Gene Price Motorsports Driver Greg Pursley Has Tough Day at Infineon
Pursley Loses Points After Mid-Race Incident Drops him out of Fifth Position
SONOMA, CA (June 19, 2010) – Greg Pursley, driver of the GPM Performance Parts Ford in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series, left Infineon Raceway thinking of what could have been. Pursley ran inside the top five all race until a lap 41 incident left his Ford battered and bruised resulting in a 27th place finish.
Pursley qualified for the Thunder Valley Casino Resort "200" in the fourth position and used the early laps in the 64-lap race to settle into a groove. Over the first dozen laps all seemed to go according to plan but a brake issue developed causing the former NASCAR Weekly Racing National champion to have to adjust his driving style in order to compensate for the lack of stopping power.
From lap 15 through lap 41, Pursley just drove his race staying in contact with the leaders. As he exited turn 5 on lap 41 two cars behind him made bold moves using Pursley's #26 GPM Ford as a pinball causing heavy damage to all four corners of the car. The caution flew and Pursley pitted for repairs.
Under the guidance of crew chief Jerry Pitts, the GPM team repaired the damage losing five laps to the field in order to make the car driveable. Pursley then soldiered on to pick up four positions despite the 27th place finish.
"Luck is a big part of this deal and I just don't seem to have much right now," Pursley said. "I was just a victim of someone's mistake and I paid the price. Before that we were pretty much following the game plan looking for a top five finish. These road course race can cost you big in the points and this race really costs us."
Pursley drops from third place in the standings to seventh place, 139-points out of first. "We have had two bad races and they can just doom a championship run," Pursley said. "Maybe we can make some points back up at Irwindale where I have a lot of laps and experience."
Greg Pursley is in his third full season of competition in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series and currently sits third in the championship standings after four races and is coming off a solid sixth place performance two weeks ago at Roseburg, OR. Pursley has 34 career starts, one win (Thunder Hill 2009), with ten top five and 18 top ten performances along with two Coors Light Pole Awards. Pursley is the 2004 NASCAR Whelen All American Series National Champion where he competed at Toyota Speedway and was a multi-time winner on the now defunct NASCAR Southwest Tour where he competed for many years.
Greg Pursley drives a Ford powered by a NASCAR Spec engine. The team is sponsored by GPM Performance Parts, Star Nursery, Oakley, Ron’s Rear Ends, and Finish Line Signs & Designs. The GPM team operates out of a state-of-the-art facility in Parker, AZ. The race from Infineon Raceway will be broadcast on SPEED Channel on Thursday, June 24 at 3PM PT. The next event for the GPM team is Saturday, July 3 at Toyota Speedway in Irwindale, CA. For all the latest news and information on about Greg Pursley and Gene Price Motorsports, log onto www.genepricemotorsports.com. Gene Price Motorsports operates a full-service race shop and performance parts store spanning all forms of motorsports and performance automotive & marine needs. To keep tabs on racing throughout the west, log onto www.racingwest.com and to follow the NASCAR K&N Pro Series log onto www.nascarhometracks.com.
