GREENVILLE, S.C. (April 7th, 2006) - It was a windy and chilly day in Greenville, South Carolina as 24 cars were in the pit area for round three of the 2007 Whelen Southern Modified Tour Saturday. Temperatures were barely over the mid-40 degree mark all day long even with the sun out. This was the Tour's second trip to Greenville-Pickens and the place had not changed much since the first visit, last year. One noticeable missing competitor was fifth place points driver, Brian Loftin. Loftin was involved in a post race altercation with crew members from Chuck Hossfeld's crew while Loftin's father Bobby had a heated exchange with Hossfeld after the race in Nashville. Mod Series Scene will try to have more on this story at a later date.

Greenville-Pickens is a historic stop on the WSMT as the walls are lettered with some of NASCAR's greatest having the honor of having their names painted on the concrete retaining wall circling the speedway after winning a track championship on the old, flat half mile asphalt track such as Ralph Earnhardt, David Pearson, Butch Lindley and Robert Pressley. The track's old, worn out surface carries a lot of the same characteristics of some other South Carolina race tracks like Darlington and Myrtle Beach where the surface is very abrasive and hard on tires. Last year, Junior Miller won the inaugural visit to Greenville-Pickens by holding off a hard charging Jay Hedgecock and later Tim Brown and won the race on a tire management strategy. This year would be no different.

Earlier in the afternoon, the weather played havoc on the grip of the surface as Bobby Hutchens would spin his tires and lose control of his TrimUSA, Motorsports Designs Chevrolet before even completing a qualifying lap and had to turn around and start over from the pit road exit area. Rookie driver Rich Kuiken, Jr. would also spin on his second lap of qualifying and had to throw away his second lap thus starting at the rear of the field.

But after Bud Pole Qualifying was over Walnut Cove, North Carolina's Burt Myers would go three-for-three and win his third consecutive Bud Pole Award with a lap time of 19.652 seconds at 91.594 Miles Per Hour in his All Star Truck Repair, DMC Auto Exchange Chevrolet setting the modified record for qualifying since time trials were rained out and the field was set by points, last year. Second was Cana, Virginia's Tim Brown, third was Whelen Modified Tour invader Matt Hirschman again piloting Ed Bennett's black #59 car, fourth was Junior Miller with Jason Myers rounding out the top 5.

This week, the re-draw was set at six and Mount Airy, North Carolina’s Frank Fleming would lead the field to the green in Speedy Thomas' #07 with Burt Myers to his right as the front row was set for the 150 lap event.

The sun began to set behind turn one as the cars were lined up on the front stretch for the meet and greet and as normal, many fans took advantage of the opportunity to visit with their favorite driver, wish him well and collect some autographs. It was difficult at times to tell the drivers apart from everyone else since it was such a chilly day as drivers, crew members and fans were all bundled up to brave the cold that would soon fall with the sun.

The field would follow the pace truck for five warm up laps to build heat in the engines and tires and the race finally got the green flag just past 8 o'clock. Burt Myers wasted no time in going right to the front with Fleming right behind. Myers would lead the first four laps before Frank Fleming took the Thomas #07 past to lead lap 4.

But the race started to develop its story line on lap 7 as Matt Hirschman would take over the lead from his sixth starting spot and would lead a four car breakaway at the front of the pack. Chuck Hossfeld would move into second on lap 12 and pass Fleming and set off after the black 59 who was setting a torrid early pace and opened up a sizable lead on the rest of the field. Hirschman would lap his first car, Rich Kuiken, Jr on lap 17 and would catch the tail end of the lead lap cars and begin lapping traffic at lap 30. Hirschman and Hossfeld have previous experience on flat, worn out race tracks up north and I was beginning to think it might work to their advantage as they opened up a gap on Fleming, Junior Miller, Brian Pack and last week's winner at Nashville, Andy Seuss.

