News & Notes: Five Vying For Championship
Top Five All Have Shot At Title
In what has become somewhat of an expected outcome in a NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour event, there was a change atop the standings for the fifth consecutive race after the first-ever race held for the tour earlier this month at Langley Speedway.
James Civali (No. 79 Hill Enterprises/Coors Light/LeBleu Water Dodge) finished second in the race, but he was able to use his runner-up finish to vault back into the lead.
Andy Seuss (No. 47 Q Racing Oil/Rockingham Boats/MUA Dodge) finished fifth at Langley and was able to hold on to second place in the standings, eight points behind Civali (1,300-1,292) and 11 points ahead of third place.
L.W. Miller (No. 36 John Baker Plumbing & Utilities Pontiac) finished eighth to fall out of the points lead for the second time in the past three races.
“We had a good car early in the race, but later in the race the car just kind of went away from us on that last long run and Tim (Brown) did a great job to save his stuff until the end and get his win,” Civali said.
Civali says going to a new track on the schedule will once again provide an equal opportunity to get an advantage going in to the final two races of the year.
“We finish our schedule at two tracks we have never raced the Tour at before, so it is going to be interesting to see how this all works out. Obviously we hope we end the year on top.”
While the top three drivers in the standings have provided excitement each week, two other drivers have managed to lurk in the top five, ready for any of the top three to have problems at TCMS and open a door for them to move up in the standings.
Although he has yet to visit Victory Lane this season, Burt Myers (No. 1 Capital Bank/Patterson’s Brand Foods Ford) has used a stretch of consistent finishes to move into fourth place, 66 points out of the lead.
John Smith (No. 25 Tutterow Surverying/Rick’s Home Repair Chevrolet) has one win this season and sits 80 points out of the lead.
“We know we need some help if we want a shot at the championship,” Smith said. “We have a great car and we are going to go out and try and win these final two races and see what happens.”
The Race: Tri-County 150
The Place: Tri-County Speedway, Hudson, N.C.
The Date: Saturday, Sept. 25
The Time: 8 p.m. ET
TV Schedule: VERSUS, Sept. 22, 7 p.m. ET
Track Layout: .400-mile paved
Race Purse: $28,090
2009 Winner: First event
2009 Pole: First event
Schedule
Saturday, Sept. 25: Practice 1:15 0 2:15 p.m.; Time Trials: 4:30
Track Contact: Dominic Casola, (828) 726-6600
NASCAR Contact: Tim Southers, (386) 235-3634,tsouthers@nascar.com
Raceday Notes
The Race … The Tri-County 150 will be the ninth of 10 races on the 2010 NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour Schedule. This will also be the first visit to the track for the tour.
The Procedure … Starting positions 1-23 will be set from time trials. The remaining three will be filled through the provisional process. The race is 150 laps (60 miles).
The Redraw … Fastest qualifier will draw to determine redraw of top 6, 8, or 10 cars.
The Track … The .400-mile track at Tri-County Motor Speedway is a semi-banked oval located in the beautiful foothills of North Carolina. The track has also hosted the K&N Pro Series East Series last year and has hosted other NASCAR-sanctioned events throughout its history as an asphalt track.
The Schedule … The 150-lap NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour race will be held on Saturday evening. Drivers will practice in the afternoon from 1:15 to 2:15 p.m. Qualifying for the Coors Light Pole is slated for 4:30 p.m. The race is scheduled to take the green flag at 8 p.m. with a driver’s autograph session scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on the track.
Misc. … The local super trucks division will hold a 50-lap feature at 7 p.m.
Race Recap: Track Enjoys Return To Touring Races
Successful Event: Although Langley Speedway is no stranger to hosting NASCAR events throughout its history, the track rolled out the red carpet for the tour.
New track owner Bill Mullis and track general manager Chuck Hall made sure everything went smoothly and got the entire city of Hampton involved with the mayor, city council members and business leaders at the race in front of a near-capacity crowd.
Brown Earns Featherlite Most Improved Honors: After suffering mechanical problems at Caraway Speedway in late August, Tim Brown used his win at Langley to collect the Featherlite Most Improved Driver Award by winning the race and improving his finishing position by 13 spots.
Rookie Leader: Greg Butcher’s dedication and determination to compete full time on the tour this year has paid dividends so far in the battle for the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings.
Butcher collected his third Sunoco Rookie of the Race Award of the season to take the lead over Mike Norman and Gary Putnam, who each have won the award twice this season, respectively.
