Analyzing The Dogwood 150 At Caraway Speedway
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The spring portion of the 2016 NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour schedule will conclude Saturday at Caraway Speedway with the Dogwood 150. This will be the second of four scheduled visits to the track for the tour this year. Below is a statistical look at the performance of selected drivers at Caraway:
Dogwood 150 Setup:
• Burt Myers used a late pit stop to retake the lead and score the win in the season opener at Caraway in March.
• George Brunnhoelzl III enters the Dogwood 150 as the winner of the previous two tour events. The West Babylon, New York, native already owns the track record for most tour wins at Caraway with 12.
• Seuss and Brunnhoelzl have combined to win 15 of the last 22 tour races at Caraway, and 23 of 35 since 2008.
At Caraway Speedway:
History
• Caraway Speedway is celebrating its 51st season of competition this year. The .455-mile oval opened in 1966 as a dirt track and was paved in 1972.\
• Caraway held three NASCAR XFINITY Series events from 1982-83, won by Dale Earnhardt, Jack Ingram and Butch Lindley.
• Caraway has featured weekly NASCAR Whelen All-American Series racing each year since 1986.
• The first NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour race at Caraway Speedway was held on March 26, 2005 and was won by Ted Christopher.
Notebook
• Caraway has held the most events in NWSMT history with 57 entering this race. No other track has played host to more than 11.
• There have been 12 different winners across the 57 previous NWSMT events at Caraway, led by Brunnhoelzl with 12.
• Eight different drivers have earned Coors Light Pole Awards at Caraway since the first race in 2005. Burt Myers leads that contingent with 13. He was also the inaugural event’s polesitter.
• Jason Myers first career tour pole set the track qualifying record in the 2015 season opener. He won the pole for the same event this year as well.
• Jason Myers is also the only driver to compete in all 57 previous NWSMT events at Caraway.
• Brian Loftin, Junior Miller and L.W. Miller combined to win 17 of the first 21 NWSMT races at Caraway. Brunnhoelzl and Andy Seuss have accounted for 23 victories in the last 35 trips.
• L.W. Miller holds the record for consecutive victories at Caraway with five, which spanned the 2006-07 seasons. Seuss is second with four straight wins between the 2013-14 seasons.
• Seven Caraway races have been won wire-to-wire, including back-to-back such wins by Seuss in 2014.
• Seuss was the youngest Caraway race winner on Oct. 4, 2008, at 21 years, six months, 19 days.
• Junior Miller was the oldest Caraway victor at 55 years, four months, 14 days on Sept. 9, 2006.
Caraway Speedway Data
Race: #4 of 11 overall, 2 of 4 at Caraway
Track Layout: .455-mile asphalt oval
Banking/Turns: 13 degrees
Banking/Straights: 9 degrees
Race Length: 150 laps / 68.25 miles
Qualifying/Race Data
2015 Pole Winner: Ryan Preece
2015 Race Winner: Andy Seuss
Track Qualifying Record: Jason Myers, Ford, 15.563 sec., 105.250 mph, March 15, 2015
Active Category Leaders at Caraway:
Wins
1. George Brunnhoelzl III … 12
2. Andy Seuss … 11
3. Burt Myers … 3
Poles
1. Burt Myers … 13
2. George Brunnhoelzl III … 11
3. Andy Seuss … 8
Top Fives
1. George Brunnhoelzl III … 27
2. Andy Seuss … 25
3. Burt Myers … 22
Jason Myers … 22
Top 10s
1. Jason Myers … 43
2. Burt Myers … 40
3. George Brunnhoelzl III … 34
Laps Led
1. Andy Seuss … 1,678
2. George Brunnhoelzl III … 1,485
3. Burt Myers … 629
Laps Completed
1. Burt Myers … 7,844
2. Jason Myers … 7,817
3. George Brunnhoelzl III … 6,497
Starts
1. Jason Myers … 57
2. Burt Myers … 55
3. George Brunnhoelzl III … 44
Andy Seuss … 44
Selected Driver Highlights:
JR Bertuccio (No. 2 Gershow Recycling Chevrolet)
• Has two wins and 27 top 10s in 49 career NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour starts. The wins came at Southern National Motorsports Park and Bristol Motor Speedway (NWSMT) in 2014.
• Enjoyed his best career finish to date in 2014 when he finished fourth in the final points standings.
• Has six top fives and 13 top 10s in 22 career starts at Caraway Speedway.
Danny Bohn (No. 40 Dunleavy’s Truck & Trailer Repair/William Smith Trucking Chevrolet)
• This New Jersey native has four wins, six poles, 21 top-five and 35 top-10 finishes in 43 career starts.
• Finished in the top 10 in the final standings each year from 2012-14 and competed part-time last year. Returned to full-time competition this season with Frank and Chris Fleming.
• Has an average finish of sixth with a pair of wins, eight top-five and 12 top-10 finishes in 12 career Caraway starts.
Kyle Bonsignore (No. 22 Snap-On Tools Chevrolet)
• Has made five career NWSMT starts with one top-five and two top-10 finishes coming earlier this season.