"Sapo" (Brian Pack's nickname he got from his fellow construction employees) would move past Seuss on lap 25 and move into the top 5 in the same car he purchased from Donny Lia at the North South Shootout in 2005. Brandon Ward (who started 18th after a disappointing qualifying run) again charged his way to the front and passed Tim Brown for 9th to move into the top 10 on lap 27. "We couldn't get going in qualifying." explained Ward. "I think part of it was me, part of it was the race car and we couldn't run for two or three laps and then we'd start coming on."

Current WSMT point leader, L.W. Miller's night would come to an end on lap 46 as he hit pit road in his silver #36 and the crew would immediately go under the hood of the Baker Plumbing and Utilities Pontiac. After a lengthy stay on pit road and the right side of the car up on jackstands, Miller would finally retire and call it a night with electrical issues.

Back on the track, Hirschman continued to lead the field and would open up nearly a half lap's lead on the rest of the field with Hossfeld being the only car to stay on the same straightaway with the hard charging 25 year old. The first caution would fly just as Junior Miller would move past Frank Fleming for third as George Brunnhoelzl would spin his metallic tangerine and silver #2 in turn one. Once the field fell in line behind the pace car, Brain King would lead the first round of pit stops for adjustments followed by Gene Pack, J. Wesley Swartout, Jonathan Brown (who was driving Puddin' Swisher's #53) and Brunnhoelzl. Pack would lead the cars back off pit road followed by Swartout, King and Brunnhoelzl.

The race would go back green on lap 65 and Miller wasted little time in getting past Hossfeld and moved into second just as Jonathan Brown came to a rest on the inside of the backstretch after spinning off turn two on lap 69. This would bring a lengthy caution as the track crews needed the double hook to remove the crippled #53 car and George Brunnhoelzl would hit pit road for a second time as the field would follow the Kevin Whittaker Chevrolet pace truck who would get the halfway lap leader award. At the crossed flags it was Hirschman, J. Miller, Hossfeld, Fleming, Seuss, Brian Pack, Burt Myers, Brandon Ward, Tim Brown, and Earl Baker. Junior Miller expressed some concern after racing Hossfeld for the second position at the halfway mark. "I was afraid I'd used mine up about halfway too much but we had plenty of tire left, I think."

The race would go back green at lap 78 and Hirschman wasted no time in opening back up the lead he lost and led Miller by four car lengths as the field settled into the second half. Miller would test the strength of his orange and white Dodge and would start taunting the young driver by creeping up and filling the mirror of Hirschman's black #59 before dropping back to four car lengths again. Frank Fleming's night would slowly start to slip away as Andy Seuss would dive to the inside of Fleming at lap 87 and the leave the door open for Brian Pack and Burt Myers to follow through and drop Fleming back to seventh on lap 88 with Brandon Ward moving past on lap 89 and finally Tim Brown getting past for eighth on lap 90.

At lap 99 as the two lead drivers were nose to tail, Miller made contact with the rear bumper of Hirschman as they exited turn two and the pressure was slowly starting to be applied by the two-time Champion. Miller's strength was in turns one and two, while Hirschman seemed to have the advantage in three and four. Frank Fleming would hit pit road after a great run and would retire Speedy Thomas' # 07 on lap 104. Heartbreak continues to follow that team and it's only a matter of time before Frank and the Thomas team finally gets the bad luck monkey off their back and has a successful run. Let's hope it happens soon, as it's tough for all the teams up and down pit road to see Fleming struggle with a stalwart Southern Modified team that has been around a long time with such previous drivers as Paul Radford and Donald "Satch" Worley.

The leaders started to carve their way through lapped traffic again and Miller looked like a shark chasing a young minnow as he chased and mirrored every move Hirschman would make. Matt was careful not to leave the bottom lane open to the two time champion and as they completed lap 116, Miller would lay a heavy hit to the rear of the 59 exiting turn two to show his displeasure with Matt's attempts to hold him off. Hirschman would key the button of his radio and exclaimed "He just keeps running into me! Even Teddy's (Christopher) never hit me this hard!"

