Whelen So. Mod Tour News & Notes: Caraway
Brunnhoelzl And Ebersole 16 Points Apart With Four Races Left
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Kyle Ebersole has been good at Caraway Speedway in Asheboro, N.C., throughout his young career, but George Brunnhoelzl III has been better.
Heading in to the ninth event of the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour 2013 season, Brunnhoelzl and Ebersole find themselves separated by only 16 points in the championship standings. Two of the final four events on the calendar, including this weekend’s Caraway 150, take place at Caraway, a track where both drivers have seen success.
Ebersole, the 22-year-old from Hummelstown, Pa., is coming off his first career victory last weekend at Langley (Va.) Speedway. In eight starts at Caraway, he has five top-five-finishes, including a runner-up finish his last time out. Brunnhoelzl, on the other hand, has been flat out dominant at the .455-mile semi-banked asphalt oval. The North Babylon, N.Y., native has 10 wins, 21 top fives and a total of 1143 laps led in 33 career starts. In his last eight races, Brunnhoelzl has five wins, six top fives and eight top 10 finishes.
Both drivers head into the weekend looking to build momentum. Brunnhoelzl will try and capture his third consecutive victory at the track while Ebersole tries to make it to Victory Lane in consecutive tour events.
With four races left on the schedule, Ebersole is running out of time to close the gap in the standings. He knows that he’ll need to run well in order to overtake the three time tour champion and perhaps add another victory to his resume. Only one driver in Southern Modified Tour history, Burt Myers in 2010, has won the championship without recording a win at Caraway. A win by Ebersole this weekend will help him in his quest for the 2013 tour championship.
RACE: Caraway 150
PLACE: Caraway Speedway, Asheboro, N.C.
DATE: Sunday, September 8
TIME: 7 p.m. ET
TRACK LAYOUT: .455-mile semi-banked asphalt oval
2012 POLE SITTER/WINNER: George Brunnhoelzl III
EVENT SCHEDULE: Practice 2:05-2:55 p.m., Qualifying 4 p.m., Driver Autograph Session 5:30 p.m.
TRACK CONTACT: Renee Hackett, 336-629-5803, carawayspeedway@embarqmail.com
TRACK TWITTER: @CarawaySpeedway
EVENT TWITTER HASHTAG: #Caraway150
NASCAR CONTACT: Shon Sbarra, 704-309-5493, ssbarra@nascar.com, @ShonSbarra
FAST FACTS:
The Race: The Caraway 150 is the ninth race of the 2013 NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour and the fourth of five tour events at Caraway Speedway.
The Procedure: The maximum starting field will be 26 cars, including provisionals. The first 23 starting positions will be based on two-lap time trials and the remaining three will be filled through the provisional process. The race will be 150 laps (68.25 miles) with a 10 minute break at or near the conclusion of Lap 75.
The Track: Caraway Speedway has played host to 46 events in the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour history, dating back to the tour’s first race on March 26, 2005. Caraway was originally opened in 1966 as a dirt track. The track was paved in 1972 and became NASCAR-sanctioned shortly after. The track was owned and operated by Russell and Valastra Hackett from 1977 to 2010. Operations were turned over to Darren and Renee Hackett prior to the 2011 season. There is 13 degrees of banking in the turns and the straightaways are banked at nine degrees. The track has a capacity of 6,800 spectators.
The Records: The one-lap qualifying record for the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour is 15.648 seconds (104.678 mph), set by George Brunnhoelzl III on April 21, 2012. The 150-lap race record is held by Junior Miller at 44 minutes, 31 seconds was set on Sept. 9, 2006 for an average speed of 90.977 mph.
CARAWAY RACE NOTES:
Ebersole Hope To Build On First Victory: Kyle Ebersole, fresh off his first career victory, begins the week 16 points behind George Brunnhoelzl III in the season points standings. Ebersole will try and make it two in a row this weekend at Caraway, a track where he has five top 5 finishes in eight career appearences. In three 2013 Caraway events, he has finishes of third, third and second. Brunnhoelzl has led 44.7% of all Southern Modified Tour laps at Caraway this year (205 of 458).
Burt Myers Looks to End Caraway Drought: Burt Myers will look to carry his momentum as the points leader in weekly competition at Bowman Gray Stadium over to Caraway this week and end a long-running drought in Whelen Southern Modified Tour action. Myers won the second-ever southern tour event at the track in 2005, but it’s been 42 starts since then without a return trip to Caraway Victory Lane. His southern tour résumé since that last Caraway victory certainly hasn’t lacked of success, however, as he’s won eight times at six different tracks since then. Perhaps Myers will be able to look to his brother, Jason, for inspiration as Jason was able to earn his first career Caraway victory in the 2013 opener.
