Story by: Jason Cunningham/NASCAR
Photo by: Jared Wickerham/Getty Images for NASCAR
Daytona Beach, FL(January 5, 2013) — A winner at eight different tracks during his NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour career, Andy Seuss has his sights set on adding the short track at Daytona International Speedway to his list.
Seuss, a 12-time winner overall in seven seasons as a competitor on the Whelen Southern Modified Tour, will head to Daytona with his No. 11 team to participate in the inaugural UNOH Battle At The Beach at Daytona International Speedway, Feb. 18-19.
For the first time, NASCAR’s weekly and regional touring series will have a prominent place during Budweiser Speedweeks in Daytona, the “Worlds Center of Racing.” Since the special event was unveiled last February, Seuss has anticipated the opportunity to race on the hallowed grounds.
“It’s going to be really exciting to say I raced at Daytona,” Seuss said. “It’s going to be quite an honor. Just to look around at the high banking and to know the people that have been there is going to be real neat.”
One of his team’s 2012 goals was to get a locked-in starting position for the UNOH Battle At The Beach Whelen Modified feature, and Seuss was able to secure that with a win at Thompson International Speedway in September.
“It was getting close to the end without a win,” Seuss said. “That was really what we wanted to do was get a win, not only to win on the Whelen Southern Modified Tour, but to get locked in as well.”
Seuss is not only excited about the opportunity to race at Daytona, but also about the format of the event, which will be contested on a .4-mile oval on the track’s backstretch. The Whelen Modified and Whelen Southern Modified Tour cars will run in combination in the event, which will see only heat races utilized to set the feature’s starting field as there will be no time trials. Drivers that won touring series races and championships in 2012 are locked into their respective features in Daytona; All others must qualify through heat races.
“The way we grew up was heat racing and it makes it exciting because you know there is going to be passing,” Seuss said. “If the fastest guy starts at the front, a lot of times he will go unchallenged, especially at a flat track. At Daytona we aren’t going to have that luxury with the heat races.”
Seuss has made some life changes this offseason with his racing career in mind. Originally from Hampstead, N.H., he recently moved to Salisbury, N.C., and is now able to help out in the shop of his North Carolina-based team, owned by Eddie Harvey. Seuss is also now employed at Rahmoc Racing Engines, the power supplier for his No. 11 team.
All of those offseason changes – combined with an opportunity to race at Daytona – has Seuss eagerly anticipating getting back to racing.
“Anytime you get to go racing, it’s awesome,” Seuss said. “When you get to wake up and go to the race track, it’s pretty neat, and it’s going to be really neat to be at Daytona for the first time.”
The Whelen Modified events will be just one facet of the inaugural UNOH Battle At The Beach. The NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Late Models will have qualifying races and a 150-lap feature on Monday, Feb. 18 while the action on Tuesday, Feb. 19 will include a similar schedule of qualifying races and 150-lap races for both the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tours and NASCAR K&N Pro Series.
All three features are non-points events and will be carried live on SPEED while supplemental event coverage will be provided at www.nascarhometracks.com.
For more information, please visit www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com. Grandstand and garage admission can be secured via the website or by calling 1-888-PITSHOP.
