PORTAGE, Wis. (June 10, 2021) – Wisconsin race fans are a wise breed. They seem to know talent the moment they see it.  And they appreciate seeing young racers who are on the rise.

So after Alabama youngster Grant Thompson held in with some of the best racers in the country during his TUNDRA Super Late Model Series debut at Wisconsin International Raceway, he was showered with cheers from the crowd. He’s hoping to give more Wisconsin fans something to cheer about this Saturday in the Bev Aschenbrenner Memorial Presented by IncredibleBank and A&A Lock Service at Marshfield Motor Speedway.

“It took a couple of days to set in for sure. It’s so cool to have Speed51 streaming the races live. We have enjoyed watching the race replay and all the other highlight videos over and over,” Thompson said.

“The 2nd place finish is a huge confidence builder going into the remaining TUNDRA season,” he continued. “One of the things I’m super proud of is how hard me, Dalton Zehr and Dennis Prunty raced each other, and we raced clean.”

It wasn’t just the fans who noticed Thompson. His competitors were impressed with him, as well. Having accomplished his goal of keeping clean and racing hard, Thompson earned respect from the veteran racers and former series Champs.

“It was really cool to have Dalton waiting to congratulate me with a handshake and shaking hands with Dennis Prunty after the race was crazy. That’s a big deal to me because I have watched these guys win races all over the country,” Thompson said.

“I am real proud of my first SLM race but the real credit goes to Casey Johnson, Travis Dassow for preparing such a good car and my spotter Kody Hubred,” Thompson said. “Kody did a great job of giving me really good race information. The whole team is a great fit.”

With plenty of confidence from his debut, Thompson and his team have shifted their focus to Round Two at Marshfield.  At another track that will be new to him, Thompson decided to do a little research ahead of time.

“I Googled some highlight videos and some in car video of past races,” Thompson said. “I will make my first laps there on race day.  We will meet Friday evening to walk the track together and talk about our race plan.”

Thompson is hoping they can be just as good as they were at WIR, but is keeping things in perspective.  Again, he says his main goal is to earn the trust and respect of the TUNDRA competitors.

“If everything goes well in practice and in qualifying, we will get busy. If I struggle or the team doesn’t feel comfortable, I will take up tail end and get some experience,” he said. “We will approach Marshfield just like we did at WIR with the goal of being in the top 1/3 in practice, qualifying and in the race.”

In all Thompson has a quiet confidence that WIR was no fluke, and that there can be similar results this weekend.

“Casey, Travis, Kody and Mr Johnson have a really good group of people involved in this program,” he said. “WIR was incredible but starting from the pole helped. The team works together really well.”

Surely the competitors and fans in attendance at TUNDRA Round Two this weekend will be keeping eyes on Thompson and ready to see what the talented youngster and his team have up their sleeve for his first visit to Marshfield.

The Bev Aschenbrenner Memorial is presented by Incredible Bank and A&A Lock Service. TUNDRA will be joined by the Upper Midwest Vintage Racing Series and the Midwest Dash Series.  Qualifying is scheduled for 5:45 pm with racing at 7 pm.

Marshfield Motor Speedway is located at 10853 County Rd H just outside of Marshfield, Wis.  For more information visit http://www.marshfieldspeedway.com