Whelen So. Modified Stat Advance: Caraway
Analyzing The Spring Classic 150 At Caraway Speedway
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The 2015 NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour season gets underway this Saturday night at Caraway Speedway with the Spring Classic 150, the first of three scheduled visits to the track for the tour this year. Below is a statistical look at the performance of selected drivers at Caraway:
Spring Classic 150 Setup:
• Andy Seuss begins defense of his 2014 championship at a track where he has enjoyed a lot of success as two of his three wins from last season came there, and in those two wins he won both from the pole and led all 150 laps.
• Four-time tour champion George Brunnhoelzl III owns the track record for most tour wins at Caraway with 11. Seuss is second with 10.
• Seuss and Brunnhoelzl have combined to win 13 of the last 18 tour races at Caraway, and 21 of 31 since 2008.
• Burt Myers joins Brunnhoelzl and Seuss as drivers who won at Caraway in 2014 that are scheduled to compete this weekend.
At Caraway Speedway:
Track History
• Caraway Speedway is celebrating its 50th season of competition this year. The .455-mile oval opened in 1966 as a dirt track and was paved in 1972.\
• Caraway held three NASCAR XFINITY Series events from 1982-83, 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 the most events in NWSMT history with 53 entering this race. No other track has played host to more than 10.
• There have been 11 different winners across the 53 previous NWSMT events at Caraway, led by Brunnhoelzl with 11 wins.
• Seven different drivers have earned Coors Light Pole Awards at Caraway since the first race in 2005. Burt Myers leads that contingent with 13. He was also the inaugural event’s pole sitter.
• Jason Myers is the only driver to compete in all 53 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 21 victories in the last 31 trips.
• L.W. Miller holds the record for consecutive victories at Caraway with five, which spanned the 2006-07 seasons.
• Seven Caraway races have been won wire-to-wire, including back-to-back wins by Seuss in two of the tour’s four visits there last season.
• Seuss was the youngest Caraway race winner at 21 years, 6 months, 19 days.
• Junior Miller was the oldest Caraway victor at 55 years, 4 months, 14 days.
Caraway Speedway Data
Race: #1 of 11 overall, 1 of 3 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
2014 Pole Winner: Andy Seuss
2014 Race Winner: Andy Seuss
Track Qualifying Record: George Brunnhoelzl III, Chevrolet, 15.648 sec., 104.678 mph, April 21, 2012
Active Category Leaders at Caraway:
Wins
1. George Brunnhoelzl III … 11
2. Andy Seuss … 10
3. Brian Loftin … 8
Poles
1. Burt Myers … 13
2. George Brunnhoelzl III … 11
3. Andy Seuss … 8
Top Fives
1. George Brunnhoelzl III … 27
2. Brian Loftin … 27
3. Andy Seuss … 23
Top 10s
1. Jason Myers … 39
2. Burt Myers … 37
3. Brian Loftin … 33
Laps Led
1. Andy Seuss … 1,531
2. George Brunnhoelzl III … 1,352
3. Brian Loftin … 972
Laps Completed
1. Burt Myers … 7,280
2. Jason Myers … 7,212
3. Brian Loftin … 6,428
Starts
1. Jason Myers … 53
2. Burt Myers … 51
3. Brian Loftin … 47
Selected Driver Highlights:
JR Bertuccio (No. 2 Gershow Recycling Chevrolet)
• Has two wins and 20 top 10s in 40 career NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour starts. The wins came at Southern National Motorsports Park and Bristol Motor Speedway last season.
• Enjoyed his best career finish to date in the final points standings (fourth) in 2014.
• Has five top fives and 10 top 10s in 18 career starts at Caraway.
George Brunnhoelzl III (No. 28 Composite Technologies Chevrolet)
• Has a record four NWSMT championships (2009, `11, `12, `13).
• Has 22 wins, 22 poles, 49 podiums, 61 top fives, 75 top 10s and 2,770 laps led in 92 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 recorded at least one win a season in every year he has competed full-time on the NWSMT since 2008 and recorded two wins last season including one at Caraway in September. Brunnhoelzl competed in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour in 2010.
• Has 11 wins, 11 poles, 22 podiums, 26 top fives, 32 top 10s and 1,352 laps led in 40 career starts at Caraway.
• Has finished on the podium in 21 of his last 27 starts at Caraway, including all 11 wins.
Doug Coby (No. 21 Dunleavy’s Truck & Trailer Repair Chevrolet)
• The 2012 & `14 NWMT champion has 10 wins, four poles and 78 top 10s in 156 career starts.
• This will be his first career start in the NWSMT.
• Recorded one win, nine top fives and 12 top-10 finishes in 13 races last season, highlighted by a win at Stafford Motor Speedway in June.
Bryan Dauzat (No. 97 O.B. Builders Chevrolet)
• One top five and 12 top 10s in 50 tour starts with a best career finish of fifth at Bowman Gray Stadium in 2009.
• Has six top-10s finishes in 22 starts at Caraway, finishing with back-to-back eighth-place finishes at the track in his two most recent starts on July 4 and Sept. 5, 2014, respectively.
Spencer Davis (No. 79 Hillbilly Racing Pontiac)
• Has two top fives and seven top 10s in 14 career starts.
• Finished sixth at Caraway on Oct. 4 for his second top 10 in five starts at Caraway.
• Is the reigning Sunoco Rookie of the Year Award winner.
Kyle Ebersole (No. 5 Ebersole Excavating Ford)
• Has two wins, 18 top fives and 27 top 10s in 36 career starts. The first victory was earned at Langley Speedway in 2013 and the second came at South Boston Speedway on Sept. 13, 2014.
• Ranked sixth in points with 10 top-10 finishes last season.
• Has an average finish of eighth and a best result of second (2013) in 15 career Caraway starts.
Frank Fleming (No. 40 AutosByNelson.com Chevrolet)
• This veteran driver will return to the seat for the first time since 2012. He has one win (Bristol – 2011) one pole, 25 top-five and 59 top-10 finishes in 96 career starts.
• Finished in the top-10 in the final standings each year from 2005-12, with a career best of fifth in 2009.
• Has an average finish of ninth and a best result of second (five times) in 43 career Caraway starts.
Eric Goodale (No. 58 Heritage Wide Plank Flooring Chevrolet)
• Has a win, a pole and 35 top 10s in 86 career NWMT starts. The win came at his home track Riverhead Raceway in June 2014.
• Maintains the NWMT’s longest active starts streak, now at 84 races.
• Has already won once this season picking up a tour-type modified win at New Smyrna Speedway in February.
• Has one previous start in the NWSMT at Southern National in 2013.
Brian Loftin (No. 23 L&R Transmissions Chevrolet)
• The 2008 NWSMT champion has 12 wins, 13 poles, 40 top fives and 53 top 10s in 86 career starts.
• Has eight wins, seven poles, 27 top fives and 33 top 10s in 47 career races at Caraway.
• Finished second to Danny Bohn by .019 seconds in his last start at Caraway on Oct. 4, 2014.
Burt Myers (No. 1 Remington SCT/Speedway Auto Auction Ford)
• The 2010 NWSMT champion has 15 wins, a tour record 28 poles, 62 top fives and 98 top 10s in 118 career starts.
• Finished third in the final standings last season with four wins, 12 top 10s and nine top fives in 14 races.
• Has two wins, a record 13 poles, 20 top fives and 37 top 10s in 51 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 Adams Towing/Corks, Caps & Taps Ford)
• Has recorded three wins, 37 top fives and 88 top 10s in a NWSMT-record 122 career starts. Has competed in all but one race (2005-Martinsville Speedway) in the tour’s previous 10 seasons.
• Finished 2014 in 10th-place in the final standings with eight top 10s and two top fives.
• Is the only driver to participate in all 53 previous NWSMT races at Caraway, where he has a win (2013), 19 top fives and a record 39 top 10s.
Ryan Preece (No. 6 TS Haulers/Calverton Tree Farm Chevrolet)
• Has a win, five poles and five top fives in nine career NWSMT starts. The win came at Bowman Gray in 2013.
• The 2013 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion has 11 wins, 12 poles, 29 podiums, 48 top fives and 64 top 10s in 108 career northern tour starts.
• He won three pole awards last season competing in the NWSMT with two coming at Langley, and he set a new track record during qualifying at Charlotte in October.
Gary Putnam (No. 77 Curb Records Chevrolet)
• Has 19 top 10s in 45 career starts with a best finish of fifth at Caraway in 2013.
• Finished in the top 10 in the final 2014 standings with a career-best showing of eighth place with seven top 10s in 14 races.
• Has eight top 10s and an average finish of 11th in 20 career starts at Caraway.
Andy Seuss (No. 11 Northeast Race Cars/Ideal Finance Chevrolet)
• Has 18 wins, 11 poles, 57 top fives and 74 top 10s in 94 career NWSMT starts. His 18 wins rank second all-time.
• Finished first in the championship standings last season with wins a pair of wins at Caraway and one at South Boston. He had 12 top fives and was the only driver to finish in the top 10 in all 14 races.
• Ranks second to George Brunnhoelzl III with 10 career wins at Caraway. Also has eight poles, 23 top fives, 30 top 10s and a record 1,531 laps led in 40 total starts there.
• Four of his five career wire-to-wire wins have come at Caraway, including the first two races held in 2014 at the track.
Up To Speed:
• The 2015 NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour schedule consists of 11 events at seven different tracks across three states.
• Andy Seuss won his first NASCAR championship last season edging George Brunnhoelzl III by just 14 points in the final standings for the second tightest finish in the history of the tour.