News & Notes: King George Celebrates First NASCAR Title
The year’s NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour champion can finally celebrate in style. After moving South with his family many years ago, West Babylon, N.Y.-native George Brunnhoelzl III capped an unbelievable season in style, winning his first NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour championship.
Brunnhoelzl accomplished something his father or grandfather had not been able to do throughout their modified driving careers — win a NASCAR touring title.
The season featured 14 races held in five southeastern states with North Carolina hosting nine of the races throughout the year.
2008 NASCAR Whelen Modified Champion Ted Christopher decided to come down from New England for the first the race of the season and promptly won at Concord Speedway.
Andy Seuss, who finished second in the season-ending points standings, won the second race of the year at South Boston Speedway in April. Seuss enjoyed a season that featured four wins and he appeared to be the early favorite to challenge for the title. He finished a close second to Christopher at the first race of the season at Caraway Speedway and then closed out the spring schedule with a win at Lanier Speedway.
While Seuss was busy collecting early season wins, Brunnhoelzl was able to use three top-five finishes in the first four races to take over the lead from Christopher in the points standings.
Brunnhoelzl held just a two-point lead over Seuss heading into the Firecracker 150 at Caraway Speedway in July, but that was as close as the Hampstead, N.H., driver got the rest of the year as Brunnhoelzl picked up his first win of the year to build his lead to 17 points over Seuss.
The next race on the schedule was probably the deciding race of the 2009 championship points battle when the tour visited historic Bowman Gray Stadium on Aug. 1.
The accident-filled event was one for the record books as rookie Luke Fleming borrowed his dad’s car and won in his first career start on the tour, winning the Advance Auto Parts 199.
While Fleming celebrated in Victory Lane, Brunnhoelzl held his own celebration as he was able to limp home in second with a damaged race car while Seuss suffered problems and finished 14th to allow Brunnhoelzl to pad his lead to 66 points.
Brunnhoelzl was credited for a win at the first-ever NASCAR Whelen and Whelen Southern Modified Tour combination race at Bristol Motor Speedway after he was the highest-finishing southern regular in the race to build his lead to 81 points over Seuss.
2008 NWSMT champion Brian Loftin returned to Victory Lane, winning the next race at Caraway Speedway on Aug. 29 to give him the record for most career wins on the Tour, with 11. He had previously been tied with Junior and L.W. Miller with 10 victories each.
Seuss did his best to catch Brunnhoelzl by winning the first NASCAR-sanctioned modified race at Myrtle Beach Speedway on Labor Day weekend, but Brunnhoelzl finished second to stay ahead easily in the standings.
The duo of drivers split wins over the next two races at Caraway and Burt Myers was credited with his first win of the season as the highest- finishing southern driver in the Martinsville Speedway combination race.
Brunnhoelzl effectively clinched the title with his win in the rain-delayed race at Ace Speedway and clinched the title in impressive fashion, holding off John Smith’s attempt for his first win on the NSWMT to take the season finale Fall Classic 150 at Caraway and wrap up the title.
Brunnhoelzl nearly clinched all honors on the Tour in 2009 winning the most Coors Light Pole awards (6), most laps led (545), most top fives and top-10s (13 each) and laps completed (2,203).
Seuss finished second in the standings and won four races with Christopher, the only other driver to win multiple races on the NWSMT this season.
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| The Event | NASCAR Night of Champions Touring Awards Gala |
|---|---|
| The Place | Concord Convention Center Hall, Concord, N.C. |
| The Date | Saturday, Nov. 14 |
| The Time | 7 p.m. ET |
| Broadcast Schedule | Streamed Live on NASCARHomeTracks.com |
| NASCAR Contact | Jason Cunningham, (704) 201-6658, jcunningham@nascar.com |
NWSMT Notebook: Season Wrap-Up
Winning In Style: Although all he had to do was start the Fall Classic 150 to claim the title, George Brunnhoelzl III (No. 28 Oval Speed/Fibrwarp/PT Ford) wanted to close out the season with a race win. Brunnhoelzl and John Smith (No. 25 Tutterow Surveying/Rick’s Home Improvement Chevrolet) raced side-by-side over the final lap and Brunnhoelzl was able to win the drag race out of Turn 4 to claim the win.
