LUCAMA, NC :: Rusty Daniels is hoping to score his sixth win of the season in the Halloween Spooktacular at Southern National Motorsports Park on Saturday and he feels real good about his chances to score the victory.
Daniels, 41, feels he’ll be at an advantage in the race because, unlike the regular season Limited Late Model races at Southern National, each competitor will have to run four scuff tires instead of running two new tires. Unlike some of the Southern National regulars, Daniels raced on scuff tires when he raced at East Carolina Motor Speedway and Southern National last decade.
“We love scuff tire races and that’s what we’ve raced on the last several years,” Daniels said. “I haven’t run a full season since 2009. We ran scuffs in ‘08, ‘07 and ‘06. We were dominant. We’re looking forward to the scuff tires. I’m looking forward to it because the others don’t care for scuff tires. They like new tires because it gives them something to lean on. I’m hoping we run well. That’s what I’m shooting for.”
In 2006, he won the Limited Late Model championship at East Carolina and, in 2009, he won the Limited Late Model championship at Coastal Plains Raceway. Daniels also won several races in 2007 and 2008. In 2010, he was forced to sell his car.
After not racing for nearly four seasons, Daniels returned to racing late last year and was able to race full-time this season, running regularly at Southern National and East Carolina. He picked up four wins during the season at Southern National and also scored a victory at East Carolina.
“We bought a car at the end of last year and raced once at East Carolina as well as in the Thanksgiving Classic,” Daniels stated. “I had a partner this year I’ve never had before and he’s helped me financially and he loves racing and comes to the races. I put emphasis on winning races. I can’t say enough about Ultimate Body Shop and Kevin Bell. He helps a lot. I’d like to mention Andy Smith as crew chief as well.”
Daniels feels optimistic that the daytime might be the right time for him, saying that he ran well the last time he raced in the daytime at Southern National in the season finale – a race that was held on Sunday after rain forced the postponement of the championship deciding races.
“We were really fast the last time we were there during the daytime,” Daniels remarked. “We had a lot of rain and got screwed up on the tire situation and that’s alright. I’m really looking forward to this weekend though.”
After this weekend’s 75-lap Limited Late Model race at Southern National Motorsports Park, Daniels will race once more this season in the Limited Late Model portion of the Thanksgiving Classic. After that race, he will have run 35 races in total on the 2014 season.
