Grant will talk with Full Throttle Racing Saturday morning about last weeks drama and whats next for him and his BRG team. Catch it from 8 am – 9 am central time www.fmtalk1065.com and podcast at www.usfdracing.org

Grant was 3 laps from the checkered flag Friday night at Pensacola’s 5 Flags Speedway when a rough race turned nasty. After the caution flag waved for the 9th time during the 100 lap race, Grant was in the 7th position and poised to post a top 5 finish. That possibility was wiped out by racer D J Vanderley who stunned the crowd with one of the most dangerous and foolish maneuvers ever witnessed at 5 Flags.
Grant & Vanderley had traded paint throughout the race, something which happens with regularity during short track stock car racing. Vanderley took offense with Grant’s driving on lap 96 and was involved, but not damaged, in a wreck on the front stretch. While that wreck was being cleared, the entire field was slowly following the pace car at 35 miles per hour. Out of nowhere, Venderley dive bombed his #4 car, at high speed, into the rear of the #82 Bragg Racing Triple K Construction Super Late Model. The tremendous impact slammed Grant’s car into the inside retaining wall, virtually destroying the race car and giving Grant what he described as the hardest hit he could remember sustaining.
While the crowd was stunned at that crazy action, nobody could have predicted what came next. As Grant unbuckled his safety harness, removed his helmet and was attempting to exit the car, Vanderley re-fired the #4 and slammed the #82 again,with Grant unable to protect himself. The second hit almost had tragic results, but Grant crawled out of the car without further injury.
Vanderley was disqualified from the race for his actions, and law enforcement officials investigated the possibility of assault charges. While what happens on the track generally “stays on the track”, and the intentional high speed crash under caution deserved sanctions by track officials, the second hit while Grant was vulnerable to serious injury crossed the line from a “racing incident” to something beyond hot tempered competition.
The race was eventually won by Mike Garvey. The multiple crashes and cautions were so frequent that Grant posted an 18th place finish (among 31 starters) despite being knocked out of the race with 3 laps still to go.
Vanderley’s excuse for his actions was that Grant drove him too high at one point during the race, after which Grant pulled up to the #4 during caution to show displeasure, although no contact was made during that yellow flag encounter. Both the #82 and #4 drivers were aggressive, which is required in short track competition. There is a line which most drivers don’t cross between racing and wanton conduct which could kill or maim other drivers, track officials and spectators. That line was crossed Friday night. The Bragg Racing Group team, other drivers, crews and spectators will learn soon what, if any, consequences will result from that action.
More information on the race and this incident, will likely be found during the next few days at www.speed51.com

http://youtu.be/-94u55oBo-4?hd=1

Josh Bragg drove the #22 Breland Homes/Triple K Construction Super Late Model race car Saturday night at Mobile Speedway. He drove a smart race, negotiating the many cautions which were to be expected with 33 Super Late Models circling the 1/2 mile oval.Josh put the car in position for a top 5 finish, when a late caution resulted in a green-white checkered finish. He knew that being 4th on the restart would be tough,as the outside lane was not the place to be in the 2 lap dash to the finish. Josh was collected in a last lap melee which resulted in an 11th place finish.
Grant took the #82 machine to 5 Flags Sunday afternoon for the 100 lap race which was rained out Friday evening. That car had not been on any track since the December Snowball Derby, and the Bragg Racing crew hustled to get the car ready to race. Grant qualified the car 3rd, with a 6th place starting position after an inversion for the starting grid. While running in 6th place on lap 10, Grant’s car lost all power while leading a pack of cars running 120 miles per hour at the end of the back stretch. “I felt the rear of the car being lifted by a car hitting me in the back, and then I went down the track to the inside,trying to get out of the way.”
That problem caused a massive pile up behind Grant, with more than 1/3 of the 31 starters suffering damage in the chain reaction wreck, with some of the cars so torn up they had to be put on roll back tow trucks. Because of the mess of sheet metal on the track, the race was red-flagged (stopped) for enough time for the 82 machine to roll around to the pits where the Bragg Racing crew ultimately diagnosed a broken coil wire. “That is a freak malfunction which couldn’t be prevented. Instead of throwing in the towel after only 10 laps, the crew worked to find and then fix the electrical problem. I knew that we had probably lost the race,but I wanted to get back on the track.”

