Altamahaw, NC (Sept 6, 2007) - In the middle of what is probably the toughest week on the Whelen Southern Modified Tour, Cana Virginia's Tim Brown led eighty one laps en route to what he called his first "real" Whelen Southern Modified Tour win, Monday at Ace Speedway in Altamahaw, North Carolina in the DMC Auto Exchange 150.

Twenty two cars had towed to Ace after a single day off from the Whelen Made in America 300 at Martinsville Speedway, Saturday night. Not surprisingly, many of the well-heeled teams decided to bring a backup car to Ace including Junior Miller and Riggs Racing, Frank Fleming and Thomas Racing, Burt Myers and Philip Smith Motorsports and even L.W. Miller brought back and older Chassis Dynamics car that had both his old SMART number 73 on the nose, and his current WSMT number 36 on the doors and roof. Miller explained that this car had not been run since 2003 and had been sitting on the jig in his shop in Mooresville. He thought it would come in handy after taking the current power plant out of the silver Baker Motorsports #36 he had been running all year, and replaced that motor with his new motor for Martinsville. Miller would prove later that the five year old car hadn't lost any speed from his S.M.A.R.T. championship days.

Saturday night after the Martinsville event, Tim Brown told me he would be bringing the same car he raced to a top five at Martinsville to Ace even though "the rear end's knocked over like two inches and the torque arm's broke and the toe's knocked in and the spindle's bent." Brown and his Phil Moran led crew decided to skip the labor day festivities with their families and thrash for the next 20 hours to get the same car ready for the Monday afternoon race. After struggling through practice with an oil overflow problem and an over-clocked steering rack, Brown knew he still had one of the cars to beat, even though some of the other teams had fresh race cars at their disposal.

By the time Bud Pole Qualifying had rolled around, Brad Robbins had loaded up his DMC Auto Exchange, Tri City Trading