Whelen So. Mod Tour Stat Advance: Caraway

By admin March 4, 2014 Caraway, NASCAR WSMT

Analyzing The Whelen Season Opener 150 At Caraway Speedway

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour is set to take the green flag for its 10th season of competition with the Whelen Season Opener 150 on Sunday, March 9 at Caraway Speedway in Sophia, N.C. Below is a statistical look at the performance of selected drivers at the track:

Caraway Race Setup:
• With this week’s Whelen Season Opener 150, Caraway Speedway will have played host to the NWSMT’s first date on the calendar in eight of 10 seasons.
• George Brunnhoelzl III (10), Brian Loftin and Andy Seuss (8) top the list of six previous Caraway winners that are expected to enter this week’s race.
• Brunnhoelzl is a two-time (2011, `12) winner of the Whelen Season Opener 150. Those victories were the first step toward two of his four championship seasons.
• Seuss won the last two Caraway races. Only L.W. Miller (5) and Junior Miller (3) have previously won at least three races in a row at the track.

AT CARAWAY SPEEDWAY:
History
• Caraway Speedway opened in 1966 as a dirt track and was paved in 1972.
• Caraway held three NASCAR Nationwide Series events from 1982-82, won by Dale Earnhardt, Jack Ingram and Butch Lindley.
• Caraway has featured weekly NASCAR Whelen All-American Series racing each year since 1986.
• The first NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour race at Caraway Speedway was held on March 26, 2005 and was won by Ted Christopher.

Notebook
• Caraway has held more NWSMT events than any other facility in the tour’s history with 48 entering this week. No other track has held more than nine.
• There have been 11 different winners across the 48 previous NWSMT events at Caraway, led by George Brunnhoelzl III with 10.
• Seven different drivers have earned Coors Light Pole Awards at Caraway since the inaugural event in 2005. Burt Myers leads that contingent with 13. He was also the inaugural event’s polesitter.
• Defending Whelen Season Opener 150 winner Jason Myers is the only driver to compete in all 48 previous NWSMT events at Caraway.
• Brian Loftin, Junior Miller and L.W. Miller combined to win 17 of the first 21 NWSMT races at Caraway. Brunnhoelzl and Andy Seuss have accounted for 18 victories in the last 26 trips.
• L.W. Miller holds the record for consecutive victories at Caraway with five that spanned the 2006-07 seasons.
• Six Caraway races have been won wire-to-wire, the last by Brunnhoelzl on July 6, 2013.
• Seuss is the youngest Caraway race winner at 21 years, 6 months, 19 days.
• Junior Miller is the oldest Caraway victor at 55 years, 4 months, 14 days.

Caraway Speedway Data
Season Race #: 1 of 15 overall, 1 of 6 at Caraway
Track Layout: .455-mile asphalt oval
Banking/Turns: 13 degrees
Banking/Straights: 9 degrees
Race Length: 150 laps / 68.25 miles

Qualifying/Race Data
2013 Pole Winner: Tim Brown
2013 Race Winner: Jason Myers
Track Qualifying Record: George Brunnhoelzl III, Chevrolet, 15.648 seconds, 104.678 mph, April 21, 2012

ACTIVE CATEGORY LEADERS AT CARAWAY:
Wins
1. George Brunnhoelzl III … 10
2. Brian Loftin … 8
Andy Seuss … 8

Poles
1. Burt Myers … 13
2. George Brunnhoelzl III … 10
3. Brian Loftin … 6
Andy Seuss … 6

Top Fives
1. Brian Loftin … 26
2. George Brunnhoelzl III … 23
3. Jason Myers … 18
Andy Seuss … 18

Top 10s
1. Jason Myers … 36
2. Burt Myers … 34
3. Brian Loftin … 30

Laps Led
1. Andy Seuss … 1,225
2. George Brunnhoelzl III … 1,143
3. Brian Loftin … 891

Laps Completed
1. Jason Myers … 6,717
2. Burt Myers … 6,624
3. Brian Loftin … 5,878

Starts
1. Jason Myers … 48
2. Burt Myers … 46
3. Brian Loftin … 43

SELECTED DRIVER HIGHLIGHTS:
Danny Bohn (No. 65 Rustoleum/Cedar Peaks Chevrolet)
• The 2012 Sunoco Rookie of the Year has a win, a pole, 10 top fives and 17 top 10s in 22 career NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour starts.
• His one victory came at Caraway Speedway on Oct. 6, 2012. Has four top fives and seven top 10s in 10 career starts at the track.

