Top Five at I-80 Highlights Lee Grosz’s Opening Weekend!
GREENWOOD, Neb. (April 11, 2017) – After a long winter and offseason, Lee Grosz and the HI-10 Sports Center team kicked off the 2017 racing season with the Nebraska 360 Sprints at I-80 Speedway. Hopes were high entering the weekend, but a poor pill draw right away on Friday set the team back.
“I drew the 55 pill and asked the guy how many numbers were in there and he just laughed at me and said 55,” said Lee. “So I knew we had some work to do. The track was a little heavy in the heat races and we ended up being in the first heat.”
Despite the heavy, tacky track and narrow racing groove, Lee was able to advance all the way up to fifth after starting outside of the fifth row.
“We got enough passing points to line us up in 10th for the feature. My crew gave me a pretty good car and we ended up working our way up to fourth at one point,” said Lee.
In the closing laps, Lee found himself in a hard fought battle between himself, Jon Agan, and Terry McCarl. After McCarl relegated Lee back to sixth, the driver of the Beds By Design No. 4J maneuvered past Agan on the final lap to round out the top five at the checkers.
Saturday was the second and final night of the Bugeater Bash at the high-banked four-tenths mile oval. “Saturday I let my crew guy, Austin, draw the pill and he drew the 46,” said Lee. “So we went from starting 10th to starting 9th in the first heat.”
After finishing fifth in his heat once again, Lee was slotted in the 14th starting position for the 25-lap main event. Lee moved forward throughout the feature, taking the checkers in the 10th position.
“Saturday night’s track was little more tricky,” he said. “I felt it was a little more on the choppy side. But we weren’t good and we weren’t bad. We were just kind of mediocre and I’d say we were probably around a 10th place car that night.”
Overall, Lee was pleased with the performance of the team and looks forward to building upon what they learned on opening weekend.
“It wasn’t a bad first weekend. We got a fifth and a 10th and the car is in one piece so it’s a solid start to the year,” he said.
Looking ahead, the team tentatively plans on competing at Park Jefferson Speedway on April 22nd and 29th.
Season Stats:
Races: 2
Top Fives: 1
Top Tens: 2
Heat Wins: 0
Up Next:
April 22: Park Jefferson Speedway – NE 360s/MSTS 360s
April 29: Park Jefferson Speedway – Championship 360s
