Bertuccio Closes Deal at Southern National
Beats Brunnhoelzl For First Career Whelen Southern Mod Win
KENLY, N.C. — J.R. Bertuccio earned his first trip to Victory Lane the hard way.
The 32-year-old from Centerrach, N.Y., had to hold off four-time NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour champion George Brunnhoelzl III on a green-white-checkered finish to win Saturday’s Southern National 150.
The win came in Bertuccio’s 28th career start. He had three previous top fives with his best finish coming at Caraway Speedway with a third-place run in the 2014 season opener.
[Photo Gallery] by Brad Newman
Kyle Ebersole also managed to slip past Brunnhoelzl on the late race restart to take second. Followed Brunnhoelzl across the line were Andy Seuss and Burt Myers.
The green-white-checkered finish extended the race to 155 laps.
Luke Fleming finished sixth, followed by Gary Putnam, rookies Joe Ryan Osborne and Spencer Davis, and Bryan Dauzat.
The NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour will be off next weekend before running at South Boston (Va.) Speedway on Saturday, March 29.
RESULTS | RACE CENTRAL LIVE REPLAY | AUDIO: RUNNER-UP AND THIRD PLACE FINISHERS KYLE EBERSOLE AND GEORGE BRUNNHOELZL III
NWSMT Southern National 03/15/14 Results
Whelen Southern Modified Tour
Race: NWSMT Southern National 3/15/14
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Points B/Points Status
1 3 2 JR Bertuccio Gershow Recycling/Hagerman Systems Chevrolet 155 48 5 Running
2 2 5 Kyle Ebersole Ebersole Excavating Ford 155 42 Running
3 1 28 George Brunnhoelzl, III Composite Tech./Performance Tech. Chevrolet 155 42 1 Running
4 7 11 Andy Seuss Ideal Finance/Phoenix Motors Chevrolet 155 40 Running
5 10 1 Burt Myers Citrusafe/Spdwy Auto Auction/Adam’s Ford 155 39 Running
6 14 40 Luke Fleming AutosByNelson.com/Koma Unwind Ford 155 38 Running
7 13 77 Gary Putnam Curb Records/Stock Car Steel Chevrolet 155 37 Running
8 11 15 Joe Ryan Osborne * Cycle Max/Joie of Seating Chevrolet 155 36 Running
9 9 79 Spencer Davis * Hillbilly Racing/Coors 21 Means 21 Pontiac 155 35 Running
10 12 97 Bryan Dauzat O.B. Builders Chevrolet 155 34 Running
11 6 4 Jason Myers Adam’s Towing/Corks Caps & Taps Ford 155 33 Running
12 4 65 Danny Bohn Rustoleum/Cedar Peaks Enterprises Chevrolet 155 32 Running
13 18 12 Mike Norman GoAero Nationwide by Stormie Speaks Chevrolet 154 31 Running
14 5 23 Brian Loftin L&R Transmissions Chevrolet 153 30 Running
15 17 7 Thomas Stinson Dennis’ Towing & Recovery Chevrolet 152 29 Running
16 16 51 Bobby Measmer, Jr. * Powerhouse Recycling/Speed51.com Chevrolet 150 28 Running
17 8 99 A.J. Winstead * Health Diagnostic Laboratory Chevrolet 123 27 Running
18 15 43 David Calabrese DiamondBack Towing Chevrolet 103 26 Mechanical
RACE STATISTICS
Fastest Qualifier: George Brunnhoelzl, III, Time: 14.517 Seconds, Speed: 99.194 mph
Time of Race: 0 hrs., 54 mins, 34 secs Average Speed: 68.173 mph Margin of Victory: .346 Seconds
Caution Flags: 5 cautions for 20 laps. Laps 40-43 (Car #99 Stopped (Turn 3 & 4)); 45-49 (Car #7 Spinout (Backstretch)); 76-77 ((Competition Midway Break)); 107-110 (Car #43 Stalls (Turn 2)); 148-152 (Cars #51 Spins (Turn 2), #23 Stalls (Turn 4)).
Lap Leaders: George Brunnhoelzl, III 1-10, JR Bertuccio 11-155.
Total Laps Led: JR Bertuccio 145, George Brunnhoelzl, III 10. 1 changes involving 2 drivers.
Top 10 Driver Points: JR Bertuccio 89, Luke Fleming 74, Jason Myers 72, Andy Seuss 48, George Brunnhoelzl, III 42, Kyle Ebersole 42, George Brunnhoelzl, III 42, Burt Myers 40, Andy Seuss 40, Burt Myers 39
Next Race: March 29, Caraway
* Denotes Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate
Sources: Jason Christley/NASCAR WSMT PR