Max Gresham, Eddie Sharp Racing head to Texas Motor Speedway with Plenty of Momentum

Max Gresham and the rest of the No. 8 Made In USA Brand (MIUSA) team at Eddie Sharp Racing (ESR) celebrated all the way home after an 11th-place finish last Saturday at the Martinsville Speedway. But once their Chevrolet Silverado was unloaded, their attention immediately shifted to the next race at Texas Motor Speedway.

 

“Once we got home, the entire team got right back to work,” Gresham said following his career-best finish in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS). “We were very pleased with our performance at Martinsville, especially passing a few trucks in the final 11 laps. But Texas is a clean slate. We’ll have time in the off-season to look back. Until then, we have to keep looking ahead.”

 

Friday night’s WinStar World Casino 350K at the Texas Motor Speedway will be the No.8 team’s fourth of five selected starts with Eddie Sharp Racing. It’s also the second of three consecutive races in as many weeks.

 

“It’s always a challenge to turn the truck around when you’re racing every week, but it’s something every racer likes,” crew chief Chris Showalter said. “The truck for Martinsville was built for short tracks. The truck we’re taking to Texas is built for a speedway. They’re completely different. That makes it more doable.

 

“At the same time there seems to be a little extra bounce in everyone’s step this week at the shop. The 11th-place finish last Saturday really energized us here, especially since we cut a tire down earlier in the race and were way back in 26th at one point. To be sure, there’s nothing about Martinsville’s truck setup we can carry over, but we can take some momentum from the good result.”

 

Gresham also was the highest-finishing Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender for the series at Martinsville.

 

“Right now the only thing on my mind is Texas,” the Georgia native said. “We want to build on last week. Since Texas is so fast, it’s really important to keep all the fenders straight. It’s also important to qualify up front. The only easy passes you’ll make all day are in qualifying.”

 

The 19-year-old driver from Griffin, Ga., has one previous start at the 1.5-mile quad-oval. He started 21st and finished 21st for Joe Dennette Motorsports on June 8.

 

Gresham will make his final selected start of the season for the Made In USA Brand (MIUSA) and Eddie Sharp Racing on Nov. 16 at the Homestead-Miami Speedway.

 

Max Gresham PR