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TJ Reaid Hoping to Defend Georgia Turf at Gresham Motorsports Park
Peach State Driver Look to Become Hometown Hero in Southern Super Series Tilt
Acworth, Georgia native TJ Reaid has been going to the half-mile oval now known as Gresham Motorsports Park in Georgia since he was a youngster. Reaid sat with his family in the grandstands at what was then known as Peach State Speedway watching drivers like Ricky Turner, Wayne Willard, Joey Clanton and other heavy hitters from the state of Georgia score wins in various regional Late Model series.
Once he had the opportunity to race there, Reaid fulfilled a goal he formulated as a boy in the grandstands. Now, the 23-year-old wants to put a happy ending to that boyhood dream with a Southern Super Series presented by Sunoco victory in the Racing Radios 125 presented by Schoenfeld Headers on Saturday, April 27.
"It's definitely a track I have wanted to win at for a while now," said Reaid of Gresham Motorsports Park. "We had one race almost won there last year and we got a penalty for jumping a restart. We had a great car that day and we hope to go and unload on Friday and be just as good.”
Since reopening as Gresham Motorsports Park in 2009, the track has been widely considered one of the premier asphalt short tracks in the country. The track was known at its rebirth as a place focused solely on speed, but Reaid has seen a trend in recent events at GMP that is bringing the new facility back to the more handling-sensitive character of the old Peach State track.
"It's getting closer to the way it was," said Reaid. "When a track gets weather on it and the winters pass, it gives up grip. The speeds go down and the racing gets better as we search the track for that perfect line. We know it's going to be a tough field, but when you win against the best it means so much more.
“Winning at GMP would be so big because it's my home track. We've won at Lanier (in Braselton, Georgia), my other home track in the past and now we want to get one at GMP."
Reaid will have to defeat outsiders like Augie Grill, Donnie Wilson, Daniel Hemric, Ross Kenseth, John Hunter Nemechek and Hunter Robbins on the GMP high banks to keep the trophy in Georgia. Fellow Georgia driver and former GMP winner Bubba Pollard will go into the event as the series’ point leader after winning the season’s first race at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway (TN) earlier this month. Another Georgian, Spencer Davis, will battle in the Racing Radios 125 presented by Schoenfeld Headers as the 2012 Pro Late Model track champion at the Jefferson half-mile.
The April 27 Racing Radios 125 presented by Schoenfeld Headers at Gresham Motorsports Park will also feature events for the track’s Mini Stocks, Sportsmen/Renegades, Trucks and Outlaw Late Models. Fans will also have the opportunity to meet the cast of the hit television show “Moonshiners” at the event. Ticket and hotel information can be found on the track’s official website, www.racegmp.com.
Fans can follow event updates and more using the Twitter hashtag #RR125GMP. Follow @SoSuperSeries on Twitter for series-related news and information as well as GMP’s Twitter, @GreshamMP.
For more information on the Southern Super Series, visit SouthernSuperSeries.com. The Facebook page for the Southern Super Series is located at www.facebook.com/southernsuperseries and on Twitter it’s @SoSuperSeries. For advertising or sponsorship questions, please contact the track representatives. For media inquiries, please contact Matt Kentfield at 51 Sports via matt@51sports.net.
April 23, 2013
