BOBBY GRIGAS, III WINS TVMRS ROOKIE OF THE YEAR AWARD
Young Driver Wins Two Races and Overcomes Wrist Injury
If a goal is truly meant to be reached, any obstacle that is thrown in the way won’t matter. Bobby Grigas, III had the goal of winning the GMH Transportation Rookie of the Year award in the True Value Modified Racing Series for 2006. Even though he missed four races due to a broken wrist, Grigas still accomplished what he set out to do.
Grigas won the RoY award mainly for two reasons. The first was pure speed. Grigas was victorious in two races during the 2006 season, something only three other drivers on the tour accomplished that fete.
The other key to the award was determination. After an incident in practice at Canaan in August, Grigas shattered his wrist. Doctors first told Grigas that he would be out for at least six to eight weeks and probably much longer. Whether he could make it back before the end of the season was in doubt. But Grigas gritted his teeth and stuck to a painful regiment of physical therapy. He was back in action in just over a month, only missing four scheduled events.
“Winning the Rookie of the Year award was one of my goals
when I started running the True Value Modified Series and to actually
accomplish it was awesome,” said Grigas. “There were a lot of good, good rookies on that True Value Tour.”
Although they were rookies in TVMRS, many of who competed against Grigas for this year’s award has experience in other forms of Modified racing. Not Grigas though. His first races in a Modified came during Florida Speedweeks in February, where a hard crash cut his week short.
His team rebounded and rebuilt their car for the regular season. They won at Waterford and Canaan, but even Grigas wasn’t sure if they could bounce back from him being on the disabled list.
“When I missed four races, I thought I was definitely going to lose it after I broke my wrist, but I guess that I was far enough ahead that I was able to clinch it.”
Grigas is all healed up now and ready for a pair of late season open shows. He’ll race in the North-South Shootout at Concord Motorsport Park on November 2nd -4th and then the Mason-Dixon Meltdown on November 24th-25th.
