Whelen So. Mod Tour News & Notes: Caraway

By admin March 3, 2014 Caraway, NASCAR WSMT

10th Season Of Competition For Whelen Southern Modifieds

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour will have a milestone weekend when the 2014 season takes the green flag on Sunday, March 9 at Caraway Speedway.

The Whelen Season Opener 150 will launch the 10th season of competition for the Whelen Southern Modified Tour, which held its inaugural event at Caraway on March 26, 2005. Nine years and 48 races later, the track and tour have forged quite a history together. No other facility has welcomed the tour more than nine times through the first nine seasons.

This week’s Whelen Season Opener 150 will mark the eighth time in 10 years that the high-banked .455-mile oval has been the site of the Whelen Southern Modified Tour’s opening contest. The Sophia, N.C., oval has also hosted the finale five times, and traditionally holds a July 4 weekend event among its midseason dates.

Brian Loftin, Junior Miller and L.W. Miller were the kings of Caraway in the first four years of Whelen Southern Modified Tour action as they combined to win 17 of the first 21 events there. The subsequent five seasons have seen George Brunnhoelzl III and Andy Seuss account for 18 victories in the last 26 trips.

Brunnhoelzl is a two-time winner of the Caraway opener, and will look to Sunday’s event as an opportunity to launch what could be a historic fourth consecutive championship season. His Whelen Season Opener 150 triumphs in 2011 and 2012 both led to eventual titles.

RACE: Whelen Season Opener 150
PLACE: Caraway Speedway, Sophia, N.C.
DATE: Sunday, March 9
TIME: 4:15 p.m. ET
TRACK LAYOUT: .455-mile banked asphalt oval
2013 WINNER: Jason Myers
2013 POLESITTER: Tim Brown
EVENT SCHEDULE: Practice 12:30-1-1:10 p.m., Qualifying 2:20 p.m., Driver Autograph Session 3:15 p.m.
TRACK CONTACT: Renee Hackett, 336-629-5803 or 336-302-5803, renee@carawayspeedway.com
TRACK TWITTER: @carawayspeedway
EVENT HASHTAGS: #WhelenOpener150
NASCAR CONTACT: Jason Cunningham, 704-201-6658, jcunningham@nascar.com, Twitter: @NASCAR_NE

EVENT SCHEDULE & ENTRY LIST

FAST FACTS
The Race: The Whelen Season Opener 150 will drop the green flag on the 10th campaign of the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour and will be the 49th running of the tour at Caraway Speedway.

The Procedure: The maximum starting field is 26 cars, including provisionals. The first 23 cars will qualify through two-lap time trials. The remaining three spots will be awarded through the provisional process. The race is scheduled for 150 laps (68.25 miles) with a 10-minute break at or near the conclusion of Lap 75. The tire rule is eight: four for qualifying and to begin the race and four for practice and change tires during the race.

The Track: Caraway Speedway is a .455-mile banked asphalt oval located in rural Sophia, N.C. The facility opened in 1966 with a dirt racing surface and was paved in 1972. Caraway, which features NASCAR Whelen All-American Series-sanctioned events on Saturday nights throughout the racing season, has hosted more NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour events than any other track in the tour’s history.

Race Winners: There have been 11 different winners across the 48 previous Whelen Southern Modified Tour events at Caraway, led by George Brunnhoelzl III with 10.

Pole Winners: Seven different drivers have earned Coors Light Pole Awards at Caraway since the inaugural event in 2005. Burt Myers leads that contingent with 13. George Brunnhoelzl III holds the track qualifying record at 15.648 seconds and 104.678 mph, set on April 21, 2012.

CARAWAY RACE NOTES
Four-Peat Bid Begins for Brunnhoelzl: George Brunnhoelzl III will look to become just the third driver to earn four consecutive championships among current NASCAR-sanctioned touring series. Brunnhoelzl has captured the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour title in each of the three previous seasons, a feat accomplished previously by Jamie Aube (NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, 1988-90), German Quiroga (NASCAR Mexico Toyota Series, 2009-11) and Jim Robinson (NASCAR K&N Pro Series West, 1983-85). With another title in 2014, Brunnhoelzl would join the likes of Ray Elder (K&N West, 1969-72) and Andy Santerre (K&N East, 2002-04) as the only drivers to achieve the four-peat. Four titles in a row were also accomplished by three different drivers in NASCAR touring series that are no longer in competition.

Brunnhoelzl Dominant at Caraway: Brunnhoelzl has won one out of every five races at Caraway in Whelen Southern Modified Tour history. His record 10 triumphs at the track have all come in the last 24 events there dating to mid-2009. Since that first win in 2009, Brunnhoelzl’s run has been so dominant that in the 14 events that he didn’t win, he was runner-up eight times and finished outside the top five only twice.

Seuss Looks to Resume Run: Andy Seuss had a challenging first half of the 2013 season, but he closed with a bang. Seuss won three of the seasons last four races, and two of those triumphs came at Caraway. In fact, Seuss has been the main competition to Brunnhoelzl at the North Carolina oval in recent seasons. In the same five year period from 2009-13 that Brunnhoelzl racked up his 10 wins, Seuss nearly matched him with eight.

