Commentary by: Langley Austin ~ [email protected]

Copper Hill, VA(March 14, 2012) — For those of you who know me, you know that getting up early in the morning isn’t exactly my cup of tea. In fact I’ve been known to stay up all night working on RACE22.com related stuff or playing Madden on the Playstation and not get up until most of you punch out from your job at 5pm.

Today was a little different.

The alarm clock started buzzing at 7:45am … OK, I know that’s not early to most of you, but living the short track racing reporter lifestyle daily has messed up my sleeping habits. I never know when I’m going to have to be up early or get up late because I was up early(because I never went to sleep) … I know, I know …. most of you will say you’d kill to have my life and you know what, I probably would too.

Anyways, today’s 7:45am wake up call couldn’t come soon enough for me. As a reporter, I’m all about getting the story and while I love to speculate and interject opinion, I would much rather talk to the people involved in any particular situation and give their version of the story. That was where my journey today began as the hottest topic in racing in the Southeast, one that has everyone talking, everyone specualting and everyone offering their opinions.

Destination: Ruckersville, VA … Some of you know what prominent Late Model Stock Car driver is from the sleepy little town right outside of Charlottesville, VA, while some of you may be wondering what signifigance the town may have on racing. Roughly three hours from my home in Copper Hill, VA, Ruckersville awaited for me and a friend that tagged along today as we embarked on a journey to get answers for race fans everywhere.

A quick stop at Bojangles for a biscuit and we were on our way up I-81, on a trip that I’ve never made before and to a town, I’d only heard of because of the person I was going to see. Shortly before 1:00pm, we made our way into Ruckersville and after arriving at a sign for Trailer Town USA on Highway 29, we were quickly directed to what the gentleman described as “the real Trailer Town USA”, which is located just down Route 33, on the outskirts of town.

Spending all my time practically at a race track, seeing people only as they are when they’re there gave me maybe a false sense of what to expect as I pulled up in front of “the real Trailer Town USA”. No, I wasn’t expecting to see the “King of Late Model Stock Cars” in his Clarence’s Steakhouse uniform, but as we pulled up I saw Philip Morris in his weekday element, pulling a jack through his trailer shop after working on one of his trailers.

I wasn’t exactly expecting to see him working, maybe I expected to see him sitting behind a desk, answering phone calls, but no … the “King” still works a day job, albeit for himself. And, Philip wasn’t expecting me, I hadn’t made an appointment for this interview, I actually drove there not knowing whether he’d even be there or not or even if he was if he’d be willing to talk about the situation.

I guess, maybe for those of you who have been living under a rock, I should setup the situation with a little background. Philip Morris is easily one of the most successful Late Model Stock Car racers to ever strap into one of these cars and last Thursday his racing career was dealt a crushing blow as he learned that his car didn’t have the funding to compete this season. This, two days before the first race according to Philip was when the final verdict came down and his aspirations of running in the season opener were gone.

Morris wasn’t at South Boston Speedway, his home track, the place where he won the championship last year and capped off his fourth NASCAR Whelen All-American Series National title. His absence caused a stir like no other before and after Jim Dean, his car owner for the last few seasons gave a statement to a local paper on Friday morning that funding didn’t come through for Morris’ effort, rumors started swirling.

I won’t dive into all the rumors or any more details of what happened over the weekend, but to say that the focus was more on Philip Morris than ever before would be an understatement and it certainly overshadowed the race and it’s eventual winner.

Anyways as I got out of my van(aka, the RACE22.com Media Center), I walked into the garage stall where Morris was working. Still with a little anxiety, that I had, had the entire trip down over whether it was worth to make the trip or even if he’d be willing to share the details of what happened, Philip turned around and smiled. His first question; “You just in the area?” … No. “You here to buy a trailer?” … Not Exactly, I’m here to get a story.

It was do or die time … If I had been playing poker, I would have been the player with five cards that didn’t match, trying to bluff my way to win.

Philip laughed and graciously agreed to sit down and talk with me. Once in the door of the Trailer Town USA offices and once sitting in his office, I began to chat with him about the news of the past weekend. Philip opened up about the whole deal and offered his side of what had led to his racing effort being parked for the first race of the season.

You’ll be able to read the details of our conversation in full Thursday morning exclusively on RACE22.com, but the story doesn’t end with Philip Morris’ side and after sitting down with him, I was able to make contact with his car owner, Jim Dean on the way home from his shop. Dean also opened up about the previous weeks breaking news in another exclusive interview with RACE22.com.

After over six hours on the road today, RACE22.com will have the full details of both sides of the story … no more speculation, no more rumors, no more lies. The story goes deeper than either wanted to reveal publicly, but the facts will be out there for everyone to read exclusively on RACE22.com!