Finishing Strong: After a rough start to the 2009 season, Burt Myers (No. 1 Capital Bank Ford) finished with efforts he is more accustomed to during his five-year career on the NWSMT. Myers started his second-half run by winning a Coors Light Pole Award at Caraway in August. He also collected four consecutive top-five finishes to end the season — highlighted by his credit for a win at Martinsville in September for being the highest- finishing NWSMT regular.
Career Season: NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour veteran Gene Pack (No. 31 Comtech Solutions/Wings & Things Chevrolet) enjoyed his best season since he started competing on the tour several seasons ago.
Pack finished the year with two top-five and seven top-10 finishes. Pack’s best finish came at Bowman Gray Stadium when he grabbed third place. Pack also led a race-high 58 laps in the race at Myrtle Beach Speedway. Pack went on to finish fifth for his second top five of the year.
Veteran Representation: Mt. Airy, N.C., resident Frank Fleming (No. 40 Jerry Hunt Auto Sales/Pro Health Centers Pontiac) collected his best overall points showing with a fifth-place finish. Fleming recorded a season-best finish of second place at Caraway Speedway in July. Fleming also wins the overall Featherlite Most Improved Driver award for 2009. Fleming collected the post-race award four times this season, outdistancing runner- up Buddy Emory who finished the year winning the honor twice.
Jason Myers Keeps Streak Alive: For the fourth consecutive season, Jason Myers (No. 4 Capital Bank/Moorefield & Trantham Enterprises Ford) finished in the top six in the points standings. Myers has one career win on the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour and drives for his father and modified racing legend, Gary Myers.
Brunnhoelzl Collects Special Awards: George Brunnhoelzl will be celebrating after winning the 2009 championship, but he will also celebrate a couple of other honors at the awards gala on November 14th. Brunnhoelzl also won the Coca-Cola Move of the Race Award for the season, taking the honor three times, and he also won the most Coors Light Pole awards with six.
Tour Tidbits: Season Wrap-Up
Lia Moves Up Career Lists: Donny Lia’s 2009 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship season was highlighted by four wins, which moved him up to a tie for 12th on the career wins list with another two-time champion: Jimmy Spencer. Additionally, the Long Islander recorded a pair of Coors Light Pole Awards to also bring his career total to 15, which has him tied with Ed Flemke Jr. for 10th on the all-time list.
2009 Season Sees Preece Become College Student, Championship Contender: In between graduating from high school and starting college, Ryan Preece put together a title-contending campaign in just his third season in the Whelen Modified Tour. Preece, who turned 19 on the same day as the season ended at Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway, recorded a Tour-high 10 top fives during the 13-race season and finished just 16 points behind champion Donny Lia in the standings.
Christopher Unable to Repeat Despite Stellar Season: Ted Christopher makes 50 look like the new 30 when it comes to racing as he seems to be in his prime. After capturing his first Whelen Modified Tour title in 2008 at the age of 50, Christopher turned in another dominant campaign in 2009, but was foiled by two DNFs late in the season. Christopher topped the standings for 10 of the 13 races and registered three wins and three poles, but had to settle for third in points.
Christopher’s Record Book Assault: Winning races is nothing new to Christopher, he’s been at it throughout his career. With three more wins in 2009, Christopher is now up to 34 for his career, one shy of tying Tony Hirschman for third on the all-time list. With three Coors Light Pole Awards this season, his career total now sits at 21, which ranks eighth. All three poles came at the beginning of the season, and it was the first time in the 25 years of the Whelen Modified Tour that a driver had earned more than one to start a season.
Stefanik Returns to Victory Lane: For the 70th time in his career, and record-setting fifth time at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, Mike Stefanik took the checkered flag. Stefanik – who holds nearly every Whelen Modified Tour record – has recorded at least one win in every season he has competed full time, and of the 25 years of the Whelen Modified Tour, he has wins in 22. With his triumph at Martinsville, Stefanik became the first driver in any NASCAR series outside the Sprint Cup Series to earn 70 victories.
Solid Campaign for Pennink: Like Preece, Rowan Pennink’s third Whelen Modified Tour campaign was by far his best. The Pennsylvania native recorded five top fives and tied with two other drivers for the most top 10s with 11. In his previous two seasons, Pennink had a combined eight top 10s with no top fives.
