Bohn Emerges Victorious at Caraway
Nips Loftin At The Line In Wild Whelen Southern Mod Finish
SOPHIA, N.C. – It was a circle track event, but it took a drag race to decide the winner as Danny Bohn just edged Brian Loftin at the finish line to take the Prestoria Farms 150 checkered flag in NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour action Saturday at Caraway Speedway.
It was the third career victory for Bohn, and second at the .455-mile oval in rural Sophia, North Carolina.
The dramatics were setup by a series of late-race cautions. Burt Myers had dominated the bulk of the event, but mechanical issues on Lap 130 opened the door to the field. Loftin assumed the lead and held Bohn at bay for two subsequent restarts before the green-white-checkered flag conclusion.
Loftin, an eight-time winner at Caraway, took the white flag in the lead, but coming to the checkers Bohn made it a side-by-side dash. With four-time titlist and current championship contender George Brunnhoelzl III wrecking behind them as they came to the stripe, it was Bohn that edged ahead.
It was so close that it took a review of the official timing and scoring by NASCAR Race Control to determine the winner. The final margin of victory: 0.019 seconds.
Bohn and Loftin were followed across the finish line by Kyle Ebersole, points leader Andy Seuss and Luke Fleming in the top five. The rest of the top 10 included: Spencer Davis, JR Bertuccio, Daniel Speeney, Mike Norman and Bobby Measmer Jr.
Brunnhoelzl finished 12th. The last-lap accident proved costly as he lost crucial ground in the championship chase to leader Seuss, who will take a 17-point advantage to the season finale.
Bohn, from Freehold, New Jersey, earned his fifth career pole earlier in the day. The race victory was his second of the season behind the wheel of the No. 65 Rustoleum/Cedar Peaks Chevrolet.
The Whelen Southern Modified Tour will conclude its 2014 season and crown a champion in the finale on the quarter-mile at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Oct. 9.
RESULTS | RACE CENTRAL LIVE REPLAY | AUDIO: RACE WINNER DANNY BOHN POST-RACE COMMENTS |AUDIO: SECOND-PLACE BRIAN LOFTIN POST-RACE COMMENTS | AUDIO: THIRD-PLACE KYLE EBERSOLE POST-RACE COMMENTS
NWSMT Caraway 10/4/14 Unofficial Results
Whelen Southern Modified Tour
Race: NWSMT Caraway 10/4/14
Pos No. Name Laps Diff
1 65 Danny Bohn 152
2 23 Brian Loftin 152 0.019
3 5 Kyle Ebersole 152 0.131
4 11 Andy Seuss 152 0.362
5 40 Luke Fleming 152 0.555
6 79 Spencer Davis* 152 0.936
7 2 JR Bertuccio 152 1.155
8 80 Daniel Speeney 152 3.816
9 51 Bobby Measmer Jr* 152 4.574
10 12 Mike Norman 152 5.603
11 77 Gary Putnam 152 18.254
12 28 George Brunnhoelzl lll 151 1 Lap
13 73 Cole Powell 151 1 Lap
14 43 David Calabrese 146 6 Laps
15 15 Joe Ryan Osborne* 145 7 Laps
16 1 Burt Myers 130 22 Laps
17 4 Jason Myers 25 127 Laps
Sources: Jason Cunningham/NASCAR WMT PR