by Zach Hiser MARCNews.org
Toledo, OH – From local racing at Flat Rock and Toledo Speedway, to a trial season on the road with the ASA STARS National Tour, to returning to regional competition with the Turn One CRA Pro Series Presented by Chevrolet Performance, Gabrielle Grigsby has packed a lot of experience into a short career behind the wheel. Grigsby’s first year in Template Late Model racing was spent traveling the country making spot starts with ASA, learning where the team’s shortcomings are and areas they can be better. Now, they’re ready to tackle Pro Late Model racing with confidence.
At 21 years old, Grigsby is a racer’s racer. The third-generation driver not only turns wrenches on her own No.711 VanDoorn Racing Development Chassis, but is part of the University of Northwestern Ohio (UNOH) Racers Motorsports Team. Eyeing a career in motorsports, Grigsby is learning the finer details of engine building/machining and fabrication. During the week, it’s a balance of preparing the school’s dirt cars for Limaland Motorsports Park while traveling home to prepare her personal car. On Friday night, she’s trying to get her UNOH teammates to Limaland victory lane, then on Saturday, she’s trying to propel her family into success.
Grigsby and her family team are preparing for a regionally heavy CRA Pro Series schedule, joining many other teams who are praising CRA administration for an impressive schedule. Grigsby says the CRA schedule should be much more manageable for her and her team, thanks to the proximity to their race shop.
“Being a small team like we are, we don’t have a whole bunch of people to help us out, unfortunately,” Grigsby said on the Horsepower Happenings Podcast. “We seen that all the races are closer to Ohio, Michigan, with some out of state, but that’s definitely something we can handle now.”
In the team’s second year traveling with a Template Late Model, Grigsby says they need to keep learning what it takes to succeed, and they’re hoping to see that payoff on the track.
“We’re hoping to finish more races and be more prepared,” Grigsby said. “We want to be more than just the top 20, we want to be in the top 15, top 10, and hopefully top five. The best thing you could wish for is to win a race. Just that feeling of actually succeeding would be amazing. You make a checklist, ‘oh, you did that this time, but we could do this better’, and we want to get to that top spot.”
The first chance for Grigsby to improve her program comes in her backyard at Toledo Speedway on Saturday, April 18 for the House of Meats 100. Advanced tickets are available at ToledoSpeedway.com. For more information on the Turn One CRA Pro Series Presented by Chevrolet Performance, visit CRA-Racing.com.