DAYTONA BEACH, FL :: The good thing about running back-to-back weekends is it gives drivers a chance to bounce back quickly from misfortune.
For Tim Brown, that’s a very good thing.
Brown leads the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour contingent to Southern National Motorsports Park in Kenly, N.C., for the KOMA Unwind Relaxation Drink 150 on Saturday, March 23. It’s a track Brown has a win and two runner-up finishes in three tour starts. And he’s eager to put this past weekend’s angst behind him.
“After running like we did Saturday night, we need a win,” said Brown, who led a race-high 96 laps in the Charles Kepley 150 at Caraway Speedway in Asheboro, N.C., before inexplicably running out of gas less than five laps to the finish. Brown said a “burp somewhere up in the vent line” likely erroneously indicated the tank was full when they were fueling before the race.
“It was just a mistake,” Brown said. “I wasn’t mad, I was just heartbroken. That thing was hooked up.”
On the bright side, Brown said he will bring pretty much the same package to the .4-mile high-banked oval this weekend.
“I’ve won there before, so I’m looking forward to it,” said Brown. “It’s a super nice facility. The race track is high-banked, and it will be a tire-management race. It’ll be a good show. I love that place.”
The Whelen Southern Modified Tour visited Southern National three times between 2006-08. Brown led the final 119 laps en route to his victory there in 2007, and he’s looking forward to another chance to close the deal again there Saturday.
| RACE | KOMA Unwind Relaxation Drink 150 |
|---|---|
| PLACE | Southern National Motorsports Park |
| DATE | Saturday, March 23 |
| TIME | 3:30 p.m. ET |
| TRACK LAYOUT | .4-mile high-banked asphalt oval |
| 2012 WINNER/POLESITTER | Event not held |
| EVENT SCHEDULE | Saturday, March 23 – Practice 10-10:30 a.m., Final Practice 11:05-11:30 a.m., Qualifying 12:50 p.m., Driver Autograph Session 1:30 p.m. |
| TRACK CONTACT | Louis Sparks, (919) 284-1114, [email protected] |
| TRACK TWITTER | @ SNM_Park |
| EVENT TWITTER HASHTAG | #KOMAUnwind150 |
| NASCAR CONTACT | Jason Christley, (386) 547-2469, [email protected], Twitter: @jay_christley |
FAST FACTS
The Race: The KOMA Unwind Relaxation Drink 150 will mark the second event of the 12-race 2013 regular season schedule for the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour. It will be the first of two times the tour visits Southern National. It returns Saturday, Sept. 21.
The Procedure: The maximum starting field will be 26 cars, including provisionals. The first 23 starting positions will be based on two-lap time trials and the remaining three will be filled through the provisional process. The race will be 150 laps (60 miles) with a 10 minute break at or near the conclusion of Lap 75.
The Track: Southern National played host to three events in the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour history, from 2006-2008. It was closed from 2009 to 2011, before re-opening last year and becoming a NASCAR Whelen All-American Series track. Southern National has banking of 17 degrees in the turns and seven degrees on the straightaways.
Race Winners: Junior Miller won the first race in October of 2006, followed by Tim Brown’s victory in September of 2007, and Burt Myers in September of 2008.
Pole Winners: L.W. Miller won two poles at Southern National, while Frank Fleming earned the top spot in 2007. Miller holds the track qualifying record at 14.251 seconds (101.046 mph), set in 2008.
SOUTHERN NATIONAL RACE NOTES
New Track For Most: Only four drivers on the entry list for Saturday – Tim Brown, Burt Myers, Jason Myers and George Brunnhoelzl III – have run the previous three races at Southern National. In addition to his win, Burt Myers has a third and a fifth, while his brother Jason has a sixth, seventh and 15th. Brunnhoelzl has finished fifth, eighth and 11th there. Andy Seuss had a fourth-place run in 2008, while Thomas Stinson was sixth and eighth in 2007 and 2008, respectively.
Northern Presence: NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour regulars Ryan Preece, Eric Goodale and Woody Pitkat are all on the Southern National entry list. Renee Dupuis, who has 113 Whelen Modified Tour starts and has run eight races over the last two years on the Whelen Southern Modified Tour, is also entered.
Looking Back: In 2006, Southern National hosted the final event of the season and Junior Miller won the race to take the championship. He entered the race trailing Tim Brown by four points. Miller used lapped traffic with 17 laps to go to take the lead – and eventually the title, by six tallies under the old points system – away from Brown.
HOME TRACKS: Pulliam Still Rolling
Defending NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national champion Lee Pulliam picked up a win and a second-place Saturday at Southern National Motorsports Park. Michael Rouse won the second feature. Deac McCaskill, the defending track and Whelen All-American Series North Carolina champion, was second and eighth in the two features. The races were part of the “Dirty Dozen Cup” program between Southern National and Motor Mile Speedway in Radford, Va. The program covers six events at each track – all of which are twin Late Model features.
LAST TIME OUT: Caraway
Jason Myers bested George Brunnhoelzl III on a restart of a green-white-checkered finish that extended the Charles Kepley Memorial 150 to 153 laps to capture his third career victory. Myers was on Brunnhoelzl’s back bumper in a battle for second in the closing laps when race leader Tim Brown suddenly slowed on the frontstretch to bring out the race’s final caution. Brunnhoelzl, the defending tour champion, settled for second while Kyle Ebersole rallied from two laps down to finish third. Ted Christopher and Andy Seuss were fourth and fifth, respectively.
NEXT TIME OUT: South Boston
The NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour will run its third race of the season Saturday, August 13 at South Boston Speedway. The historic .4-mile oval has featured four different winners in the last four years, including Brandon Ward’s first career victory in 2012.
