NASCAR Winston Cup Pepsi 400 Preview -- #41, Steve Grissom
30 June 1997
#41 Steve Grissom, Kodiak Chevrolet Monte Carlo NASCAR Winston Cup Series Pepsi 400 Advance Daytona International Speedway GRISSOM SEES PEPSI 400 AT DAYTONA AS GOOD SPRINGBOARD FOR SECOND-HALF RUN DAYTONA BEACH, FL - Steve Grissom and the Kodiak Racing Team see this week's Pepsi 400 race at Daytona as the perfect opportunity to make a strong leap forward into the second half of the 1997 Winston Cup season. They have good reason to be confident. For the past several races, Grissom and the #41 Kodiak Chevrolet Monte Carlo have shown how competitive they can be. Grissom ran very strong and placed 11th at Charlotte, and raced in the top-10 at Dover until a spin off turn four resulted in a 24th-place finish. At Pocono, Grissom rallied from 35th-place to finish 18th. Another strong effort came at Michigan when he was making substantial headway through the field, which was cut short early when the distributor malfunctioned. And at the new California Speedway two weeks ago, Grissom charged through the field to run solidly in the top-10, but he had to pit in the latter stages to take on fuel, and finished 17th. "We've had some good runs lately, but the racing circumstances just haven't fallen our way," said Grissom. "The way we've run gives us a big boost in confidence and a good solid base for the races that remain. That's why we believe we'll have a strong effort and run at Daytona this week. "We really felt we were on our way to a top-five showing at California a couple of weeks ago," Grissom continued. "The Kodiak car was strong and we ran real steady to eventually get into the top-10. We were up there racing hard with Dale (Earnhardt) for seventh position, but we knew we couldn't make it all the way on fuel, so we had to pit and that cost us track position. We thought more cars would have to do the same near the end, but they didn't, and we couldn't make up the positions we lost." Grissom added, "Another reason we're really positive about Daytona this week is what we accomplished in February there. We sat on the outside of the front row for the Daytona 500, and were having a solid top-10 run going, but got caught up in an accident with Kenny (Schrader). "The Kodiak crew has repaired that race car and got it prepared well, so that's why we're looking to qualify good again and have another strong run in it this week at Daytona," stated Grissom. "We're focused on having a really strong showing in the second half of the season, and Daytona is the best place to start to prove the strength of this team." Kodiak crew chief Charley Pressley is equally confident about Grissom's chances at Daytona. "NASCAR has made some rules changes and the templates will be a little different from February," said Pressley. "But we believe our race car will still be strong for Steve in Saturday's race." Pressley continued, "Daytona Speedway is a different track altogether in July than it is in February. It will be much slicker and quite a bit slower, but we think our set-up is one that will give us an excellent chance at a top-10 starting position, and if all things go as we expect, we think Steve can post a strong top-10 finish in the race. "Our run at California two weeks ago was a confirmation as to how good this team is," Pressley said. "The Kodiak crew made some excellent pit stops for Steve out there, helping us to maintain and even gain some track positions." Said a confident Pressley, "As a team, we've been making steady progress. That's what we want to continue to do, and we believe we will. There's still a lot of racing left this season, and the points are tight right now, so there's plenty of opportunities to advance and -- with some great runs -- make some fast moves upward in the standings." Grissom currently is 29th in the point standings after 15 races, only 15 points (1,290-1,275) behind 28th-place Mike Skinner, and just 34 points (1,309-1,275) from 27th-place John Andretti. Only 50 points (1,325-1,275) separate Grissom from 26th-place, held by Ricky Craven, so positions could easily be gained with a competitive, strong run and good finish for Grissom and the Kodiak Team at Daytona this weekend. By Muhleman Marketing
