Quiet Crop of Rookies Could Make Some Noise

Bristol, TN ~ The UARA-STARS Series has had some incredible Rookie of the Year candidates over the last few years and the 2009 crop may not have the name or the hype, but they could certainly make some noise.

In 2006 some of the names competing for the Rookie of the Year included 2008 UARA-STARS Series Champion, Jake Crum, who recently signed with Venturini Motorsports ARCA team and as well as USARacing Pro-Cup driver, Lucas Ransone. In 2007 the Rookie of the Year battle included newly signed Joe Gibbs Racing Driver Development Driver, Matt DiBenedetto and Jeffrey Earnhardt, grandson of Dale Earnhardt, Sr. … turn the page to 2008 and the battle was waged between another recent Joe Gibbs recruit, Darrell Wallace, Jr. and Brandon McReynolds, son of former NASCAR crew chief and Fox TV Analyst, Larry McReynolds.

Wow that’s a pretty impressive list of drivers who have competed for the UARA-STARS Rookie of the Year award in the last three seasons. However when you look over the list of roughly eight drivers that we expect to be a part of the rookie title chase this season we don’t see anyone with a name or the hype of the rookies who have came before them.

Potential Rookie of the Year Contenders(Not Confirmed):
*Matthew Godley #92
*Brennan Poole #8
*Luke Laney #24
*Michael Rouse #15
*John King #21
*Brad Queen #52
*Jordan McGregor #30
*Dylan Presnell #83

There’s no Earnhardt, McReynolds or any other big name descendent from the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and none of these drivers are coming in with the level of hype that a Jake Crum, Matt DiBenedetto or Darrell Wallace, Jr. So what kind of Rookie of the Year battle can we possibly have this season?

Well I guess it would help if I give you a little introduction to each one of these young drivers so you’ll know at least as little as I do about them. We’ll introduce you to them in the order of how they qualified for the UARA 100 on Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Matthew Godley ~ By doing a quick search on Google for “Matthew Godley Racing” you’ll see very fast that he’s driven all kinds of cars from Legends at Lowes Motor Speedway to Arena Racing cars in Charlotte, maybe a dirt race or two and he even competed in two races at Concord Motorsport Park last season. He attempted to qualify for the UARA-STARS Series season opener at Concord Motorsport Park, but missed the show crashing out of the heat race at his home track as this young driver is from Davidson, NC

Godley despite his rough start in the series last year by missing the show in his only attempt, he’s been the most impressive of the potential Rookie of the Year contenders. First he was fast at the test at Rockingham Speedway, then fast at the test at Bristol Motor Speedway two weeks ago, then he backed all of that up with a tenth place qualifying effort in qualifying at Bristol on Thursday, March 19. He qualified seven positions ahead of the next “rookie” and tenth isn’t bad for a guy who’s never raced in the UARA at Bristol.

Godley has certainly been impressive and we hadn’t even started the season, but part of his quick success can be attributed to his new Marlowe Racing Chassis and help from Greg Marlowe. Marlowe said on Thursday that he was certainly impressed with the young driver and hopes that this kind of performance can continue. For Godley only time will tell, but he’s off to much better start in 2009 than he had in 2008.

Brennan Poole ~ We first introduced you to this young driver after his first test in a Late Model Stock Car a few weeks back and while that day didn’t end too well for the youngster, he did have a quick adaption to these full bodied stock cars. Poole’s experience is from the Legends ranks as well as Modifieds and Crate Late Models on dirt in his native state of Texas.

Poole’s not exactly the kind of driver who’s had so much success that there’s a lot of hype on him coming into the series, but the position he’s put himself in, he might just come out the winner. Poole is the Fat Head Racing Developmental Driver and while a development deal at this level doesn’t get the press of a NASCAR Sprint Cup team doing the same, this is a great opportunity.

Poole will be driving the same car that carried Jamie Yelton to one win in the UARA series last season and a fifth place finish in points. While that would be a lofty goal for any driver, Poole might be the kind of rookie that can get the job done. Poole like most all of the rest of the rookies will hit the track for their first race on the tough high banks of the Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday night following the NASCAR Nationwide Series race, quite a big stage for rookies to kick off their season. Poole will start 17th.

Luke Laney ~ This Servierville, TN native got his starts on the dirt tracks around the state, but the Asphalt bug caught him last season when he saw the chance to go racing at Bristol. He made his debut on the 1/2 mile track and crashed out of the race, but that didn’t diminish his drive to race on dirt. After a recent purchase of an all new Marlowe Racing Chassis, the same chassis that the two above rookies will be in, has rejuvenated this driver and his 22nd place qualifying effort was third among the rookies.

