Whelen So. Mod Tour Stat Advance: Langley
Analyzing The Courtyard By Marriott/Pepsi 150 At Langley
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour will return to the Commonwealth of Virginia for the second week in a row to contest the Courtyard by Marriott/Pepsi 150 at Langley Speedway on Saturday, April 12. Below is a statistical look at the performance of selected drivers at the Hampton, Va., track:
Courtyard by Marriott/Pepsi 150 Setup:
• Each of the previous four NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour races at Langley Speedway have seen a different driver reach Victory Lane.
• Points leader Andy Seuss has won two of the season’s first three events. The 2011 Langley victor, Seuss has won five of the last seven NWSMT races dating back to the end of the 2013 season.
• Langley is one of just two tracks on the 2014 schedule that four-time champion George Brunnhoelzl III has yet to register a win at. He also enters this week with the second-longest winless drought of his career.
• There will be two events at Langley this season for the first time since the NWSMT began racing there in 2010.
At Langley Speedway:
History
• Originally a .8-mile horse track, the grounds became an auto racing facility in 1950 and cut the distance of the dirt racing surface to .396 miles. It was converted to asphalt in 1968, and was most recently repaved prior to the 2013 season.
• The track held nine NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races from 1964-70, 14 NASCAR Nationwide Series events from 1982-88, and has played host to the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East each year since 2011.
• The first NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour race at South Boston was contested on Sept. 4, 2010 and was won by Tim Brown.
Notebook
• There has been a different winner in each of the four previous NWSMT races at Langley.
• As with race wins, each of the four prior Langley events has produced different Coors Light Pole Award winners.
• Jason Myers, Andy Seuss, John Smith and Brown are the only drivers to compete in all four previous NWSMT events at Langley. Myers and Seuss are entered for this week’s race.
• There has yet to be a race won wire-to-wire at Langley.
• Kyle Ebersole was the youngest Langley race winner at 20 years, 10 months, nine days.
• Brown was the oldest Langley victor at 39 years, one month, 29 days.
Langley Speedway Data
Season Race #: 4 of 15 overall, 1 of 2 at Langley
Track Layout: .396-mile asphalt oval
Banking/Turns: six degrees
Banking/Straights: flat
Race Length: 150 laps / 59.40 miles
Qualifying/Race Data
2013 Pole/Race Winner: New event in 2014
Track Qualifying Record: Andy Seuss, Chevrolet, 14.711 seconds, 96.513 mph, Aug. 31, 2013
Active Category Leaders at Langley:
Wins
1. Kyle Ebersole … 1
Jason Myers … 1
Andy Seuss … 1
| Stat Pack |
|---|
| Courtyard 150 Trackside Report |
Poles
1. Danny Bohn … 1
Burt Myers … 1
Andy Seuss … 1
Top Fives
1. Andy Seuss … 3
Burt Myers … 2
Jason Myers … 2
Top 10s
1. Jason Myers … 4
2. four drivers with … 3
Laps Led
1. Andy Seuss … 122
2. Thomas Stinson … 88
3. George Brunnhoelzl III … 74
Laps Completed
1. Jason Myers … 600 (all)
2. Andy Seuss … 594
3. Burt Myers … 450
Starts
1. Jason Myers … 4
Andy Seuss … 4
3. four drivers with … 3
Selected Driver Highlights:
JR Bertuccio (No. 2 Gershow Recycling Chevrolet)
• Has a win and 11 top 10s in 29 career NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour starts. The win came at Southern National Motorsports Park on March 16.
• Is second in points on the strength of a career-best streak of three-consecutive top fives.
• Finished 13th last year in his only previous race at Langley Speedway.
Danny Bohn (No. 65 Rustoleum/Cedar Peaks Chevrolet)
• The 2012 Sunoco Rookie of the Year has a win, two poles, 11 top fives and 19 top 10s in 25 career NWSMT starts.
• Ranks sixth in points after three races, highlighted by a third-place finish last week at South Boston Speedway, an event in which he won the Coors Light Pole Award.
• Has finishes of 15th and fifth the two previous years at Langley. His first career pole came there in 2012.
George Brunnhoelzl III (No. 28 Composite Technologies Chevrolet)
• Has a record four NWSMT championships (2009, `11, `12, `13).
