|
|
|
RACING
NEWS
|
| Myers Gets Revenge In North-South Shootout | 
by Skip Wall
Earlier in September, Burt Myers won a big race in Martinsville, a modified race showdown against his northern counterparts. That was something that no southern driver had done since 1985.
Only days later that win was taken away when officials declared that Myers had an illegal engine.
Myers got redemption this past weekend when once again the northern and southern drivers got together for the season ending North-South Shootout at Concord Motorsports Park.
Myers of Walnut Cove NC took the lead from Matt Hirschman with only four laps left in the 125 lap event.
"This is one win they wont take away from me" a happy Myers said in victory lane.
"We pitted at the right time and just soared back thru the field and took it from there" he said.
With a rule that required drivers to pit between laps 30-110, most leaders pitted during a caution on lap 31. From there Myers and Ronnie Silk of Norwalk CT elected to stay out and led the event all the way until lap 98 when a caution came out for Bobby Santos stopping in turn four.
At this point Myers pitted, and had to restart in fourteenth position behind Silk who beat him out of the pits.
Many would have thought that northern points champion Ted Christopher, was enroute to another victory. After all he won the companion event, a 50 lap S-K modified race. But on the restart Christopher had a tire going down and he spun in front of the field coming to green.
In the meantime, Silk and Myers picked off cars at an amazing rate because of fresh tires.
With ten to go Myers tucked under Silk, who had drifted high in turn four and got himself in the top five.
Hirschman appeared to be enroute to his third straight shootout victory until a late caution for third place runner Eric Beers who got a dead battery.
 Without much opposition Myers darted past Hirschman for his first ever Shootout victory. It was also the first time a southern car won the North-South Shootout in six events.
"I'm not going to say that this takes over the Martinsville win but it sure helps. All in all we still beat the northern guys" said Myers.
Hirschman congratulated Myers in victory lane but wasn't disappointed.
"We didn't have nothing for him. He had those fresh tires and there was nothing you could do. Fortunate for him, he came thru."
Hirschman would finish second, followed by Silk, Christopher and Santos.
While most opted to pit early, Silk had other plans.
"We waited for a late pitstop and gambled on the the tires. I had more concerns about not getting a caution and having to pit under green around lap 110" says Silk. "We got that caution that we needed and just came up a little short. We will take third though because we struggled all weekend."
Myers also started on the pole besting young Eric Rudolph. But Rudolph led the first couple of laps before being taken over by Hirschman.
Modified racing is more popular in the northeast. In the south its either the NASCAR Whelen Southern or the ASA Southern Modifieds.
A couple of times a year the north and south get together for various events. However the northern modifieds have had a much more advantage going into these races. This was until this year when Myers has found his niche.
Unofficial Finish of North-South Shootout
1 Burt Myers
2 Matt Hirschman
3 Ronnie Silk
4 Ted Christopher
5 Bobby Santos III
6 George Brunnhoelzl
7 Jason Myers
8 Glen Reen
9 Chuck Hossfeld
10 Rusty Smith
11 Todd Szegedy
12 Brian Loftin
13 Erick Rudolph
14 Ryan Preece
15 Woody Pitkat
16 Ed Flemke Jr.
17 Charlie Pasteryak
18 Carl Pasteryak
19 Jay Mize
20 Rowan Pinnick
21 Eric Beers
22 Frank Fleming
23 Danny Bohn
24 Gene Pack
25 Earl Paules
26 Jimmy Blewett
27 Les Hinckley
28 Chris Whitenight
29 Jamie Tomaino
30 Thomas Farrell
31 Rick Kluth
32 Pete Brittain
33 Daren Scherer
Pictures courtesy of Kevin Thorne/American Motor Journal
Have an opinion on
this story? Post a message on
The Southern Motor Racing Forum OR Send the Editor an E-mail!
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Listen
to interviews by
clicking on titles. |
|
MORE
NEWS!
|
|
It was touted as the Frost Bite Winter Nationals, however with 75 degree weather it was more like a Modified Spring Sizzler at Orange County Speedway in NC.
