Story by: Langley Austin ~ langley@RACE22.com

Concord, NC(December 19, 2009) -- 2005 UARA-STARS Series Rookie of the Year, Kyle Grissom returned to the tour full-time this season for the first time since 2006, when he finished third in points and found himself among the top ten again.

Grissom has raced full-time in the UARA-STARS Series three times starting 2005 where in that Rookie season he finished third in points behind champion, Matt McCall and runner-up, Jamey Caudill. This year Matt McCall won the championship and again Jamey Caudill finished runner-up, but Grissom was only able to complete the season with a seventh place points effort.

However that seventh place effort wasn't indicative of the actual effort put forth by Grissom and his family owned team this season. Grissom, the son of former NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series driver, Steve Grissom is making a name for himself with hard work and dedication and tenacity that very few young drivers show. With that said, you are probably wondering "then why was he only a seventh place driver in points this season?"

The answer to that is simple and while it's the same as many other drivers in the series, it all came down to bad luck and it seems Grissom certainly had more than his fair share of it this season. Grissom debuted a brand new Marlowe Racing Chassis at the season's first race at Bristol Motor Speedway and while it proved to be up to speed, just a few laps before the end of the race Grissom had a tire issue and buried the car hard into the outside wall.

It was a single car crash, Grissom was able to climb from the car uninjured, but his car quickly became a "bush car" ... no were not talking about him moving it up to the Busch(now Nationwide) Series, but rather putting it out to pasture as the car would never be able to race again. With his brand new car deathly injured Grissom would have to go back to his old faithful chassis, that he had ran the last couple of seasons. Taking that car to Rockingham wasn't the original plan, but now Grissom had to do with what he had to make sure he competed in every race on the UARA-STARS Series tour.

Grissom's original plan was to run the new car at Bristol and Rockingham while running the older chassis at some of the short track races early in the season such as Hickory and Tri-County, but both of those were rained out and made Bristol and Rockingham the first two races of the season. At Rockingham, Grissom didn't have the best car, but he wasn't about to let that get in his way of getting a good run on the one-mile track. Grissom qualified 11th and rallied in the late stages of the race to finish fourth in a race that was plauged with cautions and caution laps in just a 70-lap race.

With that finish under his belt, Grissom was hoping that the destroyed car at Bristol would be the end of his bad luck, but as the series headed to Concord Speedway in Concord, NC, Grissom's luck would run out again. After qualifying a solid eighth for the 150-lap race on the ultra-fast 1/2 mile speedplant, Grissom's night would go sour after a car spun in front of him and he was collected in the crash. Grissom hit nearly identical to the way he hit by himself at Bristol and to his disbelief another car was headed for the bushes.

Thankfully for Grissom, Greg Marlowe of Marlowe Racing Chassis was already building him a new car and there was three days short of a month until the next race would take place at Tri-County Motor Speedway. At Tri-County, Grissom was dealt another blow as would be involved in another crash caused by the same driver as Concord, but luckily for him it wouldn't destroy his car and he would be able to take that new chassis on to the next race at Dillon Motor Speedway. With four races in the books Grissom had destroyed two race cars while recording finishes of 15th, fourth, 25th and 24th.

Dillon Motor Speedway was next on the schedule and Grissom would come away with a ninth place finish before heading to Orange County Speedway in Rougemont, NC and finishing 21st after running inside the top ten and falling victim to a rear end failure. Next up was Grissom's home track, Hickory Motor Speedway and Grissom was hoping to rekindle some of the magic he had, had there in the past winning the Fall Brawl in 2008, but that wasn't to be either as after qualifying fourth he would finish 15th.

Hickory could have ressurected his season, but as he was making a move on friend, Brandon McReynolds for fourth place, the two made contact and Grissom bounced off the outside wall. Grissom was furious and had a few words with his friend, McReynolds following the race, but the two were able to patch things up and remain friends. Grissom moved on from this hoping that the next track on the schedule would help him relive some past success and make a bid for a win during what had been a roller coaster of the season.

Lonesome Pine Raceway in Coeburn, VA was up next and last year in this race Grissom dominated before giving way late to Richard Boswell, but this time he wanted to seal the deal. You know the old saying "when it rains, it pours" ... Kyle Grissom unfortunately knows this all too well and after entering the Lonesome Pine race with thoughts of breaking through for a win, Grissom was all wet in the end. Wet was an understatement as the forecast all week had
 

called for rain, that rain came, but with the long haul already made to Coeburn, VA for many of the UARA regulars, the series was doing everything they could to get the race in. The race was run with the track mostly wet and that handicapped Grissom or anyone from making a charge to the front and Grissom had to settle for a fifth place finish.