Defending Winner Myers Started 2014 Strong: Jason Myers, the defending winner of the Whelen Season Opener 150, started 2014 off strong with a solid run on the short track at Daytona International Speedway. Myers ran a close second to winner Doug Coby in the UNOH Battle At The Beach to be the highest-finishing Whelen Southern Modified Tour competitor in the non-points event.

HOME TRACKS: Wilson Reigning Track Champ
Ryan Wilson took home the Caraway Speedway track championship in 2013 in weekly NASCAR Whelen All-American Series action. Wilson compiled 672 track points to edge Dan Moore by just 14 tallies in the headlining late model stock division even though Moore recorded six victories to Wilson’s two. North Carolina state champion Mack Little III made six starts at Caraway during the season and finished eighth in track points.

LAST TIME OUT: Daytona
The 2014 competition season opened on Feb. 18 on the short track at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. Here are some highlights from the non-points UNOH Battle At The Beach combination event between the Whelen Southern Modified and Whelen Modified Tours:
• Doug Coby capitalized on the late-race misfortune of dominant polesitter Ryan Preece to drive to Victory Lane. It was the second big-money, non-points NASCAR modified victory since 2011 for Coby, who represented the northern tour in the event.
• Preece led the first 147 laps from the pole, but a lap-down car made contact with him on Lap 141 that resulted in damage to his left rear wheel.
• Three of the top five and five of the top 10 finishers were Whelen Southern Modified Tour competitors.

NEXT TIME OUT: Southern National
The NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour will get right back at it next week with the Southern National 150 on Saturday, March 15 at the high-banked Southern National Motorsports Park in rural Lucama, N.C. Burt Myers is the defending winner of the race, and he is the only two-time victor at the track in five previous events. Andy Seuss took the checkered flag in the tour’s last trip to the .4-mile oval last fall.

Sources: Jason Cunningham/NASCAR WSMT PR

NWSMT Caraway 3/9/14 Schedule
Time Event
8 a.m. Haulers Enter
8:45 a.m. Garage Opens
12:30-1:10 p.m. Practice
2:20 p.m. Qualifying
2:45 p.m. Driver/Crew Chief Meeting
3:15 p.m. Driver Autograph Session
4:15 p.m. Whelen Season Opener 150 (150 Laps, 68.25 Miles)

All times ET and subject to change

NWSMT Caraway 3/9/14 Entry List
CAR DRIVER/HOMETOWN TEAM OWNER CREW CHIEF
1 Burt Myers, Walnut Cove, N.C. Citrusafe/Spdwy Auto Auction/Adam’s Ford Kim Myers Ronnie Holbrook, Jr.
2 JR Bertuccio, Centerreach, N.Y. Gershow Recycling/Hagerman Systems Chevrolet Joe Bertuccio, Sr. Joe Bertuccio, Sr.
4 Jason Myers, Walnut Cove, N.C. Adam’s Towing/Corks Caps & Taps Ford Gary Myers Mike Queen
5 Kyle Ebersole, Hummelstown, Pa. Ebersole Excavating Ford Bob Ebersole Bob Ebersole
7 Thomas Stinson, Chester, Va. Dennis’ Towing & Recovery Chevrolet Mark Hunter Mark Hunter
11 Andy Seuss, Hampstead, N.H. Ideal Finance/Phoenix Motors Chevrolet Eddie Harvey Eddie Harvey
12 Mike Norman, Lewisville, N.C. GoAero Nationwide by Stormie Speaks Chevrolet Donna Norman T.J. Moran
15 Joe Ryan Osborne, Holland, Pa. * Pro Systems/Joie of Seating Chevrolet Grady Jeffreys, Jr. Grady Jeffreys, Jr.
23 Brian Loftin, Lexington, N.C. L&R Transmissions Chevrolet Bobby Loftin Scott Widener
28 George Brunnhoelzl, III, West Babylon, N.Y. Composite Tech./Performance Tech. Chevrolet George Brunnhoelzl, Jr. George Brunnhoelzl, Jr.
31 Cody Ware, Greensboro, N.C. * RaceTrac Chevrolet Michael Speeney Mack Kanupp
40 Luke Fleming, Mount Airy, N.C. AutosByNelson.com/Koma Unwind Ford Gina Fleming Frank Fleming
43 David Calabrese, Toms River, N.J. DiamondBack Towing Chevrolet Michael Calabrese Bobby Foley
51 Bobby Measmer, Jr., Concord, N.C. * Powerhouse Recycling/Speed51.com Chevrolet Bob Dillner Ernie Mayo
65 Danny Bohn, Freehold, N.J. Rustoleum/Cedar Peaks Enterprises Chevrolet Eddie Bohn Eddie Bohn
73 Cole Powell, Mount Brydges, Ont. Copp’s BuildAll/Tricar Developments Chevrolet Todd Powell Todd Powell
77 Gary Putnam, Vernon, Conn. Curb Records/Stock Car Steel Chevrolet Mike Curb Teddy Musgrave, Jr.
79 Spencer Davis, Dawsonville, Ga. * Hillbilly Racing/Coors 21 Means 21 Pontiac David Hill David Hill
97 Bryan Dauzat, Alexandria, La. O.B. Builders Chevrolet Bryan Dauzat Todd Cooper

* Denotes Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender