From Charlotte, Grant flew to Indianapolis for the International Motorsports trade show Thursday and Friday. He drove to the Cincinnati area Friday evening for Saturday’s ARCA banquet which honored the top 10 season points drivers and owners. He and car owner Mike Allgaier enjoyed the evening and reflected on a good season in the ARCA series.

Grant slept a few hours after the banquet, rising in the early hours Sunday to drive back to Indianapolis to catch a 6 a.m. flight to Panama City. He and Jason Tunnell then drove to Gulf County Florida, making a personal appearance with the Bragg Racing NASCAR Camping World Truck in Port St. Joe. “We wanted to show our appreciation for Gulf County’s sponsorship at Talladega and I was glad to be in Florida.”

After an early morning radio interview in Panama City today, Grant heads back to Charlotte to help Zach put his ARCA car in shape for testing this weekend. Grant will help Zach at the ARCA open test session at Daytona International Speedway Friday through Sunday. Live timing and scoring of the test session can be found at www.arcaracing.com .

Grant and the Bragg Racing team have been testing and tuning the #82 Super Late Model at Pensacola’s 5 Flags Speedway this week, due to the support by their Derby Sponsors. The car has primary sponsorship from Triple K Construction, a Baldwin County firm headed by Kevin Kirchharr. Triple K specializes in horizontal construction of roads, bridges, airports and other infrastructure projects. Associate sponsorship is being provided by Baldwin County Sewer Service. That business, owned by Clarence Burke, supplies sanitary sewer service to areas of Baldwin County which are not within reach of municipalities. Preble-Rish Engineers and Surveyors, owned by Ralph Rish and Chris Forehand, is the premier engineering firm in Florida and has established a presence in Alabama through its Baldwin County office.

While most of the Derby competitors made many changes to their set ups and tested constantly Thursday, Grant ran only 2 laps in a mock qualifying run and parked the car. “We are fast. The car feels good. We will shake the car down for a couple of laps Friday and then go over every nut, bolt, hose and fitting for the most important and anxious 2 laps of the race season.” Tonight’s qualifying session decides who races Sunday and who is sent home, as there will be at least 20 fast cars which won’t make the 34 car race field. Grant has one of the 2 guaranteed starting positions, but wants to put the Triple K/BCSS/Preble-Rish Monte Carlo at the front of the field. Qualifying times will be available live tonight on www.Speed51.com . The first qualifier fires at 6 p.m CST.

To see a short video of what Derby day is all about, click this link:

Sunday’s race will be available on live audio through the same speed51 website. Pre-race activities will be broadcast Sunday, beginning at noon CST, with the green flag being dropped at 2 p.m. on the 44th Snowball Derby.

Wednesday is one of the most important, but tedious, days of Derby week, as pre-qualifying technical inspections will be conducted on many different aspects of the race cars. If even one small technical deficiency is found, the car is sent back to the pits for repair and the crew must go back to the end of the line of more than 100 cars for re-inspection. If any car does not completely clear technical inspection Wednesday, that car can not enter the track for practice until all issue are corrected.

For a complete schedule of this week’s activities, leading up to Sunday’s green flag, visit www.Speed51.com .

The last event on the 2011 racing calendar is almost here. The 44th Snowball Derby, the most important short track stock car race in the country, is set for Sunday December 4th at Pensacola’s 5 Flags Speedway. Racers from all over the country (and a few from Canada) are heading to Florida to try to make the field for Sunday’s race.

For the first time, Grant has a guaranteed starting position in the Derby field. The top 2 Blizzard Series points drivers are awarded provisional starting slots at the back of the Derby grid. While Grant and the Bragg Racing crew want to start the race from the front, a lot of pressure is removed in knowing the #82 will make the field. A lot of good cars are sent home after Friday night qualifying, as only the best of the best make it into the Derby. Virtually every driver who qualifies for Sunday’s race is either a track or series champion or has won a big race previously, and can win the Derby. NASCAR Sprint Cup, Nationwide & Truck drivers are entered, as they know the Derby trophy is something every stock car driver longs for.

Grant has been on the pole and has finished 2nd in the past. The only think he hasn’t accomplished in the Derby contests is finishing first. He and the Bragg crew will be testing the car at the speedway today,as they know that Thursday and Friday practice is both limited and dangerous. “Every year several cars are crashed during practice, as we all know the stakes are high in this last race of the year. I hope we can get the car close to qualifying trim today and then work on the race set up for the grueling 300 lap race.”

For more information on the Derby, including the schedule of activities which begin Wednesday evening, visit www.snowballderby.com and www.speed51.com .

The race car, which will feature the firm’s name on the hood, will carry messages on both sides of the car: FIND BABY LISA
1 816 474 TIPS
Grant found out about the abduction when he arrived at the Kansas track. “We immediately decided to do what we could to keep this incident in the public’s mind. I am scrambling to find a lettering company to put the message on the car this morning, but we will have it on there for the Speed TV broadcast.” The race will by seen live by approximately 1 million viewers and hopefully the continued publicity will help produce the return of the child.

The ARCA race teams have a full day of on track activity, beginning with a practice session at 9 this morning. Qualifying will be at 5:35 p.m.,with the national telecast of the race, on Speed TV, set for 7:30 p.m. tonight. Practice and qualifying times will be accessible live through www.arcaracing.com where more information concerning
race day can be found.