Bristol, TN ~ If you’re Paddy Rodenbeck or Scott Turlington you have to be riding high after testing extremely fast at Bristol Motor Speedway, but what does that really mean?
Were you surprised to see Rodenbeck and Turlington among the top three in speeds on Saturday, March 7, 2009 during the UARA-STARS Series Open Test Session? If your answer was no, then you’re lying … neither driver showed up this well in 2009, but both drivers are expecting greater results in 2009.
“I’m pretty excited about this season,” said Turlington during an interview late in testing at Bristol on Saturday. “We seem to have our game on and we couldn’t be anymore happy to be up front in testing. I hope that’s a sign of things to come.”
Turlington’s got a long ride to and from most every UARA-STARS Series race being that he’s from Richmond, VA and most of the races are within only a few hours of the hub of racing in Mooresville, NC, but his ride home from Bristol, TN Saturday had to be one he enjoyed. He gives Greg Marlowe, owner of Marlowe Racing Chassis a lot of credit for the success the team has had after the first two open test sessions of the season.
“Greg Marlowe came by and gave us lots of advice and everything he said worked, so he’s pretty much the man when it comes to this stuff and I’m glad we decided to buy a car from him this winter,” continued Turlington.
Turlington did purchase a brand new car from Marlowe this winter, but the car is still sitting in Marlowe’s shop awaiting an engine, so the car he set third fastest time with Bristol was his older Townsend car. Turlington doesn’t know for sure when he’ll break in the new car, but says he’s confident no matter what car they run, they’ll be more competitive this year.
“It’s think it’s time to start winning races! That’s what our expectations are … We need to win races, don’t drop out, don’t wreck and that will put us in a position to win a championship and that’s what we need to do,” concluded Turlington.
Turlington is right. If he can win races, stay on the track and not wreck he’ll be a strong contender for the championship, but the question is … Will that happen? That remains to be seen, but Turlington isn’t the only one with big plans for this season.
Rodenbeck got the nickname, “The Missile” last season as he attempted to run his first full season on the UARA-STARS Series tour because he was fast and you never knew when he was going to explode, but he always did. This season Rodenbeck wants to change his nickname a little.
“I’m going to be a ‘Laser Guided Missile’ this season,” said Rodenbeck early in test at Bristol Motor Speedway. “This is going to be a different season, I promise.”
Depending on how you look at the situation, Rodenbeck has already won one event this season, winning the test session on Saturday by turning an unofficial track record time of 15.544 over a tenth of a second faster than Brandon McReynolds, another sophomore driver and three tenths faster than Turlington.
The ‘Laser Guided Missile’ seems to be working and it’s partly due to the man atop his pit box, Jeff Caudill. Caudill is the brother of current Bristol UARA track record holder, Jamey Caudill and had Rodenbeck flying around the “super speedway of short tracks” on Saturday. Rodenbeck has been fast at Bristol in the past and last year his speed caught up to him after qualifying strong last July, he slapped the wall during his final qualifying lap.
We’ll have to wait and see if Rodenbeck’s speed helps transform him from simply a “Missile” to the “Laser Guided Missile” that he wants to be. Rodenbeck and Turlington are both talented young racers, but there’s an obvious uphill battle for both drivers to become the next big thing in the UARA … will either driver step up to plate?
