served notice quickly that he would be a contender this weekend as he posted the seventh fastest speed during the two-hour practice session prior to qualifying.

Grubb would be the tenth driver to make his qualifying run and would post a fast lap of 123.327 mph. Grubb’s speed would earn the hometown driver the 17th-starting position for the 250-lap event. After qualifying, the Busch cars had their "happy hour" on Thursday evening and Grubb posted the fifth fastest speed during the one-hour session.

Starting in the 17th-position, Grubb knew that patience would be a virtue early in the race until the field was able to get "strung out" around the ..75-mile track. If he could avoid the almost certain early accidents, Grubb felt as though he could race with the leaders. And, true to his thoughts, two cars spun directly in front of him on lap 17 that forced the Timber Wolf Chevrolet to make an evasive move on the low side of the track. Grubb barely missed the spinning car of Geoffrey Bodine and was able to gain several positions.

Grubb would bring the Timber Wolf Chevrolet into the pits under caution on lap 53 for four tires and fuel. Grubb would enter the pits in 11th position, but a crowded pit road made entering his pit difficult. Therefore, Grubb would restart the race on lap 63 in 18th position.

Grubb would begin his march to the front and had gained back up to 11th when the caution waved on lap 96. Grubb would not pit and, after another quick caution on lap 105, would restart in 11th on lap 114. The Glen Allen, Virginia driver surged into the top ten when he passed Rich Bickle and Jeff Burton on lap 126. On lap 142, Grubb moved past Ryan Newman for eighth and three laps later, moved into seventh. Green flag pit stops began on lap 171 and Grubb continued to work his way to the front. On lap 176, Grubb passed Jason Keller for fourth. When Ron Hornaday made a pit stop on lap 178, Grubb moved into third. Crew Chief Terry Shirley made an excellent call in keeping Grubb on the speedway during the early stages of these "green flag" stops and his strategy paid off when caution waved on lap 185 for an incident between Greg Biffle and Jay Sauter.

Grubb would make his finial pit stop of the race during this caution on lap 185 for four tires and fuel. Quick service by the Timber Wolf crew enabled Grubb to restart in third on lap 195. Grubb would maintain his third position until lap 209 when several cars slid high in turn one. Second place Matt Kenseth, third place Grubb, and several lapped cars slid high entering turn one shuffling the running order. When Bobby Hamilton Jr. crashed one lap later, NASCAR officials took a hard look at turn one for fluids on the racing surface.

Grubb would restart in the sixth position on lap 215. The final thirty-five laps were as exciting as any racing action this season as Grubb and his Timber Wolf Chevrolet were "on a mission" to the front. On lap 234, Grubb worked his way past Chad Little for fifth. Two laps later, Grubb moved into fourth around Johnny Sauter. With fourteen laps remaining, Grubb set his sights on Geoffrey Bodine and the third position. Making up the half of a straightaway deficit, Grubb passed Bodine on the outside entering turn one on lap 248. When the checkered flag waved, Grubb had charged his way to a third place finish.

"Tonight was really fun," Grubb stated after the race. "I was disappointed in my qualifying run, but I knew that I had a good car for the race during ‘happy hour’. I knew that I would have to watch myself carefully getting through traffic early in the race. I just missed Bodine spinning off turn two early and Greg Biffle almost hit me when he missed pit road later in the race. The guys on this Timber Wolf Team really worked hard and wanted this race as much as I did. I don’t know what happened in turn one when Kenseth, myself, and several others slid high. I was certain that some fluid was on the track. I got lucky only to loose three positions and not wreck. I think I had something for Kenseth at the end, but I don’t know about (Jimmy) Spencer. It would have been fun racing Spencer for the win! To have a great night like this at my home track means a lot. Of course, Timber Wolf is headquartered in Richmond and it means a great deal to run good for them as well. This was a good points night for us and really gives the Timber Wolf Team momentum going to Dover in two weeks. We’re getting closer and closer to that first win and I’m really looking forward to Dover next."

Grubb’s third place finish enabled him to gain two positions in the overall Busch Series points to currently stand 11th. Grubb is only 109 points behind 10th-place Kenny Wallace with seven races remaining in the 2001 season.

The third place finish at Richmond was the third time this season that Grubb has finished in that position. The interesting note is that the same car, "Pancake", was driven in all three races. Needless to say, "Pancake" has quickly become a favorite in the Timber Wolf stable of racecars.

The next race on the 2001 Busch Series tour is the MBNA 200 on Saturday, September 22nd. The Busch Series will have this weekend, September 15th, off before heading to the Monster Mile. Qualifying is set for 12:10 p.m. ET on Friday, September 21st at Dover with the green flag set for a 1:00 p.m. ET start on Saturday the 22nd. TNT will provide live television coverage and MRN will handle the radio broadcast.