Another Top-Five for Szegedy: Although he missed out on a trip to Victory Lane for the first time as a full-time competitor, Todd Szegedy was able to extend his streak of top-five points finishes to four years running.
Tomaino, Flemke Build on Streaks: Whelen Modified Tour stalwarts Jamie Tomaino and Flemke continued their amazing string of starts in 2009. Tomaino became the first driver to record 500 career starts and has missed just five of the 516 all-time races, while Flemke’s record streak for consecutive starts was extended to 324.
Year-End Awards Gala Set In Industry Hub
NASCAR will honor its “stars of tomorrow” and short-track veterans by gathering them in the greater Charlotte area for two special year-end celebrations.
With a special week of activities culminating in the 2009 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series (NWAAS) Awards Banquet on Friday, Nov. 13, and the new NASCAR Night of Champions Touring Awards Gala on Saturday, Nov. 14, NASCAR brings its season-ending ceremonies home to the industry hub — Concord, N.C.
“This is a tremendous opportunity to raise the bar for all of NASCAR’s developmental racing series, by bringing the champions from all of our series to the core of much of the motorsports industry,” said George Silbermann, managing director of racing operations. “In addition to these two prestigious awards banquets, we are planning a number of special activities for our series champions, for attending track operators and for the industry. We look to take full advantage of what this hub of the stock-car racing industry has to offer.”
Both season-end awards banquets will be held in the recently-completed Embassy Suites Hotel Concord Convention Center which is located near the NASCAR Research & Development Center, in proximity to the future NASCAR Hall of Fame complex, as well as the home bases of many of today’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series teams.
Moving the banquets to the Charlotte area complements the commitment the community has made to the business of NASCAR and the development of the NASCAR Hall of Fame scheduled to open May 2010.
The NWAAS Awards Banquet will feature weekly racing drivers from top short tracks across the United States and Canada. Invited attendees will include the 2009 NWAAS national champion, NWAAS state and provincial champions, all 58 track champions, the national/state/provincial rookies of the year, the 2009 Wendell Scott Trailblazer Award winner and many others.
The NASCAR Night of Champions Touring Gala will feature the champions and top drivers from all of NASCAR’s North American regional touring series including invitees from the NASCAR Camping World Series East, the NASCAR Camping World Series West, the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour and the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series.
Up Next: NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown
NASCAR’s premier short-track racing showcase, the 2010 NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown, will be run Jan. 29-30 at the Toyota Speedway at Irwindale (Calif.).
The seventh running of the event, which brings together the top racers from across North America for the “Daytona 500 of short-track racing,” will be highlighted by the 225-lap NASCAR Camping World Series all-star race.
The schedule also includes a 100-lap NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Super Late Model race and a 75-lap NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Late Model race. Both nights of racing will air live on SPEED as part of full weekend of racing on SPEED that includes the Rolex 24 at Daytona sports-car event.
The NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown was held in the fall for its first five years. It was moved to January last year to give competitors more time to prepare and also to increase exposure for drivers and teams.
The result was an event that had everybody talking. Current NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Raybestos Rookie of the Year candidate Joey Logano went for the win on the final turn of the final lap and collected race leader Peyton Sellers. Instead of a second straight showdown victory, Logano was penalized for the move, and the victory went to Matt Kobyluck, giving him his second career win in the event.
It was just another of a long line of exciting finishes to the all-star race.
Each race winner during the 2009 NASCAR Camping World Series season earned a protected starting spot in the main event. Also, 2009 series champions of NASCAR’s regional touring series – the NASCAR Camping World Series East (Ryan Truex), NASCAR Camping World Series West (Jason Bowles), NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour (Donny Lia), NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour (George Brunnhoelzl III), NASCAR Canadian Tire Series (Andrew Ranger), and NASCAR Mexico Series (Germán Quiroga) along with the 2009 national champion for the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series (Philip Morris) have protected starting spots.
The remainder of the starting lineup will be determined through time trials, limited provisionals for NASCAR Camping World Series regulars and the last-chance “Open” race that provides drivers one final chance to make the grid.
New this year, the top five NASCAR Whelen All-American Series state champions – as determined by the final national standings – entered in the Late Model race will be eligible for protected starting spots.
Sources: Tim Southers/NASCAR WSMT PR