Analyzing The Southern Slam 150 At Charlotte Motor Speedway
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour heads to Charlotte Motor Speedway for the final race of the season with the Southern Slam 150 on Thursday on the quarter-mile track along the front stretch. Below is a statistical look at the performance of selected drivers at the track:
Southern Slam 150 Setup:
• Andy Seuss enters this race with a 10-point lead over brothers Burt and Jason Myers with four-time champion George Brunnhoelzl III 13 points behind Seuss.
• Burt Myers and Brunnhoelzl III are the only drivers entered in this Thursday’s NWSMT race at Charlotte Motor Speedway to win there. Myers has won three (2010, 2013, 2014) with Brunnhoelzl winning in 2012.
• Burt Myers, Jason Myers, Gary Putnam and Seuss are the only drivers entered in this event to start all five previous races at Charlotte.
EVENT INFORMATION | CHAMPIONSHIP BREAKDOWN
At Charlotte Motor Speedway:
History
• Construction began on Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1959.
• The track’s first NASCAR Sprint Cup race was held on June 19, 1960 – won by Joe Lee Johnson.
• The track was repaved midseason in 1994.
• The track name changed from Charlotte Motor Speedway to Lowe’s Motor Speedway in 1999. It changed back to Charlotte Motor Speedway for the 2010 season.
• The track was re-paved again before the 2006 season.
• There have been 113 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points races at Charlotte Motor Speedway, two races per year since the track opened in 1960.
• The Charlotte quarter-mile track held its first NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour race on Oct. 14, 2010 – won by Burt Myers.
Notebook
• Charlotte has played host to the NWSMT each year since 2010.
• The five previous events have resulted in three different winners – Burt Myers (2010, 2013, 2014), Tim Brown (2011) and George Brunnhoelzl III (2012).
• Brunnhoelzl and Ryan Preece have each won two Coors Light Pole Awards, with Andy Seuss winning one.
• Burt Myers is the only driver to finish in the top five in all five Charlotte tour races.
• Brunnhoelzl has led the most laps of tour competition at Charlotte, running out front for 294.
• Burt Myers has an average finish of second – best among drivers who competed in all five tour races.
Charlotte Motor Speedway Data
Race: #10 of 10 overall
Track Layout: .25-mile asphalt oval
Race Length: 150 laps / 37.5 miles
Qualifying/Race Data
2014 Pole Winner: Ryan Preece
2014 Race Winner: Burt Myers
Track Qualifying Record: Ryan Preece, Chevrolet, 14.612 seconds, 61.593 mph, Oct. 9, 2014
150-Lap Race Record: Tim Brown, Chevrolet, 49 min., 30 sec., 44.455 mph, Oct. 13, 2011
Active Category Leaders at Charlotte:
Wins
1. Burt Myers … 3
2. George Brunnhoelzl … 1
Poles
1. George Brunnhoelzl III … 2
Ryan Preece … 2
3. Andy Seuss … 1
Top Fives
1. Burt Myers … 5
2. George Brunnhoelzl III … 4
3. Andy Seuss … 3
Top 10s
1. Burt Myers … 5
2. George Brunnhoelzl III … 4
3. Several drivers with … 3
Laps Led
1. George Brunnhoelzl III … 294
2. Burt Myers … 231
3. Ryan Preece … 202
Laps Completed
1. Burt Myers … 754
2. Andy Seuss … 697
3. Jason Myers … 605
Starts
1. Eight drivers with … 4
Selected Driver Highlights:
JR Bertuccio (No. 2 Gershow Recycling Chevrolet)
• Has two wins and 23 top 10s in 46 career NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour starts. The wins came at Southern National Motorsports Park and Bristol Motor Speedway (NWSMT) last season.
• Enters this weekend 11th in the points standings.
• In two starts at Charlotte Motor Speedway he has one top five finish coming home second last year.
George Brunnhoelzl III (No. 28 Dunleavy Truck & Trailer Repair/Comp. Technologies Chevrolet)
• Has a record four NWSMT championships (2009, `11, `12, and `13).
• Has 24 wins, 25 poles, 54 podiums, 66 top fives, 80 top 10s and 3,371 laps led in 102 career starts.
• Holds NWSMT all-time records for wins and laps led. Ranks second in poles, third in top fives and fourth in top 10s.
• Has recorded at least one win per season in every year he has competed full-time in theNWSMT since 2008.
• Competed in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour in 2010.
• Has one win at Charlotte in 2012 and has finished in the top five in all four starts at the track.
David Calabrese (No. 43 Diamondback Towing Chevrolet)
• Has four top fives and nine top 10s in 33 career starts.
• Scored first career top-10 finish at South Boston in the spring event this year.
• Finished 11th in the final standings last year and enters this weekend 10th overall in 2015.
• Has two starts at Charlotte with a career best showing of 11th in 2013.
Kyle Ebersole (No. 5 Ebersole Excavating Ford)
• Has two wins, 21 top fives and 35 top 10s in 45 career starts. He earned his first victory at Langley in 2013 and the second came at South Boston Speedway on Sept. 13, 2014.
• He enters this weekend in fifth-place in the standings.
• Works full-time as an Engineer at NASCAR’s Research & Development Center in Concord, N.C.
