Steven Paul Grissom (born June 26, 1963) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He was the 1993 Busch Series champion and has eleven Busch wins in 185 starts. Grissom turned down a chance to play football at the University of Alabama to focus on a career in racing.

Early years Grissom began his racing career in his youth, working on cars with his father Wayne, who was a sponsor of short track drivers in their home state of Alabama. He soon began racing cars himself, balancing that with being captain of his high school football and basketball teams in 1981. He eventually joined the Winston All-Pro Series, and won the championship in 1985. The next season, he was nominated for Alabama Pro Athlete of the Year. NASCAR career Busch Championship Grissom made his Busch Series debut in 1986 at the Freedlander 200, in the No. 31 Oldsmobile owned by his father. He started sixteenth but finished 30th due to engine failure. He ran three more races over the next two years, his best finish being an eleventh. In 1988, he moved into the series full-time. Despite a lack of major sponsorship, Grissom had four top-tens and finished thirteenth in points. In 1989, he landed funding from Texas Pete Sauces, and moved to twelfth in points.

In 1990, Grissom won four races, including two straight, and finished third in points behind Chuck Bown and Jimmy Hensley. During the season, Grissom ran one Winston Cup race for Dick Moroso at the Atlanta Journal 500, starting 23rd and finishing 24th. A lack of funding kept Grissom from competing for the championship in 1991, as he had one win and slid back to tenth in points. After Channellock and Roddenberry's came on board in 1992, Grissom regained his success of 1990, winning two races. He clinched the Busch Series championship in 1993 for his family-owned team. Grissom won the championship by 253 points over Ricky Craven.

Winston Cup In 1993, Grissom ran an additional Cup race for Diamond Ridge Motorsports at Phoenix International Speedway, finishing 29th. Grissom signed with Diamond Ridge to compete for Rookie of the Year honors in 1994. Despite struggles in qualifying, Grissom had three Top 10's and was narrowly defeated by Jeff Burton for Rookie of the Year. Diamond Ridge also bought Grissom's Busch Series operation, and running a part-time schedule Grissom won twice and finished 26th in points in 1995. Grissom had four top-tens in the 1995 Cup season, finishing 27th in points; he started the season running in the top-ten points early on in the year. Grissom started 1996 off on a high note, winning the season-opening Busch Series race driving the WCW car, but he was released from Diamond Ridge after the Miller 400 race midway through the season.

For 1997, Grissom signed on with Larry Hedrick Motorsports. Grissom started the year winning the outside pole for the Daytona 500. As the season progressed, he finished in the top-ten six times and finished a career-high 21st in points.

Grissom experienced a major crash during the Primestar 500 in 1997 when his No. 41 Chevrolet slid into the inside wall and flipped on the roof. The gas tank detached from the car and flew across the racetrack, spilling gasoline, which subsequently ignited a fire by friction with Mike Wallace's car. Grissom was taken to the infield medical center and released 45 minutes later, suffering only a sore ankle. The fire was extinguished and the racing resumed about an hour later with 44 laps remaining.

After he struggled throughout the 1998 season, he was released from his ride and ended the season driving the No. 96 for American Equipment Racing.

After American Equipment closed its doors, Grissom started the 1999 season with LJ Racing in a four-race deal. After his contract was not renewed, he spent the season doing fill-in duty for Carroll Racing, Travis Carter Motorsports, and Hensley Motorsports, among others.

In 2000, Grissom was hired by Petty Enterprises to drive their No. 43 Dodge Ram in the Craftsman Truck Series. This year was best known as when Tony Roper turned into Grissom's bumper and hit the wall head-on at Texas Motor Speedway, then hitting Roper's truck as it slid down the track. Roper died of injuries he sustained from the crash the next morning. While he did not visit victory lane, Grissom finished in the top-five six times and finished tenth in points. He also ran in the Cup Series, filling in for Kyle Petty in the No. 44 Hot Wheels Pontiac Grand Prix. After spending virtually all of 2001 on the sidelines, he was called back to Petty in 2002 to replace Buckshot Jones in the No. 44. In ten starts, he posted one top-ten at Richmond International Raceway. He has not run a Cup race since. That season, Grissom ran seven Nationwide Series races for Frank Cicci Racing, then spent 2003 at DCT Motorsports. After being released from DCT midway through 2004, he finished the year at GIC-Mixon Motorsports. He finished 28th in points that season.