• Collected his first career top-five finish on the southern tour last Saturday at South Boston.
• One of two Sunoco Rookie of the Year contenders this season in the NWSMT.
George Brunnhoelzl III (No. 28 Dunleavy’s Truck & Trailer Repair/Comp. Tech. Chevrolet)
• Has a record four NWSMT championships (2009, `11, `12, `13).
• Has 27 wins, 26 poles, 53 podiums, 69 top fives, 84 top 10s and 3,601 laps led in 106 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 a season in every year he has competed full-time on the NWSMT since 2008. Ran on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour in 2010.
• Has 12 wins, 11 poles, 23 podiums, 27 top fives, 34 top 10s and 1,485 laps led in 44 starts at Caraway.
• Has finished on the podium in 22 of his last 29 starts at Caraway, including all 12 wins.
Kyle Ebersole (No. 5 Ebersole Excavating Ford)
• Has two wins, 21 top fives and 36 top 10s in 49 career starts. The first victory was earned at Langley Speedway in 2013 and the second came at South Boston Speedway in 2014.
• Has an average finish of eighth with nine top-five and 11 top-10 finishes with a career-best showing of second (2013) in 19 career Caraway starts.
Jeremy Gerstner (No. 15 GMR Lawncare/The Carriage House Restaurant Chevrolet)
• Competing fulltime again this season for veteran modified car owner Grady Jeffreys Sr.
• Has scored two top-five finishes and 10 top 10s in 28 career starts with a best finish of third at Bowman Gray in 2015.
• Scored his first top-10 finish at Caraway in this year’s season opener and has made nine previous starts at the track.
Bobby Measmer Jr. (No. 74 Lead 2 Real Estate/Racing Electronics Chevrolet)
• The Concord, N.C., driver has one pole (South Boston, 2015), four top-five and 13 top-10 finishes in 27 career starts.
• Has two top-fives and five top-10 finishes in nine career starts at Caraway.
• Finished a career-best second in the season opener in March and also collected his only other career top-five finish on the tour at Caraway last spring.
Burt Myers (No. 1 Remington SCT/Speedway Auto Auction Ford)
• The 2010 NWSMT champion has 17 wins, a tour record 29 poles, 71 top fives and 109 top 10s in 131 career starts.
• Won the season opener at Caraway and now has three wins, a record 13 poles, 22 top fives and 40 top 10s in 55 career Caraway starts.
• Was the NWSMT’s inaugural event pole sitter at Caraway, and won the second-ever race there on April 9, 2005.
Jason Myers (No. 4 Moorefield Enterprises Ford)
• Has recorded three wins, 44 top fives and 101 top 10s in a NWSMT-record 135 career starts. Has competed in all but one race (2005-Martinsville Speedway) in the tour’s previous 11 seasons.
• Is the only driver to participate in all 56 previous NWSMT races at Caraway, where he has a win (2013), a pole (2015), 21 top fives and a record 42 top 10s.
Richie Pallai Jr. (No. 79 MAHLE/Coors Light Pontiac)
• Has two top-10 finishes in three career starts on the southern tour.
• Has 46 starts in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour with one top five (Lime Rock Park, 2011) and eight top-10 finishes.
• This will be his second start at Caraway. He finished ninth in this first start at the track in March. Pallai, led by crew chief David Hill, rebounded from problems in practice to improve seven spots during the race for his first career top-10 finish in the southern tour.
Austin Pickens (No. 33 Greenbriar Landscape Chevrolet)
• Has made three starts this season competing for Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors.
• Recorded first career top-10 finish last week at South Boston.
• Joins Gerstner as the only other full-time competitor in the NWSMT this season from the state of Florida. The Orlando native drives for veteran car owner Gary Fountain Sr.
Gary Putnam (No. 77 Curb Records Chevrolet)
• Has 27 top 10s in 58 career starts with a career best finish of fifth at Caraway in 2013.
• Finished in the top 10 in the final 2015 standings with six top 10s in 10 races, equaling his career-best showing of eighth place in 2014.
• Has 11 top 10s and an average finish of 11th in 24 career starts at Caraway.
Andy Seuss (No. 11 Davis Rooking/Vestal Chevrolet)
• Has 21 wins, 12 poles, 65 top fives and 85 top 10s in 107 career NWSMT starts. His 21 wins rank second all-time.
• Ranks second to George Brunnhoelzl III with 11 career wins at Caraway. Also has nine poles, 25 top fives, 33 top 10s and led a record 1,678 laps led in 44 total starts there.
• Four of his five career wire-to-wire wins have come at Caraway, including the first two races held in 2014 at the track.
Up To Speed:
• Burt Myers made a late pass around Danny Bohn to pick up the season-opening win and 17th overall in his career in the southern tour.
• George Brunnhoelzl III made a late pass by Ted Christopher to add to his record-setting number of wins on the tour with his first victory of the year and 26th overall.
• Brunnhoelzl won back-to-back races on the schedule for the seventh time in his career after taking the checkered flag in the South Boston 150.