Laney, who’s family owns and operates Laney Construction as well as FSR(For the Serious Racer), a parts distributor in his hometown is ready to get going for the UARA Rookie of the Year in 2009. Laney is hoping to have some much better performances with his new chassis and after he has some experience on asphalt, experience that he got last season in three UARA races.

Michael Rouse ~ This young driver is one of those low-budget racers who is making it the hard way and for Michael Rouse making a run at the UARA-STARS Rookie of the Year is going to be a tall task. Rouse, who in the past has raced at the now closed, Southern National Raceway Park has been a mid-pack racer at best, but he’s poised to tackle the UARA series.

Rouse will be running a HarCor chassis with an engine built by his own race team and shocks from WP Racing Shocks, which may just be a potent combination. He qualified 24th for the UARA 100 at Bristol and was fourth among the potential rookies for the 2009 season, that puts him ahead of four other rookies and the first race hasn’t even been run yet.

John King ~ This young racer is a little more well know on the Crate Late Model circuit as he won his first race at Wythe Raceway in Rural Retreat, VA in 2007, but now he’s making his first full season endeavor on asphalt. King spent part of last season getting used to the asphalt racing at Lonesome Pine Raceway and this season he’s set to make a full-time run at the UARA-STARS Series championship.

King is probably the most well connected driver in the series as he is part of the Bill Elliott Driver Development Program. King’s hoping he’ll be one of the latest dirt racers to make the transition over to asphalt and he could be as successful as one of the former dirt racers now competing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. King will be competing in a Hedgecock chassis powered by a Performance Automotive engine and he should grow quickly into one of the top prospects for the Rookie of the Year, he just needs a little more experience on asphalt. King from Kingsport, TN will start 26th at his home track.

Brad Queen ~ This 21-year old will try to make a run at the UARA-STARS championship in a car being wrenched on by Don Satterfield, a former USAR Pro-Cup Series racer. At five years-old he began competing in go-karts and since then he’s been on the road to making a career out of racing. He moved to the US Truck Series in 2006 and got his first win in his first season and in his second season he won the championship in the US Truck Series.

Queen has been strong throughout his career, he’s proven that he has what it takes to make it to the next level by winning and winning often in every level of racing he’s been competing in. Now the next step is to challenge the UARA-STARS Series best and that’s going to be a tall order for the young racer. Queen hasn’t been as impressive as Godley and Poole, but he’s expected to be one of the guys in contention for the UARA title. Queen has an Ortec Chassis with a crate engine, but he plans on making the most out of what he’s got and he’ll start 29th of the 36-cars on Saturday night at Bristol.

Jordan McGregor ~ This Seattle, Washington driver now lives in North Carolina, but the 22-year old is ready to tackle the best of the best in Late Model Stock Car racing and while he’ll start shotgun on the field in 36th place on Saturday night, that’s not indicative of how he’s going to run. McGregor is one of the young drivers who moved from the west coast to try and make it in this wild and crazy world of NASCAR and with the moves he’s been making he’s got a chance.

McGregor, who will be competing in the race at Bristol this weekend in a Pistone LTO chassis and is part of the Tom Pistone Racing Development team. While McGregor doesn’t have a full-time ride, he’s trying to garner the sponsorship money needed to compete full-time on the UARA tour. McGregor got his season off to a bad start on Thursday in qualifying when making his first sticker run he lost control of his car and crashed before even completing his first lap of qualifying. McGregor will be able to start the race however, but will start from the 36th and final position.

Dylan Presnell ~ While you won’t find this young driver in the starting line-up for Bristol on Saturday night it isn’t because the youngster doesn’t want to be racing. Presnell at 13 years-old is too young to race at Bristol and Rockingham Speedway, the two biggest races of the season and that will certainly put him behind the eight ball in his attempt to become the UARA-STARS Rookie of the Year.

Presnell, from Sevierville, TN, is a graduate of the Allison Legacy Series and with the help of one of the top Late Model Stock Car drivers and a former NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Regional Champion, Wade Day, this rookie may have a leg up on the competition. OK, so he’s going to be behind the eight ball, but will have a leg up with Day’s help … well, we’ll have to see how all that plays out for the youngster. He’ll be behind the wheel of a HESS Race Car powered by a B&B race engine and he’s going to be strong. Day, will serve as his crew chief, but will also compete in the car at Bristol and Rockingham due to the kids age … look for this to be a strong pairing.

Rookies … eight different guys from eight different background taking eight different routes to try and win the UARA-STARS Series Rookie of the Year and the race fans are the ones who will benefit. They’ll benefit because they will be watching the birth of another future star just like Matt DiBenedetto, Brandon McReynolds, Jake Crum and Darrell Wallace, Jr. before them, but which one of these guys will be the one to emerge with racing greatness???