When I asked Matt about that comment after the race, he smiled and said, "Did you hear? *laughs* He gave me some good shots. He didn't spin me out you know? He got into me a couple times and got me crossed up but you know we were holding...I mean, we were backing up but....and he left me know it. Like I said it was just, you know that's what you....Up north Teddy's the kind of.......I mean that's the kind of driving you expect from him and Junior sort of that's what he reminded me of. He gave me some good shots but like I said, he didn't spin us out or whatever and eventually he did what he had to do to work me as hard as he had to work me to put himself in a position to win just like I thought I was in a position to win a few laps before that. He did what he had to do, he knows what he's doing."

When I informed Junior of Matt's comments after the race, crew chief Reggie Newman laughed as Miller responded in victory lane. "Yeah, he was brake checking me pretty good but he got loose and he was just stopping up there and he couldn't get took off. I didn't mean to run into him a little bit but we touched one another but I just barely touched him. He better get used to it because I might give him something harder than that when he comes back. He just stopped on me. He knew if he ran any harder I was going to get under him. He cut me off about three or four times. If he comes back, he better get used to it."

The caution would temporarily put the race on hold as Gene Pack's night would end against the turn three concrete on Lap 117. After a few laps and needing a roll back to remove Pack's car due to being locked in gear, NASCAR red flagged the race at lap 121. After a five minute red flag delay, the race would get the one to go at lap 123 as Hirschman continued to lead over Miller, Seuss, Hossfeld, Brian Pack, Tim Brown, Brandon Ward, Burt Myers, Jason Myers and John Smith being the only cars left on the lead lap.

The green flag would fly again at lap 124 with Hirschman getting the early jump, but Miller would slowly reel him in and made a dive for the lead entering turn three on lap 130. As soon as Miller cleared Hirschman, he would open up a four car length lead and continue to pull away to a full straightaway as Hirschman would fall into the clutches of a quickly closing Brian Pack and Tim Brown who where dicing for second and third. Pack would dive under Hirschman on lap 148 in almost the same exact spot as Miller made his move and would "hang him out to dry" as Pack cleared the 59 with Tim Brown filling the space that Matt though was there as soon as Pack cleared his front bumper.

The caution would fly while all this racing for position was going on as Hirschman cut hard left to try and get in line behind Pack, only to make contact with Tim Brown's Hayes Jewelers #83 who had followed Pack on the bottom lane. Hirschman would spin due to the contact and come to a rest on the bottom of the straightaway at pit entrance as the rest of the field snuck by with no contact.

Tim Brown was the car behind Pack as Hirschman went into the "spin cycle" at lap 148. Brown explained, "He just cut down on me. The 81 car got under him and got by him and hell, I was up to his header and he just wiped the thing left on me and you know I hate it turned him around. I could have just passed him and he could have finished you know, fourth or whatnot but you know, that's racing, that’s part of it and I don't know...I guess those guys race that way, they just whack in on you or whatever but he got turned around and it wasn't nothing intentional you know?"

This would set up another Green, White, Checkered finish with Junior Miller leading Brian Pack, Tim Brown, Andy Seuss, Brandon Ward, Burt Myers, Jason Myers, Chuck Hossfeld, Bobby Hutchens and John Smith. Hirschman would fall to the tail end of the longest line with no visible damage to his car and would finish the last car on the lead lap.

Junior Miller would get the jump on Pack and hold him off as he crossed the line uncontested to repeat as the winner at Greenville-Pickens. Brian Pack would come home second, Tim Brown third, Andy Seuss fourth and Brandon Ward again coming home with another Sunoco Rookie of the Race Award for fifth. After the race, Pack would admit the veteran showed him something on the final restart. "It was getting a little loose off but Junior....He showed me something on a restart that I need to learn but if the caution hadn't have come out I think we had something for them, but we had a good car."

