Story by: Langley Austin ~ [email protected]
Fairlawn, VA(January 22, 2012) — If you saw Preston McGhee in his few appearances in 2011, you would have never believed he would have won the 2012 Limited Late Model division track championship at Motor Mile Speedway. However that’s exactly how the rookie driver’s season ended as he hoisted his first division title.
McGhee’s 2011 appearances saw him destroy his race car not once, but twice during qualifying after being among the fastest cars in practice on both occasions. The first time, he destroyed a car he was driving for Late Model Stock Car driver Mike Looney. By the second time he made an appearance crashing in qualifying, he was driving his own car and was able to fix the car and race, but was involved in a later crash. Both incidents had to leave even Preston wondering if he had what it takes to make it in the Limited division. However, as the season came to an end, McGhee was getting it together and had now mastered qualifying. In the season finale, he was able to lead some laps in a bizarre race and finished third in the end.
With qualifying figured out now, McGhee was ready to tackle his rookie campaign in Limiteds on the 4/10 mile track located just outside of Radford, VA. He would have his hands full with a strong rookie crop but also he would have his hands full competing for wins with the core veterans that compete at Motor Mile year in and year out. Among those veterans would be defending and two time track champion Matt Taylor as well as Steve Dalton and Scott Lancaster, among others.
Rookie drivers joining the fray would include Shenandoah Speedway driver Garrett Bunch, who would race out of 2011 Late Model track champion Lee Pulliam’s stables. Another Rookie of the Year contender would be Bryan Reedy, who had moved up from the Mod 4 division where he competed for the championship the previous season. Reedy is a third generation driver following in the footsteps of his father, Tink and his grandfather, Orvil. Both of which have won Late Model division track titles in the region and Reedy was looking to add his own stats to the Reedy family legacy.
As the season kicked off on March 31st it appeared as if Taylor was ready to make the 2012 season his third straight title run as he dominated the race. In a brand new car it appeared that Taylor was ready to make history, but quickly things changed for the defending champion. In the second race of the season he would record an 18th place finish and by the third race of the season, his new car would be history as he first crashed with race two winner Karl Budzevski and later a lapped car. The second of those accidents wiped out his new car, while the first wiped out Budzevski’s ride and left animosity between the two top contenders.
Cody Kirby ended up with the win in the third race after Taylor and Budzevski crashed while racing for the lead and, later, McGhee was crashed as he and Kyle Dudley raced for the top spot. Kirby’s victory didn’t come without controversy in the bizarre race as Lancaster had pulled into victory lane thinking he had won before Kirby was determined the winner. For McGhee this was the first hit to his points run as he had wrapped up a fifth and second place finish in the first two races before settling for ninth after crashing out of race number three.
Lancaster seemed to be the driver benefiting the most from the crashing of his competitors as he would finish in the top five nearly every race. After a couple weeks away from the track and time to heal their trashed race cars, the field converged for twin races. On this occasion, another rookie was stealing the spotlight as Bunch picked up not only his first win at Motor Mile, but his first two wins as he dominated the twin races. Bunch, who had looked strong right from the start, looked to have figured out how to get to victory lane and now he was not only a rookie title contender, but a division title contender with two wins under his belt, the most of all his competitors.
After nearly another month off from racing, the Limited field once again hit the track for a single 50-lap race and, this time, another rookie was ready to throw his name in the ring to be not only the rookie champion, but also the track champion. Reedy found his way to victory lane in the sixth race of the season. While rookies owned the night in the last three races, race number seven had a familiar look to it as Taylor put his racer back to the front of the field and grabbed his second win of the season. Then, in the next race, another formidable veteran Steve Dalton grabbed his first win of the season and the points chase was beginning to have a veteran vs. rookie kind of a look.
At this point the championship appeared to be in the air as McGhee was staying consistent, but so too was Lancaster while Taylor was making gains and neither Bunch nor Reedy were fading away. It was setting up to be heavyweight title bout as the rookies looked to dethrone the veteran and the veteran was taking more hits than most could stand. Taylor then posted two straight wins with his competitors beginning to slip as their early season traction was fading away. Two mainstays at the top of the points battle were McGhee and Lancaster and it looked as if the championship was going to come down to these three guys.
Taylor’s early season foe would return to victory lane in the 11th race of the season. Budzevski, in a new car, seemed to finally be finding his legs again and was ready to compete for wins but time was running out as there would only be two more races on the schedule. At this point it was certain that Taylor, McGhee or Lancaster would win the championship. Taylor had rallied from his early season issues, McGhee had stayed consistent with a worst finish of ninth on two occasions and Lancaster was gaining traction as the season wound down.
The next to last race of the season would fall on the weekend of the original end date as Motor Mile had a rain out earlier in the season and would add a race to the final weekend of NASCAR Whelen All-American Series points eligibility. In the next to last race Taylor would see his chances at a third straight championship go up in smoke as he crashed and that brought the points race down to two competitors. McGhee would get a third place finish in this event but his closest pursuer, Lancaster, would take a convincing win, his first of the season, as he and Bunch got together coming to the finish.
Despite having one more race to settle the championship in, a lack of car count would leave the ending anti-climactic as McGhee wouldn’t even have to start the race to take home the championship. Long before the green flag would wave Lancaster congratulated McGhee on his championship via Facebook, obviously frustrated over the lack of cars. Even without having the championship on the line, Lancaster put it all on the line and picked up a second straight win over the short 11 car field. McGhee would place fourth.
For McGhee it was a moment of jubilation as even without winning a race in one of the most competitive full time Limited fields in short track racing, he would be crowned champion. McGhee was proud of the effort his underfunded team put in, but he knew that he had a lot of good luck to get the championship.
“Our worst finish all year was ninth, we finished in the top five every week,” McGhee said after winning the championship in September. “We were racing with cars that were newer, better and faster but we just kept plugging along with this little team. We get our tires out of the building over there to practice on after everyone else throws them away. It doesn’t get better than to do this in my first year and get Rookie of the Year and the championship.”
For Lancaster, he came up just 18 markers short even after winning the final two races of the season, but he knows that if he had run better at the beginning of the season, he might have had a chance. For Taylor, he was so close to a record setting third straight Limited Late Model division championship against one of the toughest fields anywhere. However, the veteran’s season was filled with bad luck and destroyed race cars that left him wishing things had gone a little differently. Taylor ended the season with the most wins at four, but his inconsistent finishes ruined his championship hopes.
With his rookie season in the rearview mirror now and a rookie title and the track championship in hand, McGhee is looking to his sophomore season as he works to improve his program. McGhee has landed Ginger’s Jewelry as a new sponsor and has a new piece to hopefully elevate him closer to his first Limited win.
“We’ve picked up a new sponsor this winter and we’ve got a new car. We’re looking at opening up the season at Motor Mile strong. The short schedule there this season could play into our hands again to win the championship with consistency, but I want to win a race and get that monkey off my back and get another title.”
