SAUBLE BEACH, Ont. (July 11, 2018) – It took a little longer than he would have liked, but Andrew Gresel finally has his first win of the season. Gresel scored the victory in his Sauble Falls/CUSW No.81 Super Late Model during the Ontario Super Late Model event at Sauble Speedway on Saturday, July 7.
The win was well-deserved for Gresel. Although he qualified second fastest and got to start on the front row of the main event, he had to outduel fellow front runner John Cadman for the duration of the 75-lap distance, including on a handful of restarts, in order to snag the checkered flag.
“We were able to get the lead right off the bat, but it was a hard-fought race the whole time,” Gresel recounted. “Every restart, he would get a real good run on the outside and almost had us cleared a couple of times, but we were able to hold on and keep the inside lane. We definitely leaned on each other a few times, but it was just good hard racing. It was a good battle the whole race.”
The win at Sauble followed a busy tripleheader Canada Day weekend. On June 29, Gresel drove to a sixth-place finish during the fourth round of APC United Late Model Series competition at Delaware Speedway. The end result didn’t necessarily showcase how fast Gresel’s car was on the night.
“It started off kind of crazy,” Gresel said. “About 10 laps in, Jamie Cox spun while he had the lead. We veered and just missed him. The guy on the inside of me, I’m not sure who it was, he came right up the inside and smoked my left front. That pretty much took the steering out. We could still drive it, but handling-wise it wasn’t there. It was early in the race too, so stuff like that always hurts because we usually run pretty good at Delaware.”
The following two nights, Gresel was in action at Sauble for his first Limited Late Model starts of the season. During the race on Saturday, June 30, he earned a sixth-place finish in the first of two twin Features, but was involved in a wreck in the second Feature that ended his night. Scheduled to race the next day, Gresel’s Sauble Falls Racing Team rallied and worked through the night to make repairs for Sunday’s Canada Day race.
“It was good to get the car out,” Gresel said. “We got through the first Feature okay, but in the second Feature the tie-rod broke after getting hit in the left front and we ended up getting in a bit of a pile up with a couple of other guys after that. It did a lot of damage.”
Sunday’s event marked the first race at Sauble for the Great Lakes Concrete Series. Gresel’s repaired racecar still showed plenty of speed and he drove to a fourth-place finish.
“It was a big surprise for everybody,” Gresel said. “The guy’s wanted to fix it after Saturday. I let them make the decision and we got it fixed. We worked until 6:30am to get the body all done. The next day, we just worked on the suspension and ended up having a good run.”
Now Gresel is gearing up for another busy weekend at his home track, affectionately known as ‘The Beach’. The Sauble Beach native will compete in twin 46-lap races in honour of retired Late Model racer Bill Zardo Sr. as part of the second Great Lakes Concrete Series race on Thursday night. He’ll participate in Friday’s Sauble Speedway Golf Tournament and hopes to race again Saturday in a weekly NASCAR Whelen All-American Series event.
“We’ve definitely had some good runs here lately,” Gresel said. “It should be a fun weekend.”
Gresel will next be in action aboard his Pro Late Model with the APC United Late Model Series on Saturday, July 21 at Flamboro Speedway. For more information about Andrew Gresel and the Sauble Falls Racing team, visit www.saublefallsracing.com.
SEASON STATS
Pro Late Model – 4 Starts: 0 Wins, 2 Top-5s, 4 Top-10s
Limited Late Model – 3 Stars: 0 Wins, 1 Top-5s, 2 Top-10s
Super Late Model – 1 Start: 1 Win, 1 Top-5, 1 Top-10
SAUBLE FALLS RACING MEDIA
Website: www.saublefallsracing.com
Facebook: facebook.com/saublefallsracing
Twitter: @SaubleFalls81
Andrew Gresel and the Sauble Falls Racing team are proud to partner with several dedicated marketing partners for the 2018 race season, including McRobert Fuels, Sauble Falls Tent & Trailer Park, CUSW – Canadian Union of Skilled Workers, Hy-Grade Roofing, London Recreational, Gallinger Ford Lincoln, F1 Freight Systems, Ron O’Brien Remax, Barry’s Construction and Raden Givari at Ehomes.
Discussion about this post