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Addison, TX 7/7/2009 -
It may have been a few years since Jani-King last sponsored Grand American Race Cars (GARC), but that hasn't stopped the team from winning races and building winning cars.
GARC team owner Frankie Grill has been building stock cars out of his Alabama race shop for more than 40 years. In that time, Frankie and his business partner earned a solid reputation for building the best cars, proven by not only his team's winning record on the track but also by the countless victories of those who have bought racecars from him.
According to Frankie and NASCAR, GARC is the only team to complete every lap of every race in one season --something that has never been done before. That year, the team took home the All-Pro Championship for the second time.
Over the years, GARC has won about 300 races,' said Frankie. 'These were good races with good drivers. We've had Davey Allison, Red Farmer, Bobby Gill, Jeff Purvis and so many more of the best short track drivers in the country in our cars.'
Frankie may not be a one-man car builder, but it's not a big shop either. In fact, there are only two employees in the shop, Frankie and his son Augie.
Augie has been around the shop his entire life and has been turning wrenches inside race cars since he was three. For ten years, Augie built cars all week and was the team's crew chief on the weekends, calling the shots for some of the biggest names in short track racing. As Augie's experience around the race track grew, so did his passion for racing and his quest to move from crew chief to driver.
'Augie's always been around good drivers, he just watched and learned from the best. He knows exactly what to do out there,' said Frankie.
In 2003, Augie slid behind the wheel for his first stock car race. He finished second in that race, then took the checkered flag in his very next attempt. Augie has amassed an impressive resume that includes over 25 wins in the six years he has been driving, including winning the 2007 and 2008 Snowball Derby, widely recognized as the toughest, most prestigious short track race in the country.
These were not Augie's first trip to victory lane at the Snowball Derby. Augie has been around the Derby since the first time he was carried into Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, FL as a one-month-old in 1976. He had been to victory lane in the Snowball Derby two times with GARC cars, both times as a crew member on Wayne Anderson and Butch Lindley's efforts.
Most recently in 2009, in his #112 Jani-King racecar, Augie qualified first and finished second at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, FL on Friday, May 30, then turned around the next night and qualified first and finished first at Mobile International Speedway. It took just over ninety minutes for Grill to lodge his victory in a race that was halted 12 times by caution flags due to minor spins and equipment failures.
Augie gave up the lead on the 51st lap, electing to go to the pit and put on right side tires. He took back the lead, for good this time, on lap 72 when then leader Bubba Pollard of Senoia, Georgia went to his pit area.
In winning the race, Augie also posted the best lap time during the race at 17.317 seconds, and he logged the top speed at 114.339 MPH measured on the front straight-a-way.
Look for Augie, GARC and Jani-King Racing in the news!
About Jani-King
Jani-King is the world's largest commercial cleaning franchise company with over 12,000 franchise owners worldwide. Founded in 1969, the company has over 120 regional offices in 17 countries. Through a network of regional support offices, Jani-King contracts commercial cleaning services for many different facilities including healthcare, office, hotel/resort, manufacturing, restaurant, and sporting venues. The company has consistently ranked as the top performer among commercial cleaning franchise businesses.