MYRTLE BEACH, SC :: Chris Chapman enters the season finale for the 2012 SouthEast Limited Late Model Series with a 14 point deficit, a deficit he is hoping to erase on Friday night to win his third consecutive championship.  If he does win the championship, the celebration will be short lived as the 2013 season begins on Saturday night.

Logan Bunning enters the Myrtle Beach race with a 14 point lead over Chapman.  Chapman, who feels confident he can win the race, was hoping to spend his offseason celebrating a championship.  Instead, Mother Nature had a different idea.  The race was rained out and Myrtle Beach Speedway decided to postpone the race until March 22nd, a day before its season opener and the March 23rd season opener for the 2013 SouthEast Limited Late Model tour.

If Chapman wins, it will break a winless streak that dates back to October 2011 when he won at Ace Speedway.

“We should’ve won a couple races last year,” Chapman said.  “We should’ve won at the Beach (in 2011) but a couple cars got in the way.  I hope we can win some more races.  We’re playing it by ear what we’re doing this year.  I think we’ve got a real good shot to win.  We had one of the best cars last year.  A couple guys jumped the restart and they let them go.  I think we’ll have a good shot to win, we’re starting second.  We’ve got a good car if everything’s where it is when we left.  We’re second in points going in.  I’d like to win this race and win the championship.”

Chapman is unsure if he will run the entire 2013 season.

“I’m not sure I’m going to run the whole season, that’s kind of up in the air right now,” Chapman stated.  “We’re going to the Beach and will play it from there.  If I can work things out, we’ll do it.  We’ve got some stuff working for after Myrtle Beach.  We’ve got to sit down after the Beach and go from there.  We’re planning on going to more SouthEast Limited Late Model races but I’m not quite sure yet.  I’ve got another car I’ll drive near the end of the year.  We’ll get to run five to ten races this year, what I’m hoping for anyways.  I’d like to run more but money’s tight for everybody.”

Chapman says his cousin, Johnny Chapman, got him in to racing.  Johnny Chapman is a veteran of NASCAR racing, winning 40 races in the NASCAR Whelen All American Series Late Model Stock Car ranks as well as two championships in the NASCAR Goody’s Dash Series.  He has one NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start (Rockingham, October 1993), 117 NASCAR Nationwide Series starts and 57 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts.

“I grew up around my cousin Johnny Chapman and I got started following him when he got started at Hickory and Tri-County,” Chris Chapman explained.  “He went on to Goody’s Dash and I followed him.  I guess he’s the one who got me started.  Then we got on dirt, I raced around here and ended up going to Hickory later on.”

Chapman will roll off second when the green flag waves on the 100 lap SouthEast Limited Late Model season finale.  His efforts in the race are sponsored by Price Roofing, Davis Farms and MX3.