Matt Hirschman of Northhampton PA, a northern modified series campaigner, overcame Ronnie Silk with less than 8 laps left in the Ollie Jenkins Memorial ASA modified season opener.
And it couldn’t have happened at a better time as Hirschman has no type of ride lined up this year...
Lia Returns To Whelen Modifieds
|
2007 Champion Will Reunite With Garbarino and ‘Mystic Missile’ Team for 2009 Campaign
by Jason Cunningham
February 24, 2009 - 12:52pm
Donny Lia, who captured the 2007 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour in his first and only season in the famed ‘Mystic Missile,’ will return to the team for another title run in 2009.
Bob Garbarino, who got his first championship ring after 47 years as a Modified team owner with Lia at...
ASA Modified Tour on Display at Piedmont Expo
|
(King, NC): The American Speed Association sanctioned Southern Modified Race Tour will be on site on January 16 and 17 for Phillip Walker’s 23rd Annual Piedmont Racing Expo. The event will be held in the Exposition Center on the NC State Fairgrounds Complex in Raleigh, NC.
“This show is a highlight for the ASA / SMRT Modifieds this year” said Southern Modified Race Tour promoter, Randy Myers. “Phillip’s event is one of the best in the a...
Banquets On Tap This Weekend Close Out 2009 Season
|
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Dec. 8, 2008) – The 2008 seasons will ceremoniously conclude this weekend for the NASCAR Camping World Series East and NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour respective series’ annual awards banquets at Mohegan Sun Resort in Uncasville, Conn. Veteran drivers Matt Kobyluck and Ted Christopher will each celebrate their first NASCAR touring championship of their distinguished careers.
Kobyluck will be the guest of honor at the NASCA...
Ray Evernham To Buy Speedway
|
by Frank Taylor
NASCAR team owner Ray Evernham announced Thursday night in Lincolnton that he is in advanced negotiations to purchase the East Lincoln Speedway and plans to retire from NASCAR.
Evernham and partner Bob Mack of Cornelius-based RPM Group Holdings said they had hoped to have the keys to the speedway in their hands when they appeared at the Lincolnton-Lincoln County Chamber of Commerce’s Business After-Hours event to ...
Rick Fuller Retires From NASCAR Modified Racing
|
Massachusetts Driver Won 20 Races, 1993 Series Title
 DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Nov. 12, 2008) – Former NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion Rick Fuller brought to a close one of the most successful driving careers in the 24-year history of the tour with the announcement that he has retired from racing.
Fuller, of Auburn, Mass., made his NASCAR Whel...
Hirschman Dominates Chemung 120
|
Leads Wire-To-Wire For Second Win
by Jason Cunningham
CHEMUNG, N.Y. – Matt Hirschman led start-to-finish Saturday in the Chemung 120 to capture his second NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour win of the season and gained on the championship points lead of Ted Christopher with two races remaining.
Hirschman (No. 59 Ed Bennett Properties Chevr...
Reitenour Selected for NASCAR DIVERSITY Combine
|
 (South Boston VA)Miamisburg High School Senior, Megan Reitenour was selected to participate in the testing and evaluation combine to possibly earn the opportunity to compete with an established NASCAR team for a full season.
The Drive for Diversity Program, is managed by Access Marketing & Communications and is supported by NASCAR. This program provid...
FasTrack Publisher Passes Away
|
 Hal Hamrick, an announcer for Universal Racing Network which broadcast the first Daytona 500, passed away on Saturday. He was 79. Hamrick was also an administrator and publicist at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway and Hickory Motor Speedway. He was also the publisher of FasTrack, the only weekly publication dedicated to covering grassroots racing in the Uni...
Martinsville Speedway is known for its fine hospitality and for its Hot Dogs.
And it is known for one of the most familiar names in NASCAR racing, T. Taylor Warren, a photo journalist.
Warren was absent and well missed this past weekend at the Whelen Made in America 300.
Its not that often that you find Warren missing a race at Martinsville Speedwa...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
