News Director 
Story By: MATT SKIPPER / DIRTCAR – CONCORD, NC – Mario Gresham opened up the ninth annual World Short Track Championship as his way to make up significant ground from problems suffered at the start of Thursday’s program.
Dealing with carburetor problems in his Qualifying session, the Rome, GA driver’s worries were withdrawn when he got to work in the Crate Racin’ USA Fox Factory Pro Late Model Feature by leading every lap to win at The Dirt Track at Charlotte.
Madison, AL driver Dalton Dowdy brought the field to the opening flag of the Feature but lost the lead immediately as Winchester, VA driver Davin Kaiser and Gresham flew by on the top side of the track.
Kaiser got clear of Dowdy down the backstretch, while Gresham was stuck next to him. Going into Turn 3, Gresham slung his No.21 Late Model down to the bottom to edge Kaiser to the line on the opening circuit.
Gresham kept the momentum rolling to clear Kaiser as Ellenville, NY driver Brock Pinkerous followed his tire marks to take over second place.
While “Bam Bam” used any open space around the 0.4-mile surface to close the distance, Gresham extended his lead to over two seconds on the 14-year-old driver.
Taking the checkered flag of the World Short Track Championship in a caution-free race, Gresham wheeled his way to victory in Thursday’s main event as he looks to mirror the drive in Friday’s Heat races for the Pro Late Models.
“I knew we had to go early,” Gresham said. “I think we qualified dead last for tomorrow, the carburetor wouldn’t run and had some problems. I was hoping to race to make sure everything was good on it. But once we made it through the first lap, I knew we were ok. The car was really good tonight.”
Pinkerous went on to finish the night in second, and Tyrone, GA driver Jody Knowles finished on the podium in a climb from an eighth-place starting spot.
Salisbury, NC driver Colby Quick finished fourth with an 11-position climb from a 15th-place beginning. Lake Elmo, MN’s Matthew Larson – son of World of Outlaws CASE Late Models competitor Brent Larson – finished his night by climbing up four positions for a fifth-place result.
UP NEXT: The Crate Racin’ USA Fox Factory Pro Late Models return to the racetrack on Friday, Oct. 27, for the second day of the ninth annual World Short Track Championship at The Dirt track at Charlotte.
Feature (15 Laps): 1. 21-Mario Gresham[4]; 2. 555-Brock Pinkerous[5]; 3. 66-Jody Knowles[8]; 4. 5-Colby Quick[15]; 5. 8-Matthew Larson[9]; 6. 22W-Jimmy Webb[11]; 7. 6-Dillon Brown[12]; 8. 24-Jacob Brown[7]; 9. 515-Bubba Roling[16]; 10. 22T-Jimmy Thomas[6]; 11. 11K-Davin Kaiser[3]; 12. 18G-Ricky Greene[14]; 13. 88D-Dalton Dowdy[1]; 14. P4-John Price[13]; 15. 98-Matt Dooley[10]; 16. 2S-Layton Sullivan[18]; 17. (DNS) 47-Gavin Cowan; 18. (DNS) 23-Beckham Malone; 19. (DNS) 00R-John Ruggiero Jr; 20. (DNS) 127-Austin Yarbrough; 21. (DNS) G4-Trent Ivey
