News & Notes: Langley Hosts Return Visit

Whelen Southern Modifieds Head To Virginia

Daytona Beach, FL — For the second consecutive year, the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour will make its way to the Hampton (Va.) area for the Newport News Shipbuilding 150 at Langley Speedway on Saturday, Sept. 3.

Tim Brown hopes his results are the same as his first trip to the Hampton Roads track.

In the race last season, it appeared James Civali was going to cruise to his third win of the season, but Brown ended a nearly two-year absence from Victory Lane pulling away in dominating fashion to win the Hampton 150.

Brown took the lead from Civali on Lap 132 and pulled away to win by more than three seconds after Civali had led all but 14 laps of the race up to that point. It was his sixth career NWSMT victory and first since he took the checkered flag at Caraway Speedway in Asheboro, N.C., in 2008.

This year’s race could be the night Langley’s own Thomas Stinson picks up his first series win at his home track. Stinson, who was in third place in the 2011 point standings before motor woes forced him to cut back his schedule, logged impressive finishes earlier this year with three top fives in four starts.

Stinson will be behind the wheel of his No. 7 M&M Painting/Cowardin Jewelers Chevrolet this Saturday and will be one of the favorites to pick up the win at the popular track.

Andy Seuss enters the event on a roll after dominating the Tour’s most recent event on Aug. 26 event at Caraway. He was fastest in practice and collected the Coors Light Pole Award before he was able to work past L.W. Miller on Lap 50 of the main event and lead the rest of the way for his ninth career win.

While Stinson and Seuss will both be factors in the race, everyone is still chasing George Brunnhoelzl III. Brunnhoelzl maintains his comfortable lead in the point standings with a 125-point cushion over John Smith.

Here is a quick ‘By the Numbers’ look at Langley Speedway.
 3.329 – In seconds, the margin of victory at Langley Speedway last year when Brown beat Civali.
 6 – The number of drivers who finished on the lead lap last year at Langley.
  190 – Number of laps led by NWMT competitor Ted Christopher in the first two races combined (110 in 2009 & 80 in 2010).
 3 – The number of drivers who led laps in last year’s inaugural race at Langley. (Brown, Civali, Seuss).
 3 –Number of cautions in the race last year.

Race Notes
First time competitors: Sunoco Rookie of the Year contenders Austin Pack and Daniel Hemric are expected to make their first start at Langley in the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour.

Move Over Boys: Renee Dupuis will make her third start of the year when she takes the green flag Saturday. Dupuis, from Glastonbury, Conn., finished eighth last week at Caraway.

ENTRY LIST | SCHEDULE

Fast Facts
The Race:  The Newport News Shipbuilding 150 will be the ninth of 14 races for the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour in 2011 and the second visit to the Commonwealth of Virginia this season after visiting South Boston (Va.) Speedway in April.

The Procedure:  The starting field is 26 cars, including provisionals. The first 23 cars will have secured starting positions based on two-lap qualifying. The remaining three spots will be awarded through the provisional process. The race will be 150 laps (59.40 miles).

The Track:  The first race at Langley Speedway was held in 1950. The track is also known as the last venue to host the old Grand National Series in November of 1970 before the series became what is known today as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. NASCAR Hall of Fame members David Pearson, Ned Jarrett, Bobby Allison and Richard Petty all won races at Langley with Pearson winning three of the nine events held there.

Race Winners: Tim Brown is the defending winner of this event.

Home Tracks: Falk Leads The Way
C.E. Falk and Greg Edwards have basically made it a two-driver race for the Late Model championship at Langley Speedway. Falk leads Edwards by 38 points and is coming off of a pair of 50-lap feature wins on Aug. 21.

Falk is also contending for the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national championship in addition to titles at the track and overall winner in Virginia.

Falk is fourth in the national standings 62 points behind front-running and fellow Virginian Phillip Morris (775-713), and is third behind Morris by the same margin in the state standings.

Other division leaders at Langley include: Ricky Derrick (Grand Stocks), Casey Sipe (Pro-Six), Ritchie German (Super Street), Tommy Nixon (Super Stock), Landon Florian (UCAR), Shawn Balluzzo (Modifieds), and Tommy Sweeny (Pro Wings).

Last Time Out: Seuss Returns To Victory Lane
Andy Seuss’ last win came at Caraway Speedway in 2010 and was able to duplicate his effort by winning the Caraway 150 NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour race on Aug. 26 in Asheboro, N.C.

The 24-year-old driver from Hampstead, N.H., battled L.W. Miller early and then pulled away from George Brunnhoelzl III in the late stages to score his ninth career series win and his fifth at Caraway in 23 starts.

Seuss, who entered the event fifth in the championship standings, had a nearly perfect day at the .455-mile track by topping the practice speeds early and then winning his fifth career Coors Light Pole Award in qualifying.

Although he led from the drop of the green, Seuss had to battle back after L.W. Miller took the lead from him on Lap 14. Seuss muscled his way by Miller on lap 50 and held command from there in his No. 11 Phoenix Pre-Owned/Triad Auto Sales Dodge.

It was an emotional win for Seuss, and a family reunion of sorts. His current car owner Eddie Harvey and his car owner from last season, David Riggs joined forces in this race to help bring home the win.

Up Next: UNOH SHOWDOWN Southern Thompson “125”
The next event for the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour will be the UNOH Showdown Southern Thompson 125 at the Thompson (Conn.) Speedway on Sunday, Sept. 11. This will be the inaugural visit for the series in Connecticut and will be part of a combination weekend with the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. Each division will have a 125-lap feature event followed by a 50-lap all-star race pitting competitors from each tour.

Sources:Tim Southers/NASCAR WSMT PR