For
Immediate Release
April 16,
2007 Hendersonville, NC
Press Release by Wink
Bodenhamer
The UARA
STARS came to town some 40 strong for the 150 lap
late model event at Southern National Raceway Park
in Kenly, NC Saturday April 14, 2007.
A local
favorite Sherman Davis began his day on a sad note
as his car erupted during practice leaving a heavy
trail of oil behind him. Not to be by himself on
the bad luck trail, series regulars Matt Leicht and
Ryan Salomon both Melling Select Rookie contenders
started the day off with problems. Leicht had
rear-end and hub problems but fellow racer/car owner
Mitch West came to the rescue. Salomon had
transmission failure and Alex Yontz came to the
rescue of this team.
2006
winner of the UARA event at Southern National Jamey
Caudill came to the speedway not only with his own
late model ride but also working for the Scott Young
and Curtis Truex, Jr. teams. Young and Truex are
drivers for the JR Motorsports late model program of
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Caudill heads up this program
preparing the cars for their racing schedule. It
was a last minute decision to come to Southern
National after Mother Nature had cancelled most
events in the area. It would prove to be a good
decision in the long run with all three cars making
the 28 car main event. Caudill claimed the Sunoco
Pole and continued on to be the RE Suspension
RaceWwinner.
Caudill
is in the process of moving to Mooresville and had
loaded his car hauler with furniture for moving and
upon arriving at his new home found that the finish
on the floors wasn’t dry yet and they couldn’t
finish the move. He unloaded the furniture in a
warehouse of a friend headed to his shop and loaded
up his car. He was a very happy but tired race
winner.
The first
event of the day was the heat race with the coveted
four transfer spots going to Jake Crum, Dennis
Queen, Scott Young and Lee Tissot.
Heat
Race Results
|
Pos |
Car |
Name |
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
92 |
Jake Crum |
|
2 |
99 |
Dennis Queen |
|
3 |
71 |
Scott Young |
|
4 |
53 |
Lee Tissot |
|
5 |
16 |
Daniel Pope II |
|
6 |
57 |
Zeke Shell |
|
7 |
42 |
Todd Goble |
|
8 |
22 |
Casey Holt |
|
9 |
00 |
Ryan Salomon |
|
10 |
47 |
John Staton |
|
11 |
29 |
Josh Hale |
|
12 |
09 |
Brandon Dean |
|
13 |
90 |
Joe Pellegrino |
The green
flag flew for the 150 lap event with Mark Setzer
setting the pace for the first 18 laps. At that
point Jamey Caudill took over the lead and never
looked back. Behind Caudill the action was
fierce. Lucas Ransone was on the move quickly and
by lap 8 was putting the move on Clay Greenfield who
had started some 6 positions ahead of him. Coming
up in through the field behind these two was Justin
Hill making the move on Mikey Kile. The action
doesn’t stop there as close behind these two is a
freight train running full steam consisting of K.C.
Cunningham, Barry Andrews, Scott Young, Robbie
Ferguson, Dennis Queen and Lee Tissot charging along
on lap 12.
Tissot
came home as Hard Charger and Holley Performer of
the race after considering not even starting the
race when they were having problems with a leak
pre-race. Tissot came from 26th starting
position to bring home the fourth place finish
showing the style that won him the 2003 UARA
Championship.
At the
front of the field Setzer and Caudill do some
exciting side by side racing with Roger Lee Newton
and B.J. Mackey in hot pursuit. Caudill takes over
the lead and Newton follows on his heels to gain 2nd
position. Ryan Gray joins the chase working hard on
Mackey while Setzer is slipping back thru the field
. Setzer is passed also by Jake Crum, Matt
DiBenedetto, and Curtis Truex Jr. dropping him to
the 8th spot on lap 21. Back in the
field a second freight train has formed with Clay
Greenfield, Jeffrey Earnhardt, Mikey Kile, K.C.
Cunningham, Robbie Ferguson, Scott Young and Dennis
Queen are nose to tail with only inches separating
this bunch of drivers.
The lead
cars of Caudill, Newton, Mackey, Gray and
DiBenedetto hook up on lap 40 and are looking very
fast and strong.