Late career

In 2005, Grissom joined with Jay Robinson Racing to drive the No. 49 Advil Ford Taurus. Despite not finishing in the top-ten, Grissom was able to land a 23rd-place finish in points. Unfortunately, he and his team came under controversy due to their tendency to qualify for races on the "Past Champion's Provisional", a starting spot set aside for past champions in the Busch Series who fail to qualify on time. Grissom ran two races for Robinson on a part-time basis in 2006, and drove the season opening races in 2007 and 2008, for Cicci Racing and MSRP Motorsports respectively. In 2009, he drove for Davis Motorsports in the No. 0 Chevy at Bristol.

Personal life Grissom's son Kyle Grissom is also a racing driver, having competed in the ARCA Racing Series.

Grissom's father and team owner, Wayne, died on August 21, 2021, at age 86.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Winston Cup Series NASCAR Winston Cup Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Pts Ref 1990 Moroso Racing 20 Olds DAY RCH CAR ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL CLT DOV SON POC MCHl DAY POC TAL GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR PHO ATL24 78th 91 1993 Diamond Ridge Motorsports 29 Chevy DAY CAR RCH ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL SON CLT DOV POC MCH DAY NHA POC TAL GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR PHO29 ATL 74th 76 1994 DAYDNQ CAR30 RCH23 ATL20 DAR14 BRI12 NWSDNQ MAR14 TAL10 SON35 CLT39 DOV27 POC26 MCH26 DAY33 NHA33 POC29 TAL18 INDDNQ GLN23 MCH19 BRI34 DAR23 RCH7 DOV8 MAR12 NWS20 CLT26 CAR30 PHO22 ATL26 28th 2660 1995 DAY7 CAR6 RCHDNQ ATL18 DAR6 BRI11 NWS5 MAR20 TAL37 SON26 CLT13 DOV16 POC18 MCH20 DAY43 NHA28 POC31 TAL25 IND30 GLN22 MCH29 BRI22 DAR27 RCHDNQ DOV25 MAR26 NWS31 CLT41 CAR14 PHO32 ATL39 27th 2757 1996 DAY27 CAR5 RCH21 ATL39 DAR26 BRI27 NWS26 MARDNQ TAL6 SON25 CLT16 DOV42 POC22 MCH34 DAY NHA POC TAL IND GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR PHO ATL 39th 1188 1997 Larry Hedrick Motorsports 41 Chevy DAY40 CAR24 RCH11 ATL33 DARDNQ TEX10 BRI32 MAR20 SON17 TAL41 CLT11 DOV24 POC18 MCH38 CAL17 DAY38 NHA4 POC30 IND26 GLN9 MCH25 BRI5 DAR21 RCH12 NHA4 DOV21 MAR40 CLT13 TAL32 CAR24 PHO8 ATL28 21st 3061 1998 DAY28 CAR20 LVS39 ATL16 DAR19 BRI16 TEX10 MAR25 TAL16 CAL30 CLT32 DOV32 RCH39 MCH41 POC23 SON10 NHA43 POC39 IND23 GLN38 MCH33 BRIDNQ NHA25 DAR20 RCH17 DOVDNQ MAR 34th 2215 American Equipment Racing 96 Chevy CLT32 TAL36 DAY29 PHO CARDNQ ATLDNQ 1999 LJ Racing 91 Chevy DAYDNQ CAR36 LVS42 ATLDNQ DAR TEX BRI MAR TAL CAL RCH CLT DOV MCH POC SON DAY NHA POC 50th 336 Team SABCO 01 Chevy INDDNQ GLN MCH TAL28 CAR PHO HOM ATL Melling Racing 9 Ford BRI39 DAR39 RCH30 NHA DOV MAR CLT 2000 Petty Enterprises 44 Pontiac DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX MAR TAL CAL RCH CLTDNQ DOV MCH POC SON DAY NHA36 POC INDDNQ GLN MCH BRI DAR26 RCH27 NHADNQ DOV27 MARDNQ CLTDNQ TAL16 CARDNQ PHODNQ HOMDNQ ATLDNQ 52nd 419 2002 Petty Enterprises 44 Dodge DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX MAR TAL25 CAL33 RCH8 CLT32 DOV25 POC26 MCH40 SON DAYDNQ CHI31 NHA28 POC IND GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH NHA DOV KAN TAL CLT MAR40 ATL CAR PHO HOM 44th 769

Daytona 500 Year Team Manufacturer Start Finish 1994 Diamond Ridge Motorsports Chevrolet DNQ 1995 35 7 1996 26 27 1997 Larry Hedrick Motorsports Chevrolet 2 40 1998 41 28 1999 LJ Racing Chevrolet DNQ

Nationwide Series