Loftin, Seuss Also Look to Challenge Brunnhoelzl: With 10 career wins at Caraway, including six of the Whelen Southern Modified Tour’s last nine appearances there, Brunnhoelzl is the most accomplished driver in southern tour history at the venerable track. But you can count Brian Loftin and Andy Seuss among his top competition when the southern tour returns there this week. Loftin has eight wins of his own at Caraway – the latest in 2012 – while Seuss has six career triumphs at the track. All six of Seuss’ wins came in a 15-race span from 2008-11, but he’ll look to end a nine-race drought this week.
HOME TRACKS: McCaskill Paces Tarheel State
Through the latest NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national points update on August 27, Deac McCaskill led in North Carolina state points by 56 tallies on Tommy Lemons Jr. McCaskill and Lemons compete at Southern National Motorsports Park in Kenly, N.C., while Lemons has made two starts at Caraway Speedway in Asheboro. In the featured Late Model division at Caraway, Ryan Wilson leads the way, 22 points ahead of Dan Moore.
LAST TIME OUT: Langley
Kyle Ebersole took the lead late en route to his first career victory in the southern tour. It came in just his 19th career start. Below are some highlights from the Newport News Shipbuilding/Bayport Credit Union 150:
• Andy Seuss captured the Coors Light Pole Award, setting a new track record with a fast lap of 14.771 seconds.
• Tim Brown crossed the finish line third, his fifth top five of the season and his third in four races.
• Burt Myers made his 100th series start and recorded his 83rd top 10 finish when he crossed the line eigth at Langley
NEXT TIME OUT: Southern National
The NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour will make its second stop to Southern National Motorsports Park for the G-Oil 150 on Saturday, Sept. 21 in Kenly, N.C. Burt Myers earned the victory in the tour’s first visit to the track this season. It was the fourth the southern modifiends rolled through Kenly, N.C., with Myers taking the checkered flag two of the four times.
Sources: John Tejeda/NASCAR WSMT PR
NWSMT Caraway 7/5/13 Schedule
Time Event
12 p.m. Haulers Enter
12:45 p.m. Garage Opens
4-4:20 p.m. Practice
4:25-4:45 p.m. Final Practice
6:30 p.m. Qualifying
7 p.m. Driver Autograph Session
8:15 p.m. Driver/Crew Chief Meeting
9:30 p.m. Race (150 laps, 68.25 miles)
All times ET and subject to change
NWSMT Caraway 7/5/13 Entry List
CAR DRIVER/HOMETOWN TEAM OWNER CREW CHIEF
1 Burt Myers, Walnut Cove, N.C. Citrusafe/Adam’s Towing & Recovery Ford Kim Myers Ronnie Holbrook
02 Tim Brown, Rural Hall, N.C. Hayes Jewelers/T&C Motorsports Chevrolet Tommy Lythgoe Mark Ruhmann
2 J.R. Bertuccio, Centerrach, N.Y. Gershow Recycling Chevrolet Joe Bertuccio, Sr. Joe Bertuccio Sr.
04 David Calabrese, Toms River, N.J. * Diamond Back Towing/airgraphix.com Chevrolet Michael Calabrese Paul Rice
4 Jason Myers, Walnut Cove, N.C. Wendell Edwards Performance Ford Gary Myers Mike Queen
5 Kyle Ebersole, Hummelstown, Pa. Ebersole Excavating Ford Bob Ebersole Bob Ebersole
11 Andy Seuss, Hampstead, N.H. Tammie Davis/Phoenix Pre-Owned Chevrolet Eddie Harvey Eddie Harvey
12 Mike Norman, Lewisville, N.C. Perfection Exhaust/Lewisville Motors Chevrolet Donna Norman T.J. Moran
23 Brian Loftin, Lexington, N.C. L&R Trans./QMF Metal & Electronic Chevrolet Bobby Loftin Doug Chouinard
25 John Smith, Mount Airy, N.C. G-Oil/Shady Grady Racing Chevrolet Grady Jeffreys Grady Jeffreys Sr.
28 George Brunnhoelzl, III, West Babylon, N.Y. Epox-Z/Oval Speed Chevrolet George Brunnhoelzl, Jr. George Brunnhoelzl Jr.
40 Luke Fleming, Mount Airy, N.C. * Koma Unwind/AutosByNelson.com Chevrolet Gina Fleming Frank Fleming
44 Brandon Ward, Winston-Salem, N.C. Crane & Rigging/Kevin Powell Chevrolet Bryan Fishel Jim Hire
65 Danny Bohn, Freehold, N.J. Cedar Peaks/Rustoleum Chevrolet Eddie Bohn Eddie Bohn
70 Jeremy Gerstner, Wesley Chapel, Fla. * GMR Complete Lawn/Fountain Mtspts. Chevrolet Dawn Gerstner Derek Silver
77 Gary Putnam, Concord, N.C. Stock Car Steel Chevrolet Marcy Putnam Michael LaRochelle
97 Bryan Dauzat, Alexandria, La. O.B. Builders Chevrolet Bryan Dauzat Todd Cooper
* Sunoco Rookie of the Year Contender