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AUGIE GRILL GOING FOR THREE GOVERNOR'S CUP WINS IN A ROW AT NEW SMYRNA
SPEEDWAY
When Augie Grill of Hayden, AL came to New Smyrna Speedway to run the Florida
Governor's Cup race in 2012, he already had an impressive resume as a driver,
but his career path has been a bit different than many former winners who
started racing in their teens.
Grill is the son of famed car builder Frankie Grill and has been around his
dad's shop turning wrenches and helping out since he was three years old.
Later he became a partner with his father in Grand American Race Cars (GARC).
For ten years, Augie Grill built cars all week and was the team’s crew chief
on the weekends, calling the shots for some of the biggest names in short
track racing who drove GARC house cars like Red Farmer, Davey Allison, Jeff
Purvis and three-time Governor's Cup winner Bobby Gill. The GARC shop in
Pleasant Grove, AL is still basically a two man operation headed up by Frankie
and Augie.
In 2003, at 26 years old, Grill fulfilled a lifelong dream by stepping into
his father’s late model and becoming the GARC house driver. Since then, the
team has traveled throughout the Southeastern United States competing in big
late model events taking victories in many prestigious races. Grill was the
back-to-back 2007 and 2008 Snowball Derby Champion at Five Flags Speedway in
Pensacola, FL and also won the Snowflake 100 race there in both 2009 and 2011.
Grill won the 2007 and 2009 Rattler 250 at South Alabama Speedway in Kinston,
AL. He also traveled north and took the 2011 Glass City 200 at Toledo (OH)
Speedway.
Grill made his first visit to New Smyrna Speedway for the 2012 Governor's Cup
and took to the track like a duck to water qualifying second over the 30 cars
present. He took the lead on the 11th lap and never looked back in winning
over Johnny Van Doorn, Austin Theriault, Matt Tifft and Kenzie Ruston.
Grill returned to New Smyrna in March 2013 and won the Cracker 200 race before
coming back to run the Governor's Cup on October 26th. This would be a much
tougher victory for Grill as he started sixth then waited until lap 148 to
snare the lead from Rich Clouser and led the remaining laps for his second Cup
win in a row over Tim Russell, Theriault, Preston Peltier and Bubba Pollard.
2014 has not been the best of years so far for Grill. Although he has eight
top-five finishes in 16 starts, Grill has but one victory, on September 19th
in the Southern Super Series/Blizzard Series finale at Five Flags Speedway.
He hopes to turn that around with a third consecutive Governor's Cup win this
Sunday. If he takes the victory he'll join legendary drivers Ed Howe and
Bobby Gill as the only ones to win the Governor's Cup three consecutive years.
SPEEDWAY
When Augie Grill of Hayden, AL came to New Smyrna Speedway to run the Florida
Governor's Cup race in 2012, he already had an impressive resume as a driver,
but his career path has been a bit different than many former winners who
started racing in their teens.
Grill is the son of famed car builder Frankie Grill and has been around his
dad's shop turning wrenches and helping out since he was three years old.
Later he became a partner with his father in Grand American Race Cars (GARC).
For ten years, Augie Grill built cars all week and was the team’s crew chief
on the weekends, calling the shots for some of the biggest names in short
track racing who drove GARC house cars like Red Farmer, Davey Allison, Jeff
Purvis and three-time Governor's Cup winner Bobby Gill. The GARC shop in
Pleasant Grove, AL is still basically a two man operation headed up by Frankie
and Augie.
In 2003, at 26 years old, Grill fulfilled a lifelong dream by stepping into
his father’s late model and becoming the GARC house driver. Since then, the
team has traveled throughout the Southeastern United States competing in big
late model events taking victories in many prestigious races. Grill was the
back-to-back 2007 and 2008 Snowball Derby Champion at Five Flags Speedway in
Pensacola, FL and also won the Snowflake 100 race there in both 2009 and 2011.
Grill won the 2007 and 2009 Rattler 250 at South Alabama Speedway in Kinston,
AL. He also traveled north and took the 2011 Glass City 200 at Toledo (OH)
Speedway.
Grill made his first visit to New Smyrna Speedway for the 2012 Governor's Cup
and took to the track like a duck to water qualifying second over the 30 cars
present. He took the lead on the 11th lap and never looked back in winning
over Johnny Van Doorn, Austin Theriault, Matt Tifft and Kenzie Ruston.
Grill returned to New Smyrna in March 2013 and won the Cracker 200 race before
coming back to run the Governor's Cup on October 26th. This would be a much
tougher victory for Grill as he started sixth then waited until lap 148 to
snare the lead from Rich Clouser and led the remaining laps for his second Cup
win in a row over Tim Russell, Theriault, Preston Peltier and Bubba Pollard.
2014 has not been the best of years so far for Grill. Although he has eight
top-five finishes in 16 starts, Grill has but one victory, on September 19th
in the Southern Super Series/Blizzard Series finale at Five Flags Speedway.
He hopes to turn that around with a third consecutive Governor's Cup win this
Sunday. If he takes the victory he'll join legendary drivers Ed Howe and
Bobby Gill as the only ones to win the Governor's Cup three consecutive years.
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