ONE OF SEVERAL RACE CARS DAMAGED IN
LAP 10 CRASH (Photo Speed51.com)
Grant restarted in 20th position and steadily advanced during the remainder of the race which did not see another caution flag. Grant ended up in 6th place, and was the fastest car on the track at the end of the race.Track position couldn’t be overcome without a yellow flag to bunch the cars up. “I would never think we would go 90 laps under green at 5 Flags with more than 20 cars still running. If we would have gotten a late race caution we could have given the leaders a run. I am not going to place the “if” game too much, as the chances for us not being demolished when my car virtually stopped in front of a big pack were pretty slim.” Chase Elliott won both the Mobile & Pensacola races.
For more information on this weekend’s Super Late Model racing, visit www.speed51.com, www.mobilespeedway.net and www.snowballderby.com .

Grant & the Bragg Racing Group team were not happy with the Breland Homes ARCA car’s performance when it rolled out of the transporter last week. The team worked hard during Friday’s practice session, putting the car in position for Grant to qualify the car in 10th position for Saturday’s ARCA Mobile 200. Grant felt the car was going to be good on long runs and the team made a few slight adjustments before Saturday afternoon’s race.
Despite a rainy week and poor forecast, race day was perfect weather-wise. A record crowd of almost 10,000 people packed Mobile Speedway for a spectacle produced by promoter Rick Crawford. After the national anthem was sung by an American Idol finalist, the command to fire engines was announced by National Championship MVP A. J. McCarron and a fly by featuring the Coast Guard, the 35 cars roared around the 1/2 mile speedway. Contrary to many predictions, the race was not a “crash-fest” due to the good driving by experienced racers.
Grant quickly dropped a few positions on the start, when the car ahead of him slowed unexpectedly, and it took several laps before spotter Jeremy Lundy could get Grant in position to start passing cars. After the 2nd pit stop, Grant’s car came to life. The #61 Breland Homes car exited the pits in 20th position, as some of the lead lap cars chose track position over new tires. Grant followed Cale Gale through dozens of lead lap and lapped cars before those 2 racers emerged in the front of the field.

Grant followed Gale for 15 laps, before taking the lead after using a lap car as a “pic” without losing momentum. Grant & Cale then put a 7 second lead on the rest of the field, with Grant pulling away from Cale’s #33 machine. Grant lead the race for 48 laps before a late race caution forced the leaders to make decisions on pit strategy. All the leaders had to pit for fuel and the Bragg crew believed that 2 tires only would give them the best opportunity to retain track position with only 25 laps remaining in the race. The decision backfired as the other leaders took 4 tires and without the multiple late race cautions anticipated, Grant was a sitting duck for Gale who blew past him soon after the restart.
Grant faded to 6th place on the last lap when he was pushed up (and almost off) the track and limped home with a 13th place finish. Mobile’s Cale Gale won the race.
“We are disappointed with the outcome. However, we were going for the win and weren’t trying to race for points. It was win or lose and our strategy just backfired. We believed there would be several late race cautions and we guessed wrong. We had a fast car and I could drive it anywhere during the 59 lap green flag run. Most folks couldn’t believe how long the green flag runs were on a short track full of fast cars. However, ARCA racing is a high level series and the competitors know how to drive.”
Grant appreciated the hard work of the crew and the support of the race sponsors. “We met a lot of folks at the Breland Homes tent and everyone was fired up by the support from the Breland staff who are real race fans. Triple K Construction, Blue Rents & Preble Rish helped make this event great.”
Grant & the Bragg crew are unsure of when they will next race in the NASCAR Camping World Truck series. “Everything depends on sponsorship, and as soon as I return to North Carolina we will be preparing trucks and searching for help to get back on the track.”

Mobile International Speedway, through its promoter Rick Crawford, is hosting the Gulf Coast’s first ever ARCA race Saturday afternoon, March 10th. Grant & the Bragg Racing Group crew couldn’t pass up an opportunity to compete in the national touring series debut at the 1/2 mile track in Mobile.

Breland Homes, a homebuilder with more than 30 years experience in Madison, Baldwin & Mobile Counties in Alabama and along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, will be the primary sponsor of the Bragg Racing ARCA machine this week. Associate sponsors will be announced later this week. Grant & BRG are concentrating on select NASCAR Camping World events this year, but want to race for the win at Mobile and to support the track where Grant learned to race stock cars. “Rick Crawford was my hero when I was a kid, and he has been a mentor to me since I started racing. Anything we can do to support Rick and the Mobile track is little payback for what he has done for racing in general and for my career.”
The Mobile ARCA 200 weekend will include pole night Friday, with the race scheduled to take the green flag Saturday at 2 p.m. CST. The race will not be televised, but will be radio broadcast through ARCA radio, accessible at www.arcaracing.com . That website will also carry live timing of Friday’s practice and qualifying sessions.