Nice Rebound: Zach Brewer continued his recent string of solid finishes with a fourth-place showing at Langley Speedway. Brewer, who sits in the top 10 in the points standings, advanced from his 10th-place starting position into the top four, which garnered him the Coca-Cola Move of the Race Award for the first time this season.
Drivers Show A Lot Of Heart At Langley Speedway
One attribute that has been common throughout the history of NASCAR is the connection fans and drivers have for one another. This was never more evident than at Langley Speedway earlier this month.
Allison Burr, a six-year-old Virginia resident who is battling a rare form of cancer, was a special guest of Langley Speedway during the Visit Hampton 150 and many drivers welcomed the young fan during the on-track autograph session prior to the race.
A number of drivers gave Burr and her family many items but two stood out. John Smith, who won his first tour race in July, gave Burr his hat from Victory Lane and autographed it for her.
“I wanted to give her something that she can have and know is special and I loved seeing the smile on her face as she held it,” Smith said.
Brown, who won his first race since 2008 later that evening at Langley, surprised the entire crowd when he announced during Victory Lane ceremonies that he was going to give the little girl his trophy for winning the race.
Brown finished his obligations on the track and made his way to the suite to present Burr with her new prize. Burr was obviously all smiles after getting the trophy from a thankful Brown.
“I talked it over with the team and Tommy (Lythgoe), since he is the car owner, and he said it would be great to give her the trophy so we did,” Brown said. “She is a beautiful little girl and she showed all of us how much courage she has and we just wanted to give her the trophy to let her know she is a champion to all of us.”
Smith summed it up best after the race.
“We are all blessed to get to race and when we can make a fan’s day better, that’s what we do.”
Wimbish Wins Title, Season Finale At Tri-County
Although he already had the 2010 Tri-County Motor Speedway Late Model track championship in the bag, Grant Wimbish closed out the 2010 regular season in style, winning the final points race of the season in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series on Aug. 27.
Wimbish held off Harrison Rhodes for the win as Rhodes collected the runner-up finish in his first start at the speedway located in Hudson, N.C.
Tyler Brown finished second in the points standings with NASCAR Drive for Diversity competitor Jessica Brunelli third.
Waylon Flynn won from the pole in the final Limited Late Model race of the season to collect the title by just 8 points over Tyler Church.
Other champions were Ricky Dennie (Trucks), Marshall Sutton (Street Stocks) and Greg Austin (Renegades).
Up Next: Charlotte
The NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour returns to the state of North Carolina for the final stop on the 2010 schedule with Charlotte Motor Speedway located in Concord, N.C., hosting the Whelen Southern Modifieds for the first time on Thursday, Oct. 14.
The race will be held on the quarter-mile track located on the frontstetch. The season-opening race was held on a nearly identical track at CMS’ sister track, Atlanta Motor Speedway, in March.
The race day will begin with a pair of practice sessions at the track for the tour. The first practice will be held from 11:45 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. The final practice will be held from 1 until 1:45 p.m.
Qualifying for the Coors Light Pole Award will be held at 5:15 p.m. that afternoon with running of the UNOH Southern Slam 150 to start at approximately 9 p.m. The season-ending race will be held as part of pole night activities for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at the track.
CMS opened in 1960 and the first race was won on June 19 by Joe Lee Johnson. The track has hosted NASCAR’s top touring series every year since and currently hosts the NASCAR Sprint Cup, NASCAR Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series. This will be the first touring series event hosted at the track.
Several of the current NWSMT drivers have competed previously in non-NASCAR-sanctioned races at the facility.
COCA-COLA MOVE OF THE RACE AWARD
George Brunnhoelzl III, 1
Zach Brewer 1
James Civali, 1
Corey LaJoie, 1
Frank Fleming, 1
L.W. Miller, 1
Burt Myers, 1
John Smith, 1
COORS LIGHT POLE AWARD
James Civali, 3
Zach Brewer, 2
Burt Myers, 2
Andy Seuss, 1
FEATHERLITE MOST IMPROVED DRIVER AWARD
Frank Fleming, 2
L.W. Miller, 2
Tim Brown, 1
James Civali, 1
Brandon Hire, 1
Jason Myers, 1
SUNOCO ROOKIE OF THE RACE AWARD
Greg Butcher, 3
Mike Norman, 2
Gary Putnam, 2
David Brigati, 1
Sources: Tim Southers/NASCAR PR