Seuss Opens Season in Dominating Form
Leads Wire To Wire In Winning Whelen Opener At Caraway
SOPHIA, N.C. — Andy Seuss mounted his challenge to dethrone George Brunnhoelzl III for the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour Sunday in dominating fashion.
The 26-year-old from Hampstead, N.H., was fastest in practice, won the Coors Light Pole Award and led every lap en route to winning the Whelen Season Opener 150 at Caraway Speedway. His No. 11 Ideal Finance/Phoenix Motors Chevrolet finished 1.465 seconds ahead of runner-up Brunnhoelzl.
JR Bertuccio, Burt Myers and Jason Myers rounded out the top five.
[Photo Gallery] by Brad Newman
Danny Bohn was sixth, followed by Brian Loftin, Luke Fleming, Thomas Stinson and rookie Joe Ryan Osborne.
The win was the 16th of Seuss’ career and his ninth at Caraway, including his third straight. He won the tour’s last two stops at the .455-mile banked oval last September.
Seuss has won four of the last five Whelen Southern Modified Tour events dating to last year.
“There was a lot of anticipation going into this race the way we finished last year, and I’m glad it’s behind us,” Seuss said. “We won everything – practice, the pole, led every lap in the race – and with a car like this you should.”
Seuss became just the third driver to win three straight Whelen Southern Modified Tour races at Caraway, joining Junior Miller and L.W. Miller, who won five in a row.
For Brunnhoelzl, who holds the record for Caraway wins with 10 – now just one ahead of Seuss – it was his ninth career runner-up finish at the track. Six of those runner-ups have come to Seuss, including each of the last three visits.
“We know what we need to do, so we’ll be better off when we come back,” Brunnhoelzl said. “That’s the biggest thing – knowing what to do to make it better.”
Bertuccio recorded his third straight top-five finish at Caraway, the only three of his Whelen Southern Modified Tour career overall. Sunday’s effort was his best in 27 southern tour races.
“We’ve been doing some experimenting [on the car] and it’s starting to work out,” Bertuccio said. “We just need a little bit more power, and you’ll see us in Victory Lane by the end of the year.”
The NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour will be back on track Saturday, March 15 with the Southern National 150 at Southern National Motorsports Park in Lucama, N.C.
RESULTS | AUDIO: POST-RACE INTERVIEW WITH RUNNER-UP GEORGE BRUNNHOELZL III | AUDIO: POST-RACE INTERVIEW WITH THIRD-PLACE JR BERTUCCIO
Sources: Jason Christley/NASCAR WSMT PR
NWSMT Caraway 03/09/14 Results
Whelen Southern Modified Tour
Race: NWSMT Caraway 3/9/14
PRINT VERSION (PDF)
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Points B/Points Status
1 1 11 Andy Seuss Ideal Finance/Phoenix Motors Chevrolet 150 48 5 Running
2 4 28 George Brunnhoelzl, III Composite Tech./Performance Tech. Chevrolet 150 42 Running
3 2 2 JR Bertuccio Gershow Recycling/Hagerman Systems Chevrolet 150 41 Running
4 16 1 Burt Myers Citrusafe/Spdwy Auto Auction/Adam’s Ford 150 40 Running
5 9 4 Jason Myers Adam’s Towing/Corks Caps & Taps Ford 150 39 Running
6 6 65 Danny Bohn Rustoleum/Cedar Peaks Enterprises Chevrolet 150 38 Running
7 12 23 Brian Loftin L&R Transmissions Chevrolet 150 37 Running
8 10 40 Luke Fleming AutosByNelson.com/Koma Unwind Ford 150 36 Running
9 8 7 Thomas Stinson Dennis’ Towing & Recovery Chevrolet 150 35 Running
10 5 15 Joe Ryan Osborne * Pro Systems/Joie of Seating Chevrolet 150 34 Running
11 14 79 Spencer Davis * Hillbilly Racing/Coors 21 Means 21 Pontiac 150 33 Running
12 17 77 Gary Putnam Curb Records/Stock Car Steel Chevrolet 150 32 Running
13 11 31 Cody Ware * RaceTrac Chevrolet 150 31 Running
14 3 5 Kyle Ebersole Ebersole Excavating Ford 150 30 Running
15 18 97 Bryan Dauzat O.B. Builders Chevrolet 150 29 Running
16 19 12 Mike Norman GoAero Nationwide by Stormie Speaks Chevrolet 138 28 Mechanical
17 13 51 Bobby Measmer, Jr. * Powerhouse Recycling/Speed51.com Chevrolet 125 27 Out of Fuel
18 7 73 Cole Powell Copp’s BuildAll/Tricar Developments Chevrolet 114 26 Mechanical
19 15 43 David Calabrese Diamond Back Towing Chevrolet 41 25 Mechanical
RACE STATISTICS
Fastest Qualifier: Andy Seuss, Time: 16.05 Seconds, Speed: 102.056 mph
Time of Race: 0 hrs., 54 mins, 14 secs Average Speed: 75.507 mph Margin of Victory: 1.465 Seconds
Caution Flags: Laps 40-46 (Car #5 spinout (Frontstretch) [12]); 76 (Competition (Midway Break) [12]); 80-85 (Cars #51, 77 accident (Turn 3) [5]); 100-103 (Car #13 spinout (Turn 3) [5]); 128-131 (Car #12 accident (Turn 3) [12]). 5 for 22 laps.