George Brunnhoelzl III (No. 28 Composite Technologies Chevrolet)
• Has a record four NWSMT championships (2009, `11, `12, `13).
• Has 20 wins, 21 poles, 41 podiums, 50 top fives, 64 top 10s and 2,548 laps led in 79 career starts.
• Holds NWSMT all-time records for wins and laps led. Ranks second in poles, third in top fives and fourth in top 10s.
• Has 10 wins, 10 poles, 19 podiums, 23 top fives, 29 top 10s and 1,143 laps led in 35 career starts at Caraway.
• Has finished on the podium in 18 of his last 22 starts at Caraway, including all 10 wins.

Kyle Ebersole (No. 5 Ebersole Excavating Ford)
• Has a win, 11 top fives and 27 top 10s in 23 career starts. The victory was earned at Langley Speedway in 2013.
• Has five top fives with a best finish of second in 10 career starts at Caraway. Recorded three podiums in five races there a year ago.

Luke Fleming (No. 40 AutosByNelson.com/Koma Unwind Chevrolet)
• The 2013 NWSMT Sunoco Rookie of the Year has a win and six top 10s in 14 career starts. The win came at Bowman Gray Stadium in his 2009 tour debut.
• Has a pair of top 10s, an average finish of 11th, and a best result of sixth in five career Caraway starts.

Brian Loftin (No. 23 L&R Transmission Chevrolet)
• The 2008 NWSMT champion has 12 wins, 12 poles, 40 top fives and 50 top 10s in 79 career starts.
• Has eight wins, six poles, 26 top fives and 30 top 10s in 43 career races at Caraway.

Burt Myers (No. 1 Myers Racing Ford)
• The 2010 NWSMT champion has 11 wins, a tour record 26 poles and 86 top 10s in 104 career starts.
• Has one win, a record 13 poles, 17 top fives and 34 top 10s in 46 career Caraway starts.
• Was the NWSMT’s inaugural event polesitter at Caraway, and won the second-ever race there on April 9, 2005.

Jason Myers (No. 4 Myers Racing Ford)
• Owner of three wins and 80 top 10s in a NWSMT-record 108 career starts. Has competed in all but one race in the tour’s first nine seasons.
• The defending winner of the Whelen Season Opener 150, he is the only driver to participate in all 48 previous NWSMT races at Caraway, where he has 18 top fives and a record 36 top 10s.
• Was the highest-finishing NWSMT driver in the UNOH Battle At The Beach when he crossed the line second on the short track at Daytona International Speedway in February.

Andy Seuss (No. 11 Ideal Finance/Phoenix Motors Chevrolet)
• Has 15 wins, nine poles, 45 top fives and 60 top 10s in 80 career NWSMT starts. His 15 wins rank second all-time.
• Is tied with Brian Loftin for second on the Caraway wins list with eight. Also has six poles, 18 top fives, 25 top 10s and a record 1,225 laps led in 35 total starts there.
• All eight of his Caraway wins have come in his last 26 starts there, a stretch that includes an additional five podiums.

UP TO SPEED:
• The 2014 NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour schedule consists of 15 events at seven different tracks across three states.
• The competition season opened with the non-points UNOH Battle At The Beach on the short track at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 18. Ryan Preece was the polesitter and Doug Coby took the checkered flag.
• Following the Whelen Season Opener 150 at Caraway Speedway, the NWSMT will return to action on March 15 at Southern National Motorsports Park.

Sources: Jason Cunningham/NASCAR WSMT PR