Miller leaped out of the car in Victory Lane like a kid half his age. Clearly the veteran enjoys beating the young guns half his age. "This car's been good enough to win, every night. We just got a little bit loose the other two nights but we put a little bit extra bite in it tonight and wore them out. I was good in one and I wanted to let that 59 go if I was going to, you know I just rode around there for a while and when I got back to him he was, he'd done used it up and he was done. He blocked me for about 25 laps but we got by him and we showed him who "The King" was." *laughs*

The Riggs Racing team brought the same car Miller won with last year. "Yeah, it's the same car we brought last year, same setup and we put a little bit more bite in it for tonight and it was a good thing. I'd used it up from about 75 on chasing them two northern cars (Hirschman and Hossfeld) but we outlasted them and had a good car at the end." When I asked him how he felt about reclaiming his spot as the point leader and possibly "Three-peating" as the WSMT Champion, Miller added this response "It'd be good but it’s too early to worry about points. We need to win some races. This car's good enough to win races so we're going to try and see if we can put it in Victory Lane some more before this year is out."

Tim Brown was happy with his third place run. "Yeah, I mean, we've been a real strong car in all three races but the finishes just haven't shown it. You know, tonight we finally get us a top three finish and you know, that's a help because we had the car to beat at Nashville hands down by far and the alternator shorted out and we lost that race and you know, hat's off to Seuss he done a heck of a job down and here Brian Pack and Junior, they had a heck of a car. I kind of messed ourself up by falling back early, way too far back and these guys are hard to pass and you kind of get juggled around and you use your stuff up trying to get back up there with some of them and that's fine, I mean a top three finish, I'm happy. The team's great, the motors are awesome, the car's good you know you just got to have the breaks to go along with it too and I'm real excited about going to Caraway."

Forth Place finisher Andy Seuss will stand by his commitment to the True Value Modified Series and did not rule out a possible Whelen Modified Tour ride in his future. "No, we have a commitment to run the True Value tour. I'm still looking for that full time ride in the NASCAR Whelen Tour, but we're happy with the car. We were very frustrated in qualifying. We're just happy to bring home the Manchester Urology, Rockingham Boat, LaJoie Seating, Summit Signs car home. I'll tell ya, I didn't like it in practice when we were going real fast. At some tracks, you know, you'd say "Oh that'd be a great 25 lap shootout track," I think Nashville would have been a great 50 laps track. But I definitely think this is a great track to do the 150 lapper like they did and it really made sense in the end. I didn't think it was going to put on a good race but it sure did in the end."

Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender Brandon Ward continues to impress in David Pinnix's #42. "Yeah, I mean, I think we can come in here and run with them. We just, you know we had a good race car tonight. We keep getting a little bit better, a little bit better and I keep learning more and more every week about these race cars and you know, it was a good finish for us. But you know, it was a good points night for us and some of those guys up there fell out. Tim and some of the other guys they were able to manage and have a good run as well but you know right now we're doing what we wanted to do. We're keeping sight of them and hopefully we can go back and rebound at Caraway next week from the DNS we had that first race and hopefully we can do that and get a good top 5, then we'll go into the break in the top 5 in points and be able to work on some more things."

Brandon Ward took home the PowerAde "Power Move of the Race" Award for his charge from the 18th starting position to come home fifth. He also earned the Sunoco "Rookie of the Race" Award for being the highest finishing rookie. Brian Pack took home another Featherlite Award for improving his finishing positing 16 places from his finish in Nashville, last week. Matt Hirschman was the halfway leader in his Ed Bennett Properties Chevrolet.

Next week, the Whelen Southern Modified Tour returns to Caraway Speedway for its final race before the summer break to take up three months of racing at the Bowman Gray Stadium, in Winston-Salem, NC. Junior Miller is the current point leader heading into Caraway over Burt Myers, Tim Brown, L.W. Miller and Brandon Ward.

Mod Series Scene will be on hand with Live Updates and a full race report.