The
night’s first caution comes on lap 45 when the car
of Matt Leicht spins in turn two. When the green
flag falls again the car of Alex Yontz appears to be
the man on the move in the middle of the pack while
Curtis Truex, Jr. is on the move and takes over the
third place position.
The
second caution falls again on lap 69 when the car of
Lucas Ransone spins in turn two. On the green flag
lap Jeffrey Earnhardt finds himself spinning in turn
one and the cautions comes right back out. As the
race continues Alex Yontz continues to inch his way
right up through the field and has come from 19th
up to 8th at this point and on his trail
is Lee Tissot.
Brandon
Weber spins in turn one on lap 89 bringing out the 4th
caution of the night. This will lead to the worst
part of the night for several racers. On the
restart it appears that Curtis Truex, Jr. missed a
shift and the cars started piling up. Truex, Ryan
Gray, Kirk Leone, Mark Setzer, Robbie Ferguson,
Johnny Gottsacker and B.J. Mackey are all in a
tangle just past the start finish line.
Alex
Yontz and Matt DiBenedetto continue around the track
but both suffer severe damage to their cars in the
process. Ryan Gray is definitely the ARP Hard Luck
winner when this is all cleaned up. I spoke to Gray
today and his is fine but the car is in the repair
shop getting a new rear clip.
With the
next restart Caudill sets sail and Tissot has
advanced up to the 5th place. Ryan
Rhodes is black flagged for passing before the start
finish line is given the stop and go penalty. Ross
Furr overtakes DiBenedetto for 6th.
Shortly after that Barry Andrews passes DiBenedetto
and Lee Tissot has taken over 4th.
While all this is going on Jamey Caudill and Roger
Lee Newton are in a world of their own with Curtis
Truex, Jr. trying to run them down. DiBenedetto
continues to have problems and ends up with a 12th
place finish.
Melling
Select Rookie of the Race Jeffrey Earnhardt finds
himself having his best UARA race this year and
brings home an 8th place run. Kevin
Leicht seems to be loosing ground on the speedway
after starting 8th and comes home with a
16th place finish. On laps 135 thru 141
B.J. Mackey has his job cut out for him as Ross Furr
passes him in turn four for 5th . Next
Scott Young overtakes Mackey and then Earnhardt
passes him but Mackey will regain that spot. Young
takes the 5th spot from Furr while Jamey
Caudill is sailing off in the sunset to take the
checker.
This was
another great show by the UARA-STARS drivers giving
the fans all they expected and then some.
Mother
Nature had been a threat all evening but the entire
show was completed and all had left before the rains
and winds came with a vengeance.
UARA-STARS Race Results
|
Pos |
Car |
Name |
|
1 |
50 |
Jamie Caudill |
|
2 |
33 |
Roger Newton |
|
3 |
73 |
Curits Truex Jr |
|
4 |
53 |
Lee Tissot |
|
5 |
71 |
Scott Young |
|
6 |
25 |
Ross Furr |
|
7 |
12M |
BJ Macky |
|
8 |
1 |
Jeffrey Earnhardt |
|
9 |
84 |
Clay Greenfield |
|
10 |
11 |
Barry Andrews |
|
11 |
55 |
Alex Yontz |
|
12 |
41 |
Matt DiBenedetto |
|
13 |
45 |
Justin Hill |
|
14 |
91 |
John Gottsacker |
|
15 |
99 |
Dennis Queen |
|
16 |
32 |
Kevin Leicht |
|
17 |
28 |
Mikey Kile |
|
18 |
83 |
Ryan Rhodes |
|
19 |
21 |
Lucas Ransone |
|
20 |
23 |
Matt Leicht |
|
21 |
7 |
Brandon Weber |
|
22 |
61 |
KC Cunningham |
|
23 |
90G |
Ryan Gray |
|
24 |
52 |
Kirk Leone |
|
25 |
27 |
Mark Setzer |
|
26 |
44 |
Robert Ferguson |
|
27 |
92 |
Jake Crum |
|
28 |
77 |
Tommy Lemons Jr |
For
more info visit
www.uara-stars.com
or call 828-692-3833