Hebner delivers in NASCAR Super Truck season finale

IRWINDALE- Fallbrook’s Grant Hebner finished fifth in race fourteen of the NASCAR Super Truck series at Toyota Speedway in Irwindale. The season-ending fourteenth race of the series was a 100-lap event which featured 27 competitors vying for the race win and a chance to improve their standing in the year-end series championship.

The 100 lap race was considerably longer than the usual 40 lap events. This placed special emphasis on engineering the set-up for Hebner’s Super Truck. “We qualify for a starting position in the heat of the day,” remarked Hebner. “The race is at night under much cooler conditions and this was quite a long run for us. It’s a challenge involving compromise to get the set-up right for qualifying and the race.”

Hebner qualified 15th on the starting grid, but the team was confident they had a truck that would perform well in the race. Hebner pushed hard at the green flag picking up several positions. He then avoided a 3 truck accident on lap 8 which brought out the caution flag. After a strong restart, he settled into a “race pace” that would see him steadily move up through the field as the laps went by. “The truck was really consistent over the race distance,” remarked Hebner. When the checkered flag signaled the end of the race, Hebner had scored a fifth place finish and had maximized his standings in the 2008 Championship points race.

“Before the race, we analyzed our championship situation and Grant knew exactly who he had to finish in front of in order to maximize his standing in the championship,” his father, Bryant Hebner, said. “Obviously, he would have to stay out of trouble not to slide back. It’s so close. Just a few points in either direction can be the difference between first or tenth.” Hebner finished ahead of everyone who could have spoiled his fifth place finish in the 2008 Championship.

This year’s NASCAR Super Truck series was Hebner’s first experience competing on ovals and in stock cars. His prior experience has all been in open-wheel Formula cars on road courses. “This year has definitely been a journey,” commented Hebner. “It is so difficult to drive these trucks on an oval in close quarters and maximize your times. 100ths of a second decide how your race is going to go. The level of competition is unbelievable!”

“I am extremely proud of the entire team’s effort this year. We were always a factor in the races, running up front all year long. We scored a podium finish and hopefully we’ll be able to find enough sponsorship to come back next year and build on our efforts,” said Hebner. Hebner drives for Jason Bowles Racing and thanked both Jason and Kevin Bowles for all the hard work that led to a successful “rookie” campaign in 2008. For more information, visit http://www.GrantHebnerRacing.com.

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