• Has 20 wins, 22 poles, 43 podiums, 52 top fives, 66 top 10s and 2,558 laps led in 81 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.
• Ranks third in points after three races with finishes of second, third and second.
• Is riding a streak of eight-consecutive podium finishes, but the 10-race winless drought is the second longest of his NWSMT career.
• Has finishes of seventh, 10th and second in three previous starts at Langley, which is one of two tracks on the 2014 schedule along with Southern National, in which he has yet to reach Victory Lane.
Kyle Ebersole (No. 5 Ebersole Excavating Ford)
• Has a win, 12 top fives and 19 top 10s in 26 career starts. The victory was earned at Langley in 2013.
• Ranks eighth in points with two top 10s in the first three races.
• Has finishes of sixth and first at Langley the two previous seasons.
Luke Fleming (No. 40 AutosByNelson.com/Koma Unwind Ford)
• The 2013 NWSMT Sunoco Rookie of the Year has a win and nine top 10s in 17 career starts. The win came at Bowman Gray Stadium in his 2009 tour debut.
• Ranks fifth in points with top 10s in all three races this year.
• Finished 15th in his first race at Langley a year ago.
Burt Myers (No. 1 Citrusafe/Speedway Auto Auction/Adams Towing Ford)
• The 2010 NWSMT champion has 11 wins, a tour record 26 poles, 55 top fives and 89 top 10s in 107 career starts.
• Ranks fourth in points with top 10s in each of the season’s first three events.
• Has a pole (2011) and finishes of third, fourth and seventh in three previous Langley appearances.
Jason Myers (No. 4 Adams Towing/Corks, Caps & Taps Ford)
• Has recorded three wins, 36 top fives and 82 top 10s in a NWSMT-record 111 career starts. Has competed in all but one race (2005-Martinsville Speedway) in the tour’s 10 seasons.
• Sits seventh in points after three races with a pair of top 10s.
• Has a win (2012) and an average finish of fifth in the four previous NWSMT races at Langley. Is the only driver to complete every lap the tour has contested at the track.
Ryan Preece (No. 41 East West Marine/NAPA Chevrolet)
• Has a win, three poles and four top fives in six career NWSMT starts. The win came at Bowman Gray in 2013.
• The 2013 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion has nine wins, 12 poles, 25 podiums, 42 top fives and 55 top 10s in 96 career northern tour starts.
• This will be his Langley debut, and the first of two planned NWSMT races in 2014.
Andy Seuss (No. 11 Ideal Finance/Phoenix Motors Chevrolet)
• Has 17 wins, 10 poles, 48 top fives and 63 top 10s in 83 career NWSMT starts. His 17 wins rank second all-time.
• Leads the championship standings with wins at Caraway and South Boston, and a fourth-place effort at Southern National.
• Has a win (2011), a pole (2013), an average finish sixth and a tour-high 122 laps led in the four previous NWSMT Langley races.
Thomas Stinson (No. 7 Dennis’ Towing & Recovery Chevrolet)
• Has 25 top 10s in 49 career starts.
• Sits 13th in points after three races with a best finish of ninth in the opener at Caraway.
• Has an average finish of sixth and a best result of third (2011) in three previous Langley races. The 88 laps he led in the 2011 event are the only ones of his NWSMT career overall.
Up To Speed:
• The 2014 NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour schedule consists of 15 events at seven different tracks across three states.
• The competition season opened with the non-points UNOH Battle At The Beach on the short track at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 18. Ryan Preece was the polesitter and Doug Coby took the checkered flag. Jason Myers was the highest-finishing NWSMT driver in the event when he crossed the line second.
• Andy Seuss won from the pole in the points season opener on March 9 at Caraway Speedway.
• JR Bertuccio captured his first career victory on March 15 at Southern National Motorsports Park. George Brunnhoelzl III was the event’s pole winner.
• The Prestoria Farms 150 at Caraway was to be contested on March 29, but was postponed due to rain. A make-up date has yet to be announced.
• Danny Bohn sat on the pole, but it was Seuss who led all but one lap en route to victory at South Boston Speedway on April 5.
• Following the Courtyard by Marriott/Pepsi 150, the NWSMT will return to action on April 19 at Caraway.
Sources: Jason Cunningham/NASCAR WSMT PR