Brandon Grosso Explained

Brandon Grosso
Nationality: American
Birth Date:30 March 2000
Birth Place:Montgomery Township, New Jersey
Current Series:ARCA Menards Series
First Year:2017
Former Teams:Ken Schrader Racing
Starts:17
Wins:0
Poles:0
Best Finish:21st
Year:2018
Last Finish:21st (2018)
Prev Series:CARS Late Model Stock Tour
Prev Series Years:2017
Updated:January 24, 2020

Brandon Grosso (born March 30, 2000) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He most recently competed part-time in the ARCA Menards Series in both 2017 and 2018, driving the No. 11 and No. 52 cars for Ken Schrader Racing. Since then, he has been without a ride in that series, but he does currently compete in crate modified racing.

Raised in Montgomery Township, New Jersey, Grosso attended Montgomery High School.[1]

Racing career

Grosso started racing at age 4 when his father gave him a quarter midget for his birthday, and eventually began to compete frequently in dirt modified races at New Egypt Speedway in his home state of New Jersey. Grosso's parents, Rick and Nanci, were the owners of the racetrack from 1997 to 2006, buying the track when it was dilapidated, and renovating it before selling it to other owners.[2] [3]

He drove a full season in the CARS Late Model Stock Tour in 2017, driving a car owned by NASCAR on NBC pit reporter Marty Snider.

He made his first start in the ARCA Series later that year at the dirt track of DuQuoin, earning a fifth place finish driving the No. 11 car for Ken Schrader Racing in a partnership with Andy Hillenburg's Fast Track Racing team.[4]

Schrader later signed him on for a full season the following year in his primary No. 52 car, replacing 2017 champion Austin Theriault, who was released from the team due to sponsorship issues. With big shoes to fill, Grosso made his first start at the second race of the season at Nashville due to not being old enough to run the season-opener at Daytona which was before his 18th birthday on March 30.[5] However, under ARCA rules, Grosso was allowed to participate in the series' testing at the track in January as well as run one lap in practice for the race there in February before being required to withdraw, the same situation Riley Herbst was faced with in 2017.[6] Theriault was supposed to replace him for Daytona, but later in the offseason, the team signed Will Rodgers to drive for them, and he brought sponsorship.

Grosso was eventually released from Schrader's team, and he was replaced by his teammate Rodgers, who after subbing for Grosso at Daytona had been running a part-time schedule in the No. 11 KSR-Hillenburg car, but was moved over to Schrader's No. 52 to run the remainder of his schedule.

Although Grosso did not make any ARCA or stock car starts for another team for the rest of 2018 or in 2019, he was still racing. He ran in Saturday night crate modified events in his own No. 32 car at New Egypt and other tracks in the area.[7] [8]

Personal life

Grosso is from the Belle Mead section of Montgomery Township, New Jersey, and is a 2018 graduate of Montgomery High School.[6] His dad was friends with his high school principal, who allowed Grosso to have extra absences during the school year so he could go racing.[2]

Motorsports career results

ARCA Racing Series

(key) (

Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
ARCA Racing Series results
YearTeamNo.Make1234567891011121314151617181920Pts
2017Schrader-Hillenburg Racing11ToyotaDAYNSHSLMTALTOLELKPOCMCHMADIOWIRPPOCWINISFROADSF
5
SLMCHIKENKAN78th205
2018DAY
Wth
21st1120
Ken Schrader Racing52FordNSH
9
SLM
9
TAL
20
TOL
6
CLT
17
POCMCHMADGTWCHIIOWELKPOCISFBLNDSFSLMIRPKAN

Season still in progress
Ineligible for series points

Notes and References

  1. Radebaugh, Don. "High school dirt modified ace Grosso preps for full pull ahead with KSR", ARCA Menards Series, February 22, 2018. Accessed January 25, 2020. "Seventeen-year-old Brandon Grosso will soon be graduating from Montgomery High School with his well-earned diploma. However, the New Jersey native won't be around for the ceremony in June because he'll be strapped into the No. 52 Ken Schrader Racing ARCA car at Gateway Motorsports Park."
  2. Web site: Chuck . Curley . Auto Racing . Republican Herald . May 27, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180225153342/https://www.republicanherald.com/sports/auto-racing-1.2047455 . January 24, 2020. 2018-02-25 .
  3. Web site: High School Student Making Racing His Career . Tomorrow'sTechnician.com . Babcox Media Inc. . June 1, 2016 . January 24, 2020.
  4. Web site: Talented 17-Year-Old Brandon GrossoTeaming with Ken Schrader Racing . . WebRunners Inc. . September 1, 2017 . January 25, 2020.
  5. Web site: Don . Radebaugh . Rookie Brandon Grosso teams with KSR for full '18 season . ARCARacing.com . January 10, 2018 . January 24, 2020.
  6. Web site: Don . Radebaugh . High school dirt modified ace Grosso preps for full pull ahead with KSR . ARCARacing.com . February 22, 2018 . January 24, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190726031413/https://www.arcaracing.com/articles/2009117-high-school-dirt-mod-ace-grosso-preps-for-full-pull-ahead-with-ksr . July 26, 2019 . dead .
  7. Web site: Grosso Gets Job Done At New Egypt; Simmons Mr. Crate Modified 2019 . . August 4, 2019 . January 25, 2020.
  8. Web site: Steve . Strunsky . It's plumbers vs. bankers at N.J. speedway where average joes race for glory . NJ.com . Advance Local Media LLC . August 31, 2019 . January 25, 2020.