Seuss Caps Off Championship Season
Wins First Whelen Southern Mod Title; Myers Takes Finale
CONCORD, N.C. — Andy Seuss finished off his first NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour championship Thursday night, as Burt Myers continued his mastery of the quarter-mile at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Myers pulled away from George Brunnhoelzl III on a green-white-checkered end to the Southern Slam 150. It was the third Charlotte win for the Walnut Cove, North Carolina, driver.
Seuss finished fifth to put the final touches on his title run.
The 27-year-old Hampstead, New Hampshire, driver had placed in the top five in tour championship points in each of the previous six seasons, including runner-up in 2009 and 2011. This season, though, he wouldn’t be denied. Seuss won three times and recorded 12 top fives in 14 races. He won the season opener and led the championship points since the third race.
JR Bertuccio got past Brunnhoelzl on the final lap to take second. Brunnhoelzl, who won the tour championship in four of the last five years, finished third in the race. Kyle Ebersole was fourth.
Seuss entered the finale with a 17-point lead over Brunnhoelzl and was content to keep his challenger in sight while cruising to the championship. Seuss finished with a 14-point margin over Brunnhoelzl and 23 over Myers, who led the tour with four wins.
Earlier in the day, NASCAR Next driver Ryan Preece won the Coors Light Pole Award. He led until Lap 64 when he had to pull off the track with mechanical issues.
That handed the lead to Brunnhoelzl, who was on point until being overtaken by Myers on Lap 83 and the two swapped the lead over the next several laps. Myers took the top spot for good on Lap 86 and led a race-high 70 laps. A late caution gave Brunnhoelzl one more shot, but Myers was able to hold on for his 15th career win.
Zach Brewer finished sixth at Charlotte, followed by Cole Powell, Mike Norman, Danny Bohn and Luke Fleming.
Seuss will be honored for his championship season along with NASCAR’s other touring series champions on Saturday, Dec. 13 at the NASCAR Touring Series Awards in the Grand Ballroom of the Charlotte (N.C.) Convention Center at the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
RESULTS | RACE CENTRAL LIVE RECAP | AUDIO: POST-RACE INTERVIEW WITH CHAMPION ANDY SEUSS AND CAR OWNER ED HARVEY | AUDIO: POST-RACE INTERVIEW WITH RACE WINNER BURT MYERS
NWSMT Charlotte 10/9/14 Results
Whelen Southern Modified Tour
Race: NWSMT Charlotte 10/9/14
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Points B/Points Status
1 3 1 Burt Myers Citrusafe/Speedway Auto Auction Ford 154 48 5 Running
2 9 2 JR Bertuccio Gershow Recycling Chevrolet 154 42 Running
3 2 28 George Brunnhoelzl, III Composite Tech./Performance Tech. Chevrolet 154 42 1 Running
4 7 5 Kyle Ebersole Ebersole Excavating Ford 154 40 Running
5 5 11 Andy Seuss Northeast Race Cars/Ideal Finance Chevrolet 154 39 Running
6 6 09 Zach Brewer Racing Electronics Chevrolet 154 38 Running
7 4 73 Cole Powell Copp’s BuildAll/Tricar Chevrolet 154 37 Running
8 22 12 Mike Norman Gastonia Chry Jeep/Tri City Trading Chevrolet 154 36 Running
9 16 65 Danny Bohn Rustoleum, Rifenburg Construction, Bear gift 154 35 Running
10 8 40 Luke Fleming Koma Unwind/Autos By Nelson.com Ford 154 34 Running
11 13 13 Chris Fleming * AutosByNelson.com/Koma Unwind Chevrolet 154 33 Running
12 19 77 Gary Putnam Curb Records Chevrolet 153 32 Running
13 23 70 Jeremy Gerstner GMR Complete Lawn Care Chevrolet 151 31 Running
14 15 79 Spencer Davis * Coors Light 21 Means 21/Hillbilly Racing/LeBlue 147 30 Running
15 14 99 A.J. Winstead Health Diagnostic Laboratory Chevrolet 145 29 Running
16 18 43 David Calabrese Diamond Back Towing/airgraphix.com Chevrolet 120 28 Running
17 21 97 Bryan Dauzat O B Builders Inc Chevrolet 100 27 Engine
18 20 8 Dalton Baldwin * ChildrensDreamRacer.com Chevrolet 91 26 Running
19 12 15 Austin Pack Pinnacle Trucking/RTX/Osborne Const. Chevrolet 77 25 Oil Line
20 1 98 Ryan Preece Curb Records/Menards Chevrolet 64 25 1 Brakes
21 11 4 Jason Myers Adams Towing & Recovery Ford 59 23 Overheating
22 10 51 Bobby Measmer, Jr. * Speed51.com Chevrolet 25 22 Accident
23 17 7 Thomas Stinson Dennis’ Towing & Recovery Chevrolet 1 21 Accident
24 24 72 Bud McIntyre * Levil 1 McIntyre Motorsports Chevrolet 0 20 Accident
RACE STATISTICS
Fastest Qualifier: Ryan Preece, Time: 14.612 Seconds, Speed: 61.593 mph
Time of Race: 55 mins, 25 secs Average Speed: 41.684 mph Margin of Victory: 0.572 Seconds
Caution Flags: Laps 1-8 (#72 Spun, #4 involved); 25-31 (Debris on Track); 76-80 (#09 Spun Turn 4); 85-88 (#09 Spun Turn 4, #8 involved); 101-111 (#97 Spun Turn 2); 147-151 (#77 Spun Backstretch). 6 for 40 laps.
Lap Leaders: Ryan Preece 1-64, George Brunnhoelzl, III 65-82, Burt Myers 83, George Brunnhoelzl, III 84-85, Burt Myers 86-154.
Total Laps Led: Burt Myers 70, Ryan Preece 64, George Brunnhoelzl, III 20. 4 changes involving 3 drivers.
Top 10 Driver Points: Andy Seuss 583, George Brunnhoelzl, III 569, Burt Myers 560, JR Bertuccio 548, Danny Bohn 542, Kyle Ebersole 520, Luke Fleming 511, Gary Putnam 477, Spencer Davis * 475, Jason Myers 465
* Denotes Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender
Sources: Tim Southers, NASCAR PR