ES: Gresham Motorsports Park race summary

Dillon Tames GMP, Notches First Career NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Victory

JEFFERSON, GA (August 28, 2010) -- Ty Dillon won the biggest race of his young career capturing the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East American Fence Association 150 Presented By Mayfield Ice Creamier at Gresham Motorsports Park Saturday.

Dillon -- driver of the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet - grabbed the lead with just a handful of laps remaining in the slam-bang affair when frontrunners Kevin Swindell and Ryan Truex collided in Turn 4. Dillon was able to slip underneath the pair and cruise to his first-ever NASCAR K&N career victory.

"I saw them get together a couple of laps earlier and I knew they weren't happy with each other," Dillon said of Swindell and Truex. "I thought I'd just lay back on the restart and see what would happen. When they got together, I just dove to the inside and made it through the wreck."

Dillon started the race from the seventh position as International Speedway Corporation president Lesa France Kennedy waived the green flag on the 23-car starting field. Swindell, the pole sitter for the event, quickly appropriated the lead only to have the race slowed for Zach Germain's spin on Lap 5.

The slowdown was the first of 12 caution periods -- and four red-flags - that delayed the race.

"It was difficult to get a rhythm at times," said Dillon. "It was really tough to sit through the red-flag periods. We passed the time by telling some jokes on the radio, trying to loosen each other up. I just tried to stay focused and it came through for me."

Dillon quickly worked his way into the Top-5 and stayed there as he, Swindell, Mike Cherry, Truex and Ryan Gifford swapped the top positions on multiple restarts. By Lap 60, Dillon was battling Swindell for the lead only to fall back as the furious action took its toll with multiple cautions.

The race went to a red flag condition on Lap 91 as Julian Albarracin crashed in Turn 2 taking out a pair of hydro barriers in the process. That stopped the race for nearly 50 minutes as track officials had to completely dry the turn.

It only took seconds to go back to red-flag conditions as Miguel Paludo, Joey Gase, Jeff Anton and John Salemi crushed the front-stretch wall on the restart. Another restart produced just four green flag laps before Eddie MacDonald got out of shape and hooked Brett Moffitt sending him hard into the outside retaining wall. Another red-flag period ensued before the final laps where Dillon took advantage of one final bump-up between Swindell and Truex to grab the victory.

"It's been a struggle all season," said Dillon. "We started to get things turned around at Iowa and to come back and win is one of the greatest days of my life."

Unofficially, it was Dillon, Cole Whitt, Gifford, Cherry and Matt Kobyluck -- who destroyed his primary car in a practice crash earlier in the day -- completing the Top-5 finishers. Sergio Pena', Truex, Jason Pattison, D.J. Shaw and local dirt track standout rounded out the Top-10 finishers.

In GMP local division action, Alexander Fox won the Truck race over Brittney Finley and Jeremy Parris while Greg Jarrett took the Renegade Street Stock feature over Jody Trivett and Doug Sexton.

The finish of the Mini Stock main event - which saw Darrell Carlson flash under the checkered flag in front of Neil Merideth and Spanky Hicks - will not be official until the results of a post-race inspection is concluded later this week.

Next up at Gresham Motorsports Park will be the First-Annual George Elliott Memorial 100 Super Late Model Race Presented By Monolith Companies. The race, named for the father of NASCAR legends Bill, Ernie and Dan Elliott, will feature a 100-lap Super Late Model headliner as well as racing in the GMP Truck, Mini Stock Outlaw Late Model, Renegade Street Stock and Mini Cup divisions.

Adult Grandstand and Trackside General Admission Tickets are just $20 for this special event. Seniors (55 and older) and Active Military Personnel are $18 while Children 6-12 are $10. Children 5 and under will be admitted free and, as always, parking is free. The GMP Grandstand and Trackside Parking for the George Elliott Memorial 100 Presented By Monolith Companies will open at 2 p.m. Opening Ceremonies are set for 7 p.m. with the first race taking the green flag at 7:30 p.m. sharp. Gresham Motorsports Park is located right off I-85 at Exit 140, next to the Jackson County Airport in Jefferson. GA.

For more information about Gresham Motorsports Park, please log on to www.GreshamMotorsportsPark.com.

-source: gmp