Steve Grissom was named Wednesday to drive Spencer Motor Ventures’ #34 U.S. Air Force Chevy for the rest of the 2002 BGN season. Grissom will take the reigns from Stuart Kirby beginning with the Cabela’s 250 at Michigan. “We had to make a very tough business decision this week”, said Spencer Motor Ventures’ President, Jimmy Spencer. “Our responsibility as a race team is to generate media exposure for the United States Air Force, and provide them with marketing tools to recruit young men and women to protect our county. In my opinion, I feel that our off-track NASCAR programs have been an asset to the Air Force, but our track performance has not met with the same success. I’m confident that Steve Grissom can give us the track performance that this race team needs right now to elevate our program to the next level. But, this is a tough business where track performance is so critical to our success, and that’s why I had to make this change now. We are only running sixteen races this season, and that makes it tough when you’re trying to develop a young rookie driver who needs seat time. I wish Stuart the best of luck. He’s a fine young man, and I know he’ll be successful in this sport.” Grissom, the 1993 BGN Champion, joined Petty Enterprises in 2000, where he drove the #43 Dodge in the CTS, finishing 10th in the points that year. He is credited as being the point man for Petty’s return to Dodge. For much of 2000 and 2001, Grissom spent countless hours in on-track research and development for Dodge Motorsports and Petty Enterprises. After releasing Buckshot Jones from the #44 Dodge earlier this year, Petty gave the ride to Grissom. He ran nine Winston Cup races for the Petty’s with his best finish of the season, eighth, in his third start, at Richmond. “I want to thank Jimmy Spencer for giving me this opportunity,” said Steve Grissom. “Jimmy has put together a good race team, and I’m excited to be part of his organization. I have worked with their crew chief, Larry Carter, in the past when I drove for Travis Carter’s Winston Cup team several years ago, and that’s always a plus when you start a new deal. It’s also an honor to be part of the Air Force team, and I’m going do whatever it takes to help them with their recruiting program.” Grissom has 233 starts in the NASCAR Busch Series, posting 11 wins, 42 top-5 and 74 top-10 finishes. Hi-res images of Grissom and the No. 34 U.S. Air Force NASCAR Busch Series Chevrolet are available online at www.jimmyspencer.com.(Spencer Motor Ventures PR)(7-31-2002)
