Seuss Keeps Sizzling with 3rd Straight Win
Brunnhoelzl Closes On 4th Whelen Southern Modified Title
LUCAMA, N.C. — Andy Seuss continued his hot streak and George Brunnhoelzl III took a step toward his record fourth NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour championship Saturday in the G-Oil 150 at Southern National Motorsports Park.
Seuss won his third straight race.
He previously picked up wins at Caraway Speedway in Asheboro, N.C., on Sept. 8 and Sept. 28. The first victory broke a winless streak that extended almost a year. He hasn’t stopped winning since. Southern National marked the 15th career win for the 26-year-old from Hampstead, N.H.
Brunnhoelzl finished second to extend his lead to 32 points over Kyle Ebersole, who finished fourth, with one race remaining. The season finale is Thursday, Oct. 10 on the quarter-mile on the frontstretch at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Burt Myers was third, followed by Ebersole and rookie Luke Fleming.
The race was originally scheduled for Sept. 21, but rain moved into the area after qualifying and caused the race to be pushed to Saturday. Burt Myers had won the Coors Light Pole Award prior to the postponement. He has now finished in the top five in each of the five all-time Whelen Southern Modified Tour events at Southern National, including two wins.
Jason Myers, JR Bertuccio, John Smith, Danny Bohn and Thomas Stinson rounded out the top 10.
Bertuccio has recorded three top-10 finishes in a row for just the second time in his Whelen Southern Modified Tour career while Stinson has top 10s in all three of his starts as a part-time competitor this year.
It’s been a strong late-season push for Seuss, who suffered three non-lead-lap finishes in a row in August and sat fifth in points at the time.
“Our goal is to come and sit on the front row and lead every lap ever since we had our bad luck, and that’s what we’ve been doing,” Seuss said. “Eddie Harvey (car owner) and the guys give me a car good enough to do it, they don’t care if I burn the tires off it – that’s their job – and we’ve gone the same page.
“They did an awesome job at the halfway break – made all the right adjustments – because the 28 [Brunnhoelzl] and 1 [Burt Myers] were so fast that I wouldn’t have been able to run as hard as I did without them making those key adjustments, so that was big.”
For Seuss, Saturday was the third wire-to-wire win of his Whelen Southern Modified Tour career. His 15 career triumphs rank second only to Brunnhoelzl’s 20, and he moved past L.W. Miller into second – also behind Brunnhoelzl – on the career laps led list by pacing the field for all 150 on Saturday.
Even though Seuss held off the field from start to finish, he had a rearview full of Brunnhoelzl the majority of the race. Brunnhoelzl could close in on Seuss through the corners, but Seuss had a decided advantage on the straightaways. When lap traffic became a factor in the closing circuits, Brunnhoelzl almost caught him, but Seuss was able to hold off the challenger by barely half a car-length at the finish line.
“We were just a tick off, off the corner, we could get in and roll the center real good,” Brunnhoelzl said. “If we had a couple more laps, I think we could have done something there.”
As it was, Brunnhoelzl had to settle for his fourth consecutive runner-up finish, but it was a finish that all but clinched yet another Whelen Southern Modified Tour title. When Brunnhoelzl takes the green flag at Charlotte, the championship will be his for the fourth time in the last five years.
RESULTS | RACE CENTRAL LIVE REPLAY | AUDIO: POST-RACE INTERVIEW WITH WINNER ANDY SEUSS | AUDIO: POST-RACE INTERVIEW WITH SECOND-PLACE GEORGE BRUNNHOELZL III | AUDIO: POST-RACE INTERVIEW WITH THIRD-PLACE BURT MYERS
Sources: Jason Christley/NASCAR WSMT PR
NWSMT Southern National 10/5/13 Results
Whelen Southern Modified Tour
Race: NWSMT Southern National 10/5/13
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Points B/Points Status
1 2 11 Andy Seuss Newman Lawn Mowers Chevrolet 150 48 5 Running
2 4 28 George Brunnhoelzl, III Epox-Z/Cool Roof Cooling/Oval Speed Chevrolet 150 42 Running
3 1 1 Burt Myers Citrusafe/Adams Towing & Recovery Ford 150 41 Running
4 5 5 Kyle Ebersole Ebersole Excavating Inc. Ford 150 40 Running
5 9 40 Luke Fleming * Koma Unwind/Autos By Nelson.com Ford 150 39 Running
6 11 4 Jason Myers West Bend Vineyards & Brewhouse Ford 150 38 Running
7 10 2 JR Bertuccio Gershow Recycling Chevrolet 150 37 Running
8 7 25 John Smith G-Oil/CycleMax Chevrolet 150 36 Running
9 12 65 Danny Bohn Cedar Peaks /Rustoleum/Ray Evernham Ent Chevrolet 149 35 Running
10 14 7 Thomas Stinson M & M Custom Painting Chevrolet 149 34 Running
11 8 4 David Calabrese * Diamond Back Towing Chevrolet 148 33 Running
12 13 12 Mike Norman North Pt. Chrysler Jeep/DMC Auto Chevrolet 148 32 Running
13 15 70 Jeremy Gerstner * GMR Lawn Care/Fountain Mtsprts.Chevrolet 147 31 Running
14 6 02 Tim Brown Hayes Jewelers/T&C Motorsports Chevrolet 116 30 Suspension
15 3 99 AJ Winstead * Health Diagnostic/Clarke American Chevrolet 113 29 Mechanical
16 16 24 Daryl Lacks Lacks Auto Service Chevrolet 28 28 Mechanical
17 17 97 Bryan Dauzat O B Builders Inc Chevrolet 0 27 DNS
RACE STATISTICS
Fastest Qualifier: Burt Myers, Time: 14.435 Seconds, Speed: 99.758 mph
Time of Race: 44 mins, 12 secs Average Speed: 81.448 mph Margin of Victory: 0.073 Seconds
Caution Flags: Laps 48-53 (Car #99 spin Turn 2 ); 77 (Competition caution – midway break ). 2 for 7 laps.
Lap Leaders: Andy Seuss 1-150.
Total Laps Led: Andy Seuss 150. 0 changes involving 1 drivers.
* Denotes Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate