Southern Mod Tour Stat Advance: Hickory
Analyzing The MTP Tire 150 At Hickory Motor Speedway
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour heads to Hickory Motor Speedway for the first time since 2011 for Saturday’s MTP Tire 150. Below is a statistical look at the performance of selected drivers at the track:
Hickory 150 Setup:
• George Brunnhoelzl III is the only driver entered in this weekend’s NWSMT race at Hickory Motor Speedway to win there. He won in 2011 in his lone start at the track.
• Burt Myers, Jason Myers, and Frank Fleming are the only drivers entered in this weekend’s race to start both previous races at Hickory.
• Two-time NWSMT champion Junior Miller won the inaugural NWSMT event at Hickory in 2006.
At Hickory Motor Speedway:
History
• The track was built in 1951, initially with a dirt surface, and was later paved in 1967 and eventually configured to its current layout of .363-miles in 1970.
• Hickory features weekly NASCAR Whelen All-American Series action on Saturday nights during the racing season, headlined by the late model stock division.
• The track held 35 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races between 1953-70, 42 NASCAR XFINITY Series events from 1981-1998 and five NASCAR K&N Pro Series East contests from 1972-1973.
• Hickory Speedway was the home track for NASCAR Hall of Fame members Ned Jarrett and Dale Jarrett as well as Bobby Isaac, who will be enshrined in January 2016.
Notebook
• Two different drivers have earned Coors Light Pole Awards at Hickory since the first race in 2006. Burt Myers and Patrick Emerling are the only drivers to win a pole during qualifying at the track.
• Hickory is one of only two tracks to have a caution-free NWSMT race. Miller won that event in 2006.
• Brunnhoelzl was the youngest Hickory race winner at 28 years, 5 months, 6 days on April 2, 2011.
• Junior Miller was the oldest Hickory victor at 55 years, 5 months, 5 days on September 30, 2006.
Hickory Motor Speedway Data
Season Race #: 10 of 11 overall
Track Layout: .363-mile asphalt oval
Banking/Turns: 12 & 14 degrees
Banking/Straights: 8 degrees
Race Length: 150 laps / 54.45 miles
Qualifying/Race Data
2011 Pole Winner: Patrick Emerling
2013 Race Winner: George Brunnhoelzl III
Track Qualifying Record: Patrick Emerling, Chevrolet, 14.186 seconds, 92.119 mph on April 2, 2011
Active Category Leaders at South Boston:
Wins
1. George Brunnhoelzl III … 1
Junior Miller … 1
Poles
1. Burt Myers … 1
Top Fives
1. Several drivers with … 1
Top 10s
1. Burt Myers … 2
2. Several drivers with … 1
Laps Led
1. James Civali … 32
2. Burt Myers … 18
3. James Civali … 2
Laps Completed
1. Burt Myers … 303
2. Frank Fleming … 302
3. Jason Myers … 301
Starts
1. Frank Fleming … 2
Burt Myers … 2
Jason Myers … 2
Selected Driver Highlights:
JR Bertuccio (No. 2 Gershow Recycling Chevrolet)
• Has two wins and 23 top 10s in 46 career NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour starts. The wins came at Southern National Motorsports Park and Bristol Motor Speedway (NWSMT) last season.
• Enters this weekend 11th in the points standings.
• This will be his first start at Hickory Motor Speedway.
George Brunnhoelzl III (No. 28 Composite Technologies Chevrolet)
• Has a record four NWSMT championships (2009, `11, `12, and `13).
• Has 24 wins, 25 poles, 54 podiums, 66 top fives, 80 top 10s and 3,371 laps led in 102 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 per season in every year he has competed full-time in the NWSMT since 2008.
• Competed in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour in 2010.
• Has one win at Hickory in his lone start at the track in 2011.
David Calabrese (No. 43 Diamondback Towing Chevrolet)
• Has four top fives and nine top 10s in 33 career starts.
• Scored first career top-10 finish at South Boston in the spring event this year.
• Finished 11th in the final standings last year and enters this weekend 10th overall in 2015.
• This will be his first start at Hickory.
Kyle Ebersole (No. 5 Ebersole Excavating Ford)
• Has two wins, 21 top fives and 35 top 10s in 45 career starts. His first victory was earned at Langley in 2013 and the second came at South Boston Speedway on Sept. 13, 2014.
• He enters this weekend in fifth-place in the standings.
• Works full-time as an Engineer at NASCAR’s Research & Development Center in Concord, N.C.
• This will be his first start at Hickory.