• He has two top-five and three top-10 finishes in three starts at Charlotte.
Frank Fleming (No. 40 AutosByNelson.com Chevrolet)
• This veteran driver has returned to the seat for the first time since 2012. He has one win (NWSMT Bristol – 2011), one pole, 28 top-five and 66 top-10 finishes in 105 career starts.
• Finished in the top-10 in the final standings each year from 2005-12, with a career best of fifth in 2009.
• Has three top-10 finishes in as many starts at Charlotte and will be making his first start since 2013 at the track.
Jeremy Gerstner (No. 15 GMR Lawncare/Shady Grady Racing Chevrolet)
• Competing full time this season for the first time since 2013, driving for veteran modified car owner Grady Jeffreys Sr.
• Has scored two top-five and eight top-10 finishes in 25 career starts with a career best finish of third at Bowman Gray in 2015.
• Has made two previous starts at Charlotte with a career-best finish of 13th last October.
Trey Hutchens III (No. 14 Wix Filters/All Star Truck & Trailer Repair Chevrolet)
• This Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender has two top-10 finishes in seven career starts.
• Has made 17 career starts in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East with two top-10 finishes (seventh at Richmond in 2015 & eighth at Dover in 2013).
• Son of veteran race engineer and former driver Bobby Hutchens Jr.
• This will be his first start at Charlotte.
Bobby Measmer Jr. (No. 74 Powerhouse Recycling/Lead 2 Real Estate Chevrolet)
• The Concord, N.C. driver has one pole, three top-five and 10 top-10 finishes in 23 career starts.
• Scored first career pole award last time out at South Boston Speedway.
• This will be his second start at Charlotte.
Burt Myers (No. 1 Remington SCT/Citrusafe/Speedway Auto Auction Ford)
• The 2010 NWSMT champion has 16 wins, a tour record 28 poles, 67 top fives and 105 top 10s in 127 career starts.
• Finished third in the final standings last season with four wins, 12 top 10s and nine top fives in 14 races.
• Has won once this season in the April race at Langley Speedway.
• Holds record for most wins at Charlotte with three and used his win in 2010 to clinch his lone tour championship.
Jason Myers (No. 4 Adams Towing Ford)
• Has recorded three wins, 41 top fives and 97 top 10s in a NWSMT-record 131 career starts. Has competed in all but one race (2005-Martinsville Speedway) in the tour’s previous 10 seasons.
• Enters this weekend tied with his brother Burt in the standings and 10 points behind leader Seuss.
• One of four drivers to start all five previous NWSMT races at Charlotte with three top-10 finishes.
Ryan Preece (No. 98 Curb Records/Menards Chevrolet)
• The 2013 NWMT champion has 15 wins, 55 top-five and 77 top 10 finishes in 122 starts. He also has started from the pole 14 times on the northern tour.
• Has two wins and eight top fives in 13 career NWSMT starts. He has also won nine pole awards.\
• Won the pole for this event the past two years and has one top-five finish (2012) in three starts at Charlotte.
Gary Putnam (No. 77 Curb Records Chevrolet)
• Won his first career pole award at Bristol in August and has 27 top 10s in 54 career starts.
• Scored a career-best finish of fifth at Caraway in 2013.
• Works as car chief for Chip Ganassi Racing full-time in addition to racing modifieds.
• This will be his fifth start at Charlotte with a career-best finish of 10th in 2012.
Andy Seuss (No. 11 Ideal Finance/Phoenix Motors Chevrolet)
• The 2014 NWSMT champion has 21 wins, 12 poles, 62 top fives and 81 top 10s in 103 career NWSMT starts. His 21 wins rank second all-time.
• The Hampstead, New Hampshire native is vying to become the third driver in the history of the NWSMT to win back-to-back championships.
• He’s one of four drivers to start all five previous races at the track with three top-five finishes highlighted by a fourth-place finish in 2011.
Up To Speed:
• Eric Goodale was able to pass Jason Myers on a restart on Lap 124 and held off a late charge by Myers to pick up his first NWSMT win in his second start on March 15 at Caraway Speedway. The race featured five former or defending NASCAR Whelen Modified and Southern Modified Tour champions in the field with all five suffering either mechanical issues or involved in an accident.
• Andy Seuss was able to hold off Goodale on a late restart and score his 11th career win at Caraway on March 28.
• Ryan Preece kept JR Bertuccio at bay on the second green-white-checkered attempt at South Boston Speedway to score his second career win on the southern tour and first of the season on April 4.
• Burt Myers became the first repeat winner at Langley when he scored his first win of the season at the track on April 11.
• George Brunnhoelzl III broke out of a mini slump to score his first win of the season at Caraway Speedway on July 4.
• Danny Bohn was able to hold off Preece to pick up his first win of the season while only racing part-time this season.
• Seuss was the highest finishing NWSMT regular to finish at Bristol in the combination race with the NWMT to give him his second win of the season and 20th overall.
• Brunnhoelzl won from the pole for his second win of the season at Langley and moved in to the top five in the standings just nine points out of the lead.
• Andy Seuss was able to get his third win of the season leading a race-high 142 laps and in the process took over the lead in the season point standings.
