 Tim
Brown ended his year-long NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified
Tour winless streak with a victory he called one of his
biggest of his career.
The Cana, Va., veteran scored his seventh career win
Thursday night in the UNOH Southern Slam 150 on the
quarter-mile on the frontstretch at Charlotte Motor
Speedway. It was Brown's first trip to Victory Lane since
Sept. 4, 2010 at Langley Speedway in Hampton, Va.
Brown took the lead from George Brunnhoelzl on a Lap 124
restart and led the rest of the way.
Brown couldn’t hide how important he felt his seventh career
win was for him and his team.
“We have fun (on this team),” Brown said. “To come to
Charlotte and win in front of everybody I work with, all the
(NASCAR Sprint) Cup guys and a huge fan base really means a
lot to me. The grandstands were full and I did a great
burnout for them. It was awesome.”
Brown was able to get past Brunnhoelzl on the pivotal
restart after the race was stopped for eight minutes by a
Red Flag when excessive fluid was dropped on the track.
Brown felt that cleanup contributed to his opportunity to
pass Brunnhoelzl.
“The caution came out and the track got oiled down pretty
good,” Brown said. “They (clean-up crews) had put a lot of
speedy dry on the inside where George was going to have to
restart the race and fortunately for me he spun the tires.”
Brunnhoelzl, who was going after his fifth win of the
season, was a little frustrated.
“Track position is everything because Tim and I were so
evenly matched,” Brunnhoelzl said. “We had a good car and
second place is great, but I would much rather get beat
racing than coming to the green.”
Last year, Burt Myers used his win at Charlotte and a little
racing luck to capture the title. He ran in the top five
almost the entire race but didn’t quite have the car he
needed to challenge Brown and Brunnhoelzl for the win.
“We are disappointed with our finish after the run we had
here last year,” Myers said. “We had a good car in race
trim, but starting fourth probably hurt us. The car was good
but I lacked the forward bite we needed to get under
somebody and make the pass.”
Brunnhoelzl, the points leader, won the Coors Light Pole
Award and led a race-high 124 laps. Andy Seuss, entered the
race in second place in the point standings hoping to cut
into Brunnhoelzl’s lead, finished fourth and Jason Myers
came home fifth to continue his impressive run in 2011 with
his 11th top-10 showing in 13 races.
Frank Fleming, Johnny Sutton, John Smith, Thomas Stinson and
Josh Nichols rounded out the top 10. Daniel Hemric finished
11th to give him Sunoco Rookie of the Race honors as the
highest finishing rookie driver.
Sutton used his run to win Coca-Cola Move of the Race honors
advancing six positions during the race and Fleming won the
Featherlite Most Improved Driver award.
Brunnhoelzl will take a 150-point lead over Andy Seuss, who
finished fourth, into the season finale on Oct. 22 at
Caraway Speedway in Asheboro, N.C.
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Whelen Southern Modified Tour-UNOH Southern Slam
150 Unofficial Results
Thursday At Charlotte Motor Speedway Quarter Mile, Concord, N.C.
Lap length: 0.25 miles
(Start position in parentheses)
1. (2) Tim Brown, Cana, VA, Chevrolet, 150 laps, 45.455 mph.
2. (1) George Brunnhoelzl III, West Babylon, NY, Chevrolet,
150.
3. (4) Burt Myers, Walnut Cove, NC, Ford, 150.
4. (5) Andy Seuss, Hampstead, NH, Chevrolet, 150.
5. (7) Jason Myers, Walnut Cove, NC, Ford, 150.
6. (8) Frank Fleming, Mt. Airy, NC, Ford, 150.
7. (13) Johnny Sutton, Harrisburg, N.C., Chevrolet, 150.
8. (12) John Smith, Mount Airy, NC, Chevrolet, 150.
9. (10) Thomas Stinson, Chester, VA, Chevrolet, 150.
10. (14) Josh Nichols, Winston-Salem, NC, Chevrolet, 150.
11. (3) Daniel Hemric, Kannapolis, N.C., Pontiac, 149.
12. (11) Steve Park, East Northport, N.Y., Chevrolet, 147.
13. (9) Gary Putnam, Concord, NC, Chevrolet, 145.
14. (16) Austin Pack, Winston-Salem, NC, Chevrolet, 138, accident.
15. (15) Bryan Dauzat, Alexandria, LA, Chevrolet, 133, rear end.
16. (6) L.W. Miller, Dushore, PA, Chevrolet, 104, rear end.
17. (18) Mike Norman, Lewisville, NC, Ford, 94, mechanical.
18. (17) Jonathan Kievman, Deerfield Beach, FL, Chevrolet, 91, engine.
Race Statistics
Time of Race: 0 hours 49 minutes 30 seconds
Margin of Victory: .287 seconds
Fastest Qualifier: G.Brunnhoelzl III (60.545 mph, 14.865 seconds)
Caution Flags: 3 for 18 laps.
Lead Changes: 1 among 2 drivers.
Lap Leaders: G. Brunnhoelzl III 1-124; T. Brown 125-150.
Standings: 1. G. Brunnhoelzl III, 2221; 2. A. Seuss, 2071; 3. J.
Myers, 1953; 4. J. Smith, 1922; 5. T. Brown, 1921; 6. F. Fleming, 1861; 7.
L. Miller, 1850; 8. A. Pack, 1733; 9. B. Myers, 1684; 10. T. Stinson, 1452. |
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