Greg Pursley’s Infineon Recap

PARKER, ARIZONA (June 24, 2009) – Greg Pursley, driver of the Gene Price Motorsports/Star Nursery Chevrolet, spent a couple of days back at the shop mulling over what might have been. The team prepared a top five car, the driver had a top five finish in sight, but racing luck or lack thereof relegated the championship contender to a 20th place finish this past Saturday at Infineon Raceway in round seven of the NASCAR Camping World Series-West. Pursley’s 20th place finish keeps him in sight of the leaders, albeit a bit more of a distant view.

Pursley qualified his Gene Price Motorsports/Star Nursery Chevrolet in the 8th position setting him solidly in the stout field of 40 cars for the 64-lap Bennett Lane Winery sponsored event. Pursley grew up racing on road courses and he felt confident that he had a car that could contend for the win.

The 200-mile event would mean that Pursley would need to stop at least once for fuel and then again for tires. He stopped at lap 16 and then again midway through the event never falling outside the top 15 in the running order. In road course racing a driver must be patient and let things work out all the while ensuring that you keep all four tires on the blacktop. Pursley exercised patience throughout the race and raced the track to make his way into the top five with five laps to go.

There are several good places to pass at Infineon and turn 11 is one of the best, providing you can out-brake your competitor going into the tight right-hand 90 degree turn. Pursley held the preferred line on lap 60 but an eager driver made a bonsai run into the corner and subsequently used Pursley’s Chevrolet as the pivot point. The contact sent Pursley into the tire barrier and dropping him out of contention.

He was able to get the car restarted and joined the tail end of the field. The best he could do is limp his way to the finish. “You want to get mad but it is racing,” Pursley said. “We had an awesome car and were exactly where we need to be at the end of the race. In road course racing you really risk disaster at every corner because you really never know what the next guy is going to do. We paid the price.”

“Danny Crafton and all the guys on the crew were excellent all weekend,” Pursley continued. “We ended up running our backup car because it just had a better feel and I felt like it gave us the best chance to win. We spend all of Thursday preparing the car and it did not disappoint in qualifying. We ran a good race but it just didn’t work out in the end. We have two more chances this year to get a win on a road course but for now we just have to put Infineon behind us.”

Next up for Greg Pursley and the Gene Price Motorsports team is a return to familiar territory and the track where he has garnered great success over the years. The King Taco “200” Saturday, July 4th at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale (CA) will be the only visit by the series this season to the marquee racing facility. Pursley has over 35 wins at Toyota Speedway since 1999 and several championships. Pursley currently maintains the fifth position in the NCWSW standings with one win, three top five and five top ten performances in seven starts this season. He is 43-points behind fourth place and 173-points behind point leader Eric Holmes.

Greg Pursley made his NCWS series debut back in 1999 at Mesa Marin Raceway in Bakersfield, CA and has 23 career series starts with one win (Thunder Hill 2009), five top five and ten top ten performances. 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. The NASCAR Camping World Series is in its 56th season of competition and the Infineon race can be seen on SPEED Channel July 2 at 12PM PT.