Now it was time to regroup and head back to Tri-County for the final race of the season on the 4/10 mile track and Grissom came cocked and loaded and ready to get his first UARA-STARS Series win since 2006. Grissom posted the fastest time in qualifying and started from the pole position giving him a little confidence in what's been a terrible season to date. Grissom ran a strong race and while he wasn't able to put his car in victory lane, he was able to get his best finish of the season with a third place effort.

Next up was Ace Speedway in Altamahaw, NC and while it's one of the toughest tracks the series races on Grissom was able to qualify and finish inside the top ten with a ninth place finish. On to Myrtle Beach Speedway in Myrtle Beach, SC and while Grissom had to still be feeling pretty good from the third place effort at Tri-County and another top ten at Ace, his luck would seem to run out again as he was only able to come up with an 11th place finish on the 1/2 mile track. He would return to the top ten at Newport Speedway in Newport, TN and he racked up another top five finish with a fourth place on the tricky 3/10 mile bullring.

Next it was back to the Dillon Motor Speedway where Grissom had previously picked up a top ten finish with a ninth, but this time he was back and whatever he had learned in the first race he had certainly built upon in this race as he was in the mix from the beginning. Grissom qualified fifth and as the laps clicked off he found himself right behind the leaders in third as veterans Caudill and McCall battled for the lead. This is where things got really interesting in front of Grissom as he found himself in the right spot as the two leaders found themselves making contact on the final lap.

The contact spun Caudill and as McCall took the checkered flag he was penalized for the contact and that handed the win to the guy who came across the finish line behind him ... Kyle Grissom. However Grissom wasn't excited in victory lane, he didn't climb from the car in celebration, but not because he didn't feel right winning the race this way, but simply because he was afixiated. Grissom had been overtaken by fumes from his exhaust which had been knocked inside the car much earlier in the race and he didn't feel good at all, in fact he had to be attended to by the track medical personel.

Once he got some oxygen from the medical personel, Grissom celebrated with his family and crew in victory lane and though he didn't finish first on the track he was happy to take a win anyway he could get it in the ultra-competitive UARA-STARS Series. From that point on Grissom seemed to be on fire qualifying inside the top five in the next three races including two outside pole winning efforts. The races saw much of the same as he finished fifth in the return to Hickory, before falling victim to brake checking on the restarts at Kingsport Speedway and finishing 14th after running inside the top five.

Finally the series ended their season at the Concord Speedway, right in the back yard for Grissom and this time he was again on the outside pole and again ready to make the most of his momentum. Grissom found himself running second for much of the race, but nowhere near in the class of his friend, McReynolds who was out front dominating the event. Then all of sudden, McReynolds was headed down pit road with a cut tire and that put Grissom out front and all by himself as there wasn't really anyone who could compete with him at this point in the race.

Grissom's run out front was dramatically short lived as Grissom too suffered the fate of a cut tire and headed down pit road to replace one of his tires. Grissom would come back to finish eighth, but that left him disgusted with the way his season finished after the young driver missed out on a chance to claim win number two of the season, but Grissom will certainly be back to make another run at the UARA-STARS Series title in 2010.

Grissom recently acquired the services of 2008 UARA-STARS Series Championship winning crew chief, Nick Hutchins, who was the crew chief on three-time UARA winner this past season, Brandon McReynolds. Grissom now will have all the tools necessary to make a serious run for the 2010 UARA-STARS Series championship with Hutchins certainly stepping up his program and taking a top five competitor to the status of a potentially dominating status.

Grissom's 2009 Season at a Glance:

Date Track Name Start/Finish
3/21/09 Bristol Motor Speedway 19th/15th
4/18/09 Rockingham Speedway 11th/4th
4/25/09 Concord Speedway 8th/25th
5/22/09 Tri-County Motor Speedway 7th/24th
5/30/09 Dillon Motor Speedway 12th/9th
6/6/09 Orange County Speedway 13th/21st
6/27/09 Hickory Motor Speedway 4th/15th
7/4/09 Lonesome Pine Raceway 9th/5th
7/17/09 Tri-County Motor Speedway 1st/3rd
8/7/09 Ace Speedway 7th/9th
8/15/09 Myrtle Beach Speedway 14th/11th
8/29/09 Newport Speedway 6th/4th
9/19/09 Dillon Motor Speedway 5th/1st
10/18/09 Hickory Motor Speedway 2nd/5th
11/7/04 Kingsport Speedway 5th/14th
11/14/09 Concord Speedway 2nd/8th

Average Start - 7th Average Finish - 10th