Lap Leaders: Andy Seuss 1-150.
Total Laps Led: Andy Seuss 150. 0 changes involving 1 drivers.
STANDINGS
Unofficial Driver Standings: Caraway
Whelen Southern Modified Tour
Race:
NWSMT Caraway 3/9/14
Print Version (PDF) | Click Here for Owner Standings | Click Here for Rookie & Contingency Award Standings
Pos Driver Name Points Starts Wins Top 5 Top 10
1 Andy Seuss 48 1 1 1 1
2 George Brunnhoelzl, III 42 1 0 1 1
3 JR Bertuccio 41 1 0 1 1
4 Burt Myers 40 1 0 1 1
5 Jason Myers 39 1 0 1 1
6 Danny Bohn 38 1 0 0 1
7 Brian Loftin 37 1 0 0 1
8 Luke Fleming 36 1 0 0 1
9 Thomas Stinson 35 1 0 0 1
10 Joe Ryan Osborne * 34 1 0 0 1
11 Spencer Davis * 33 1 0 0 0
12 Gary Putnam 32 1 0 0 0
13 Cody Ware * 31 1 0 0 0
14 Kyle Ebersole 30 1 0 0 0
15 Bryan Dauzat 29 1 0 0 0
16 Mike Norman 28 1 0 0 0
17 Bobby Measmer, Jr. * 27 1 0 0 0
18 Cole Powell 26 1 0 0 0
19 David Calabrese 25 1 0 0 0
*Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender
STANDINGS
Unofficial Owner Standings: Caraway
Whelen Southern Modified Tour
Race:
NWSMT Caraway 3/9/14
Print Version (PDF) | Click Here for Driver Standings | Click Here for Rookie & Contingency Award Standings
Pos Owner Name Points Starts Wins Top 5 Top 10 Attempts
1 Eddie Harvey #11 48 1 1 1 1 1
2 George Brunnhoelzl, Jr. #28 42 1 0 1 1 1
3 Joe Bertuccio, Sr. #2 41 1 0 1 1 1
4 Kim Myers #1 40 1 0 1 1 1
5 Gary Myers #4 39 1 0 1 1 1
6 Eddie Bohn #65 38 1 0 0 1 1
7 Bobby Loftin #23 37 1 0 0 1 1
8 Gina Fleming #40 36 1 0 0 1 1
9 Mark Hunter #7 35 1 0 0 1 1
10 Grady Jeffreys, Jr. #15 34 1 0 0 1 1
11 David Hill #79 33 1 0 0 0 1
12 Mike Curb #77 32 1 0 0 0 1
13 Michael Speeney #31 31 1 0 0 0 1
14 Bob Ebersole #5 30 1 0 0 0 1
15 Bryan Dauzat #97 29 1 0 0 0 1
16 Donna Norman #12 28 1 0 0 0 1
17 Bob Dillner #51 27 1 0 0 0 1
18 Todd Powell #73 26 1 0 0 0 1
19 Michael Calabrese #43 25 1 0 0 0 1
STANDINGS
Rookie & Contingency Award Standings: Charlotte
Whelen Southern Modified Tour
Race:
NWSMT Charlotte 10/10/13
Click Here for Driver Standings | Click Here for Owner Standings
NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour unofficial rookie and contingency award standings:
SUNOCO ROOKIE OF THE YEAR AWARD
Driver Points
Luke Fleming 109
Jeremy Gerstner 101
David Calabrese 82
A.J. Winstead 45
Cole Powell 25
Jimmy Zacharias 20
Dalton Baldwin 13
Cody Ware 11
Donnie Lacks 8
SUNOCO ROOKIE OF THE RACE AWARD
Driver Awards
Luke Fleming 4
A.J. Winstead 3
Cole Powell 2
Jimmy Zacharias 2
Jeremy Gerstner 1
2011_contingency_coke
COCA-COLA MOVE OF THE RACE AWARD
Driver Awards
Kyle Ebersole 3
Jason Myers 2
Jeremy Gerstner 2
Mike Norman 2
Gary Putnam 1
J.R. Bertuccio 1
Ted Christopher 1
2011_contingency_coors_light
COORS LIGHT POLE AWARD
Driver Awards
Ryan Preece 3
George Brunnhoelzl III 2
Andy Seuss 2
Tim Brown 2
Burt Myers 2