Frank Fleming (No. 40 AutosByNelson.com Chevrolet)
• This veteran driver has returned to the seat for the first time since 2012. He has one win (NWSMT Bristol – 2011), one pole, 28 top-five and 66 top-10 finishes in 105 career starts.
• Finished in the top-10 in the final standings each year from 2005-12, with a career best of fifth in 2009.
• Is one of three drivers to start both previous events at Hickory with a top finish of seventh in 2006.
Jeremy Gerstner (No. 15 GMR Lawncare/Shady Grady Racing Chevrolet)
• Competing full time this season for the first time since 2013, driving for veteran modified car owner Grady Jeffreys Sr.
• Has scored two top-five and eight top-10 finishes in 25 career starts with a career best finish of third at Bowman Gray in 2015.
• This will be his first start at Hickory.
Trey Hutchens III (No. 14 Wix Filters/All Star Truck & Trailer Repair Chevrolet)
• This Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender has two top-10 finishes in seven career starts.
• Has made 16 career starts in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East with two top-10 finishes (seventh at Richmond in 2015 & eighth at Dover in 2013).
• Son of veteran race engineer and former driver Bobby Hutchens Jr.
• This will be his first start at Hickory.
Bobby Measmer Jr. (No. 74 Powerhouse Recycling/Lead 2 Real Estate Chevrolet)
• The Concord, N.C. driver has one pole, three top-five and 10 top-10 finishes in 23 career starts.
• Scored first career pole award last time out at South Boston Speedway.
• This will be his first start at Hickory.
Burt Myers (No. 1 Remington SCT/Citrusafe/Speedway Auto Auction Ford)
• The 2010 NWSMT champion has 16 wins, a tour record 28 poles, 67 top fives and 105 top 10s in 127 career starts.
• Finished third in the final standings last season with four wins, 12 top 10s and nine top fives in 14 races.
• Has won once this season at Langley Speedway.
• Has two top top-10 finishes in as many starts at Hickory with a top finish of third in 2006 and eighth in 2011. He has also led 18 laps at the track.
Jason Myers (No. 4 Adams Towing Ford)
• Has recorded three wins, 41 top fives and 97 top 10s in a NWSMT-record 131 career starts. Has competed in all but one race (2005-Martinsville Speedway) in the tour’s previous 10 seasons.
• Enters this weekend tied with his brother Burt in the standings and 10 points behind new leader Seuss.
• One of three drivers entered this weekend to start both previous events at Hickory with finishes of 13th and seventh in 2006 and 2011, respectively.
Gary Putnam (No. 77 Curb Records Chevrolet)
• Won his first career pole award at Bristol in August and has 27 top 10s in 54 career starts.
• Scored a career-best finish of fifth at Caraway in 2013.
• Works as car chief for Chip Ganassi Racing full-time in addition to racing modifieds.
• This will be his first start at Hickory.
Andy Seuss (No. 11 Ideal Finance/Phoenix Motors Chevrolet)
• The 2014 NWSMT champion has 21 wins, 12 poles, 62 top fives and 81 top 10s in 103 career NWSMT starts. His 21 wins rank second all-time.
• The Hampstead, New Hampshire native is vying to become the third driver in the history of the NWSMT to win back-to-back championships.
• Finished sixth in his lone start at Hickory in 2006.
Up To Speed:
• Eric Goodale was able to pass Jason Myers on a restart on Lap 124 and held off a late charge by Myers to pick up his first NWSMT win in his second start on March 15 at Caraway Speedway. The race featured five former or defending NASCAR Whelen Modified and Southern Modified Tour champions in the field with all five suffering either mechanical issues or involved in an accident.
• Andy Seuss was able to hold off Goodale on a late restart and score his 11th career win at Caraway on March 28.
• Ryan Preece kept JR Bertuccio at bay on the second green-white-checkered attempt at South Boston Speedway to score his second career win on the southern tour and first of the season on April 4.
• Burt Myers became the first repeat winner at Langley when he scored his first win of the season at the track on April 11.
• George Brunnhoelzl III broke out of a mini slump to score his first win of the season at Caraway Speedway on July 4.
• Danny Bohn was able to hold off Preece to pick up his first win of the season while only racing part-time this season.
• Seuss was the highest finishing NWSMT regular to finish at Bristol in the combination race with the NWMT to give him his second win of the season and 20th overall.
• Brunnhoelzl won from the pole for his second win of the season at Langley and moved into the top five in the standings just nine points out of the lead.
• Andy Seuss was able to get his third win of the season leading a race-high 142 laps and in the process took over the lead in the season point standings.
Sources: Tim Southers, NASCAR