A post-race technical inspection found the fuel in Augie Grill’s
Super Late Model to be illegal, stripping him of the victory and handing
it over to Daniel Hemric in the Southern Super Series Pepsi Max 125 at
Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Fla. on Friday night.
Head tech inspector Ricky Brooks and his staff found traces of an
unapproved fuel substance in the car and it cost him the victory. As the
title sponsor of the Southern Super Series, Sunoco mandates that only
their purple blend be used in the tour and that wasn’t the only fuel
inside Grill’s No. 112.
“We put 20 gallons of gas in it today from the racetrack,” Grill told
Speed 51 after the decision was handed down. “I’ve never been thrown
out for something so minute, but it is Ricky Brooks that we’re talking
about.
“There are six dump cans of gas at our shop from customers’ cars —
maybe they’ve got pink stuff, maybe they don’t. For us to put 20
gallons of gas in the thing today from the racetrack and it still show
up, I just don’t know.
“I know we won’t be the only ones they catch if they keep checking it, .”
Grill can be confident in that last statement because the family
shop, Grand American Race Cars (GARC)is the primary parts supplier and
chassis builder for the majority of the field.
Nevertheless, the decision will stand and Hemric was declared the
winner in a delayed victory lane celebration, roughly one hour after the
race had ended. With the DQ, Grill will receive no points, no prize
money and will not be shown on the official results, essentially
eliminating him from championship contention.
For Hemric, it is his first victory of the season and first such in a Super Late Model at the famous Florida speedway.
“Nobody likes to win races like that, but this place is known for
some wild things to happen,” Hemric said. “Last time we were here, Bubba
(Pollard) dominated and got taken out by a lapped car and TJ Reaid won.
TJ put himself in position to win that night and we put ourselves in
position by working hard week-in and week-out. Our hard work got us
second, but with the tech stuff with Augie, it gave us the win.”
