Grubaugh Shakes Off Gremlins for Top 3 Finish at Bubba Raceway Park
Posted by Joe Willy on
Comin' in Hot! Team Dirt Dog's Grubaugh Motorsports snags another Top 3 for Ciraco Electric with Top Gun Sprint car series at Bubba Raceway Park!
story by Dillon G. Ennis | Mike Horne photo
Ocala, FL | Aug. 6, 2017 - After a season full of "racin deals" and missing the last race at Bubba Raceway Park due to a magneto issue, Brandon Grubaugh was ready to lay a whoopin' down at his home track. The car had a small fuel leak in practice, so he pulled off and discovered a cracked fuel pump was the culprit.
Luckily, Mark Ruel, driver of the 83 car, had an extra one that he was willing to lend to Grubaugh.
Drawing an 11 upon arrival, Brandon landed on the pole for the 3rd heat. The G6 took off like a rocket and led every lap. By lap 6 we had a car coming up fast, none other than the man who let us borrow a pump, the 83 of Mark Ruel. As circumstance would have it, the throttle hung on the 83 and rather than a nicely executed crossover by Brandon, it ended in a right rear slap to the left from of the G6. Brandon continued out of the tussle for a heat race win that ended in a yellow/checkered.
The car was a mess. The toe was knocked in, oil coated the cockpit of the car, and we were carrying an extra 100 lbs of the track on the chassis in front of the radiator. Luckily, we had the help of TGR's Tim Grubaugh Jr, Brandon's older brother, to help with repairs of the car. Bud's car unfortunately ran into mechanical issues earlier in the night. But without his help, the G6 would have been hard pressed to have the car fixed in time for the feature.
Starting on the pole for the feature, Brandon made a risky call that ended up being the correct one. Moving to the high side, and dangerously close to the "cushion" (the 3 foot tall clay cliffs), the G6 gradually fell to 5th, where it would stay until a caution came out on lap 22 with only 3 to go. A car was stuck in the mud on the bottom of turn 3/4 which gave the G6 enough time to devise a strategy. While the yellow flag laps continued to drag on, Brandon began walking the track in higher and higher. Lap by lap he gave himself and extra few inches of race surface and grip until the yellow was removed and racing was ready to resume. Like a bat outta hell, the G6 roared to life on the high side when the green flag flew. Tyler Clem, driving the 02 last night, had been experimenting with the high side, but 1st through 4th went low, leaving a wide open top line and the G6 a third place position coming out of turn 2. The checkered flag fell with the G6 reeling in the 82 of Matt Kurtz to grab 3rd place.
The Grubaugh Motorsports G6 will be back in action next week at Volusia Speedway Park. We hope to see you there! And remember, we have t-shirts for sale still, feel free to contact us about on or stop by our trailer in the pits and pick one up!