NASCAR Camping World Trucks Series driver Max Gresham, a Griffin native, is no stranger to Atlanta Motor Speedway.

He got his first look at AMS — albeit the smaller Thunder Ring — at age 8 when he first drove in the Bandolero Bandit Series in Thursday Thunder racing and 11 years later, Gresham is back where it all started for him.

Gresham has come full circle, as he will drive his No. 8 Made In USA Brand Chevy truck in the Jeff Foxworthy’s Grit Chips 200 Trucks race tonight at 8 p.m. at AMS.

“I raced in Thursday Thunder for six years and I still come back and watch that when I can,” said Gresham, now 19. “I’m very excited for the Trucks race at AMS. Growing up so close to the Speedway and racing there as a kid, it’s going to be great racing there on the big track. It should be a real fun weekend for me and my family.”

Gresham, who recently signed a five-race agreement with Eddie Sharp Racing, said he is definitely looking forward to making his ninth start in the Trucks Series tonight and his first with his new teammates Cale Gale and Justin Lofton at ESR. Gresham will be driving for Eddie Sharp Racing at AMS tonight, then at Kentucky Speedway, Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway.

“AMS will be my first start with them and I know I can thrive with Eddie Sharp Racing,” Gresham said. “It’s go time for me.”

Gresham said he’s not nervous about the race and to be honest, he said he can’t afford to be nervous while racing trucks.

“When you race trucks, it’s fast and wide-open racing. You can’t give up an inch on the arrow,” he said. “If you do, it will affect how the truck stays gripped on the race track.”

Gresham said when it comes to the Truck Series, a driver has to be focused and ready to react at a moment’s notice, hence the need to avoid any hint of nervousness.

“You never know when you have to make a quick decision on the track,” he said. “Truck traffic can get pretty intense.”

Gresham, a 2011 Woodward Academy graduate, hopes to give Eddie Sharp Racing a great chance to win the NASCAR Camping World Trucks Series Championship — his teammates Gale and Lofton are 14th and fourth in the NCWTS standings, respectively.

Gresham is used to winning, as he is coming off a victory at a NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race last summer at Gresham Motorsports Park in Jefferson, Ga. If that park name sounds familiar, it is the track that bears his family name — Gresham Motorsports Park is under the direction of Max’s grandfather, Jim Gresham, who never misses a race Max is in. Max’s father Tony is also part of Gresham and Associates and helps run Gresham Motorsports Park. Both his grandfather and father started Max’s love for the sport, so nothing would please him more to win at “home” tonight in front of the entire family.

“When I won the race at Gresham Motorsports Park last year, it was an incredible feeling. I was elated to win that race in front of my family and at the track that bears our name,” Max said. “It was the highlight of my racing career. Now winning the Trucks race at AMS would be right up there, you can best believe that.”