12/3/2007
A NIGHT OF CELEBRATION FOR MILLER
NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour champion L.W. Miller was crowned
the 2007 champion on Sunday night at
the Benton Convention Center in downtown Winston-Salem.
Miller captured the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour
championship by a mere 25 points over Tim Brown, while Burt Myers was
third in the final 2007 standings.
Sunday night concluded a busy week for Miller, the driver of
the No. 36 Danny Baker Plumbing and Utilities Pontiac. He spent several
days in New York City as part of NASCAR’s Champions Week.
“This has just been an unbelievable week,” said Miller, a
resident of Mooresville, N.C. “Tonight was the highlight of my week,
even though New York was great and a very neat experience. I just have
to thank (team owner) Danny Baker and (crew chief) Jimmy Baker as well
as all the other guys on this team. If it wasn’t for those guys I
wouldn’t be standing here tonight.”
Miller said he was thankful for a variety of different
reasons, including being named as the 2007 NASCAR Whelen Southern
Modified Tour Most Popular Driver award winner. Miller picked up his
awards for winning the Featherlite Most Improved Driver Award and the
Most Popular Driver Award. He also received a commemorative jacket for
winning the Hoosier Tire Award, and a championship helmet presented by
Bell.
The night culminated with his being awarded the NASCAR championship
trophy from Phil Kurze, vice president of motorsports for series sponsor
Whelen Engineering, as well as the NASCAR championship ring from George
Silbermann, from NASCAR’s managing director of racing operations.
“There are so many different perks that I got for winning the
winning the championship that it really makes me want to win it again
next season that much more,” Miller said. “My dad (Wayne Miller) was
here tonight and I didn’t know he was coming, so that was a very cool
surprise when I saw that he’d come all the way down from Pennsylvania to
be a part of this. To get the Most Popular Driver Award from a childhood
friend like Brett Bodine was awesome and something I’ll never forget.”
For Brown, it was the second straight season that he finished
second in the Whelen Tour standings. Despite that fact, Brown said he
was pleased with his efforts in 2007 while also noting he was anxious to
get the next year of racing started.
“It was a great year for us,” said Brown, a Cana, Va.
resident. “We wanted to be better than last year and we were because we
won two races this year. To us as a team that’s a huge improvement. Plus
we were in the fight for the championship until the last lap of the last
race of the season and that’s about all you can ask for. It is
disappointing to come up a little short of the championship again but
that’s better than losing ground from where we were a year ago at the
banquet.
“I’m also really looking forward to next year because me and
(new crew chief) Phil Moran really worked great together. I think that
us having one year of working together under our belts is really going
to help us even more next year. The more all of us work together the
better we’re all going to be as a team. We’re building two new race cars
over the winter so we expect to be at the top of our game once we get
started next year. I also want to congratulate L.W. Miller on the
championship because he really did have a great season.”
Finishing in third place in the NASCAR Whelen Southern
Modified Tour standings was Burt Myers, who also picked up the Budweiser
Pole Award for the season.
The Sunoco Rookie of the Year award went to Wesley Swartout.
The Driver Achievement and Sportsmanship Award both went to
Frank Fleming.
The POWERade Power Move of the Race Award went to Zach
Brewer.
The Driver Achievement and Sportsmanship Award both went to
Frank Fleming.
The Southern Modified Racing Ladies Racing Auxiliary also
handed out several special awards including, as follows:
Darryl Mabe Memorial Mechanic of the Year - Jimmy Baker,
Kenny Minter
Memorial Determination award – Brian Pack,
Bud Hutchens Excellence in Motorsports award – Shawn Tucker,
Bubba Beck Memorial Perseverance Award – Thomas Stinson.
Source: NASCAR
MEDIA/NASCAR WSMT PR
Posted:
December 3, 2007 |