HENDERSONVILLE, NC :: When Tri-County Motor Speedway opens the gates this Friday, July 12, the large contingent of UARA-STARS sophomores and rookies will have extra motivation to reach victory lane in the MotorsportsPhoto.com 150. One race ago, 14-year old Kaz Grala became the youngest winner in the history of the series and the second first-time winner this season out of the four drivers who have won events.
“I remember thinking that it really couldn’t be happening, there was no way I was about to win a UARA event in only my second start,” said Grala after his win at Hickory. “But it was real and everything fell into place. My crew at Falcon Racing did a fantastic job to get me to that point and gave me a great car to drive.”
Grala joined Brodie Kostecki as the other first-time winner this year after Kostecki claimed the win at Rockingham, becoming the series’ first foreign-born driver to claim a checkered flag. Coincidentally, it was Kostecki who Grala had to beat at Hickory for the win. Both driver will be looking for their second career wins at Tri-County. Grala’s teammate, 2012 UARA Champion Travis Swaim, picked up his second career win at Tri-County last fall in the same car that Grala will be driving.
Other drivers still looking for their first series win include Devin Jones, Chandler LeVan and Garrett Jones among others. Each driver has had flashes of brilliance in the recent past, but has yet to visit victory lane. Devin Jones came the closest one year ago at Anderson after finishing second to Scott Turlington.
“My crew chief, David King, had so much success at Tri-County in the past, and I really like the racetrack, too,” said Devin Jones, a second-year driver on the tour. “We’ve really been working together well and the more we learn about this new tire, I think the better we will be. There wouldn’t be any place better than Tri-County to pick up my first tour win.”
LeVan, a native of Statesville, NC, considers Tri-County one of his two home tracks on the tour and his career best finish came at his other home track of Hickory earlier this year when he finished seventh. At the Banjo Matthews Memorial 150, he was running fourth when his car overheated.
“Hickory should’ve been really good for us, but it turned into a not so good night,” said LeVan. “I drove my way up to fourth without radios because they went out at the very start of the race, and then the car started overheating. I was pretty upset, but the good news is we were in the top five when it happened. I just hope that we can put it all together at Tri-County.”
One of the hottest rookies on the tour recently has been 13-year old Garrett Jones. Jones graduated from limited late models to the UARA-STARS Late Model Stock Tour this year and has caught fire with his crew chief, Roger Johnson. Jones ran in the top ten all race at Hickory and had a top three car two races ago at Anderson before a flat tire derailed his efforts. He also qualified on the outside pole at Anderson, a career best effort for his Chevrolet.
“You wouldn’t think it to look at him, but this kid is one heck of a wheelman,” said Roger Johnson, the crew chief on the No. 88 of Garrett Jones. “We’ve been working together for a while, and he gives great feedback and really helps us to get the car dialed in to what he wants. He’s starting to learn how these races play out, his endurance is increasing, and he should be a very real threat to win these races sometime soon. It would be cool if we ended up winning Tri-County. We’re certainly going to try to get the win. It’s a driver’s racetrack.”
Tri-County has a history of producing first-time winners in UARA-STARS competition. Recent first-time winners at the facility include Matt Kurzejewski (under crew chief Roger Johnson), R.A. Brown, and former series champion Brennan Poole (under crew chief David King). With the majority of the field in Friday night’s race winless in UARA-STARS competition, the odds favor another first-time winner at the Hudson, NC, facility. Series veterans who will be looking for another win at Tri-County include Ronnie Bassett, Jr., Garrett Campbell and Travis Swaim. Swaim and Campbell won the two most recent races at the facility while Bassett won the only UARA event at the track in 2011.
Over thirty entries are expected to pour in for the MotorsportsPhoto.com 150 at Tri-County Motor Speedway, one of the largest fields of the UARA-STARS season. Solid fields of Southeast Super Trucks, Carolina Vintage cars and regional street stocks are also expected for their respective portions of the event. Spectator gates open at 5pm with UARA-STARS Sunoco Pole Qualifying taking to the track at the same time. An on-track autograph session and a performance by the Loose Strings Band of Galax, VA, highlight the pre-race activities before the 7:30pm start time.
