VIRGINIA BEACH, VA :: C.E. Falk III worked through challenges and variables during the 2013 season and still produced NASCAR Whelen All-American Series championship results.
Falk, 26, of Virginia Beach, Va., won his fourth NASCAR Late Model Stock Car track championship at Langley Speedway in Hampton, Va. He also raced part-time at South Boston (Va.) Speedway. He’s been a top-10 finisher in the series’ national standings for five consecutive years and placed eighth in 2013.
Falk had momentum through the first half of last season, winning three times in his first eight starts. He ran his win total to seven before the calendar turned to July. Things changed by month’s end.
“I crashed our primary car at Langley,” Falk said. “We had a new car in the shop that was about two weeks from being complete. We had to finish it in two days for a test session at South Boston. It took a lot of hard work and a lot of people pitched in.”
He drove that new After Hours chassis for about a month while his primary car, a Creech chassis, was being repaired.
“We had a hard time getting the new car the way we wanted it,” Falk said. “It reacted differently than the primary car and we spent a lot of time working on the set-up.”
The primary car returned to action and was competitive, but Falk didn’t win again until his second-to-last race of the season at South Boston. The win came with a bonus. Track officials posted an increasing bounty to a driver who could win over eventual national champion Lee Pulliam. Pulliam dominated with 16 South Boston wins last year. Falk won the second of twin 75s on Aug. 31, and collected a $3,000 bounty in addition to the winner’s purse of $1,500. Pulliam placed seven in that race after winning the opening 75-lap feature.
Falk hopped back into his new car in post-season events, and believes it is set for 2014. He was among the leaders in October’s Virginia Is For Racing Lovers 300 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway when he was collected in an end-of-race accident.
“The car felt good,” Falk said. “I think it will be our workhorse in 2014.”
There was a big change for Falk and all the competitors at Langley Speedway in 2013. The track was repaved during the off season. In conjunction with new pavement, a new track tire was designated. Everyone had to learn new set-ups and all the nuances of the new asphalt and tire combination.
“We never really got ahold of it,” Falk said despite his six wins there. “A couple of guys were really fast. I’m just sorry I wasn’t one of them.
“We have a lot of good cars and drivers at Langley. The competition is strong. If your car was off, you’d finish sixth or seventh.
“We won the championship with good solid finishes. We didn’t have parts or engine failures and the crew made sure the car was strong when it went on the track,” Falk said.
While he didn’t win again at Langley after his mid-season accident, he had seven top-three finishes in the final nine starts. The other finishes were fifth and sixth.
Falk finished second to Pulliam in the Virginia state points race with a record of eight wins, 25 top-fives and 27 top-10s in 30 starts.
Falk plans a similar schedule for 2014 with the new After House chassis powered by a Clark’s Automotive engine.
The race car is fielded by Falk’s parents, Eddie and Susan Falk, via their E.F. Motorsports team. The driver’s brother, Wesley, is the crew chief. Team members include Troy Turnage, Jeremy Johnson, Cody Jones, Randy Armstrong, Gerald Beck, Jimmy Seay and Troy Mason. Sponsors for 2013 were Hampton Road Toyota Dealers, Racing Electronics, Strange Oval and Wilwood.
Falk’s offseason so far has been highlighted by off-the-track news. He became engaged to Kaliegh Shidler on December 22 and they plan to marry on New Year’s Eve this year.
