SAUBLE BEACH (June 26, 2019)- ~ While the 2019 season has yet to yield the type of results fans have become accustomed to seeing from Pro Late Model mainstay Andrew Gresel, there’s no question that the fire and desire that carried him to an APC United Late Model Series championship in 2016 is still burning.
“You don’t need to be around this sport very long to understand that not every single season is going to be a dream year,” offers the blue-collar veteran matter-of-factly. “That’s just the truth”
“Some seasons you almost feel like you can just roll out of bed and go win races because stuff is working so well for you – and other seasons you just have to scratch and claw for every inch that you get. It is what it is. If this stuff were easy then a lot more people would do it”
Gresel’s Sauble Falls Racing team debuted a newly acquired Hamke Racecars chassis at the beginning of the season and have spent the first three rounds of the cross-province APC Series tour working tirelessly to build up a base setup from which to work.
Most recently, Gresel tallied a hard-fought 19th-place finish in Round 3 of the tour at Jukasa Motor Speedway on June 22nd and will spend the bulk of this week preparing a quick turnaround for Round 4 at Delaware Speedway on June 29th.
“This is the part of the sport that’s always a lot less romanticized,” jokes Gresel from his team’s Sauble Beach, ON shop. “When you come home from work and you’re tired as anything and you know you have another long night ahead of you trying to get your stuff ready for the next race – that’s what separates the guys that really want to do this from the ones that just want their pictures taken in a fire suit”
“We’re putting in the time and the effort because we know we can work our way out of this slump,” continues the second-generation standout. “I can’t thank my team enough because they’re right here with me. They have jobs and families, too – but they’re in this for the long haul to make sure we get this car to the front”
And, while the results on paper have not yet been up to par with what Gresel expects from his program, they’ve done little to stem his positive outlook entering a track that’s historically been one of his strongest.
“No matter what type of streak I’m riding – good or bad – I’ll always look forward to racing at Delaware,” details the former Delaware Speedway weekly champion. “We’ve won a championship there, we’ve won big races there, it’s just a place that I feel comfortable and a place I enjoy competing at”
“I’m not sure if it’s new car blues or just the fact that the tour roster gets better with every race, but we haven’t been as good as I know we can be. We’re dead-set on reversing that this weekend. We’ve had some amazing nights at Delaware and we’re ready to do whatever’s necessary to make sure we have another one of those this weekend.”
Gresel’s next appearance will come this coming weekend June 29th at Delaware Speedway for the 4th round of the APC United Late Model Series’ 2019 schedule.
For more information on the Spectra Premium 100 presented by Pensoil at Delaware Speedway, visit www.DelawareSpeedwaycom and www.apcracingseries.com
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