Steve Grissom
From The Third Turn, a Wikia wiki
Steve Grissom is a NASCAR Busch Series driver. He drives the #49 Advil Ford Fusion for Jay Robinson Racing. Steve was the 1993 Busch Series champion. Steve has eleven Busch wins and as of 2006 holds the Busch champions provisional. He turned down a scholarship to play quarterback at the University of Alabama to focus a career on racing.
Contents |
[edit] Early years
Grissom began his racing career as a youth, working on cars with his father Wayne, who was a sponsor of short track drivers in their homestate of Alabama. He soon began racing cars himself, balancing that with being captain of his high school football and basketball teams. He eventually joined the Winston All-Pro Series, and won the championship in 1985. The next season, he was nominated for Alabama Pro Athlete of the Year.
[edit] Busch Championship
Grissom made his Busch Series debut in 1986 at the Freedlander 200, in the #31 Oldsmobile owned by his father. He started 16th but finished 30th due to engine faliure. He ran three more races over the next two years, his best finish being an 11th. In 1988, he moved into the series full-time. Despite a lack of major sponsorship, Grissom had four top-tens and finished 13th in points. In 1989, he was able to land funding from Texas Pete Sauces, and was able to move to twelfth in points. Finally, Grissom enjoyed a breakout year in 1990. With Big Mama Meats on board as sponsor, Grissom won four races and finished 3rd in points, just behind Chuck Bown and Jimmy Hensley. During the season, Grissom ran one Winston Cup race for Dick Moroso at the Atlanta Journal 500, starting 23rd and finishing 24th. Unfortunately, a lack of funding kept Grissom from repeating this performance in 1991, as Grissom had just one win and slid back to tenth in points. After Channellock came on board in 1992, Grissom regained his success of 1990, winning two races, and clinching the Busch Series championship in 1993.
[edit] Winston Cup
In 1993, Grissom ran an additional Cup race for Diamond Ridge Motorsports at New Hampshire International Speedway, finishing 29th. Grissom signed with Diamond Ridge to compete for Rookie of the Year honors in 1994. Despite struggles in qualifying, Grissom had three top-tens and was narrowly defeated by Jeff Burton for Rookie of the Year. Diamond Ridge also bought Grissom's Busch Series operation, and running a part-time schedule Grissom won twice and finished 26th in points in 1995. Grissom hoped to duplicated that success in Cup that season, with Meineke serving as sponsor. But despite four top-tens, Grissom was only able to increase his position in points to 27th.
Grissom started 1996 off on a high note, winning the season-opening Busch Series race, but he was fired from Diamond Ridge after the Miller 400 Cup race.
[edit] Struggles
For 1997, Grissom signed on with Larry Hedrick Motorsports. Things got off on the right foot with Grissom winning the outside pole for the Daytona 500. As the year progressed, he was able to stock pile six top-tens and finished a career-high 21st in points. Hopes were high for 1998, but Grissom struggled trying to carry over his success from the previous season, and he was released. He ended the season driving the #96 for American Equipment Racing.
After American Equipment closed its doors, Grissom started the 1999 season with LJ Racing in a four-race deal. His performance was not good enough to warrant him a full-time deal, and he was released. He spent the season doing fill-in duty for Carroll Racing, Travis Carter Motorsports, and Hensley Motorsports, among many others.
In 2000, Grissom was hired by Petty Enterprises to drive their #43 in the Craftsman Truck Series. While he did not visit victory lane, Grissom enjoyed his best season in years, finishing in the top-five six times and finished tenth in points. This gave him the chance to do fill-in work for Kyle Petty at the Cup level. However, he did not as well as hoped in that ride, and was released from Petty. After spending virtually all of 2001 on the sidelines, he was called back to Petty in 2002 to replace Buckshot Jones in the #44. In ten starts, he posted one top-ten at Richmond International Raceway. He has not run a Cup race since.
That season, Grissom ran 7 races for Frank Cicci Racing, then spent 2003 at DCT Motorsports. After being released from DCT midway through 2004, he finished the year at GIC-Mixon Motorsports. He finished 28th in points that season.
[edit] Presently
In 2005, Grissom joined with Jay Robinson Racing to drive the #49 Advil Ford Taurus. Despite not finishing in the top-ten Grissom was able to land a 23rd place finish in points. Unfortunately, he and his team came under controversy due to their tendency to qualify for races on the "Past Champion's Provisional", a starting spot set aside for past champions in the Busch Series who fail to qualify on time. Grissom will continue to run for Robinson on a part-time basis in 2006.
His son Kyle, is a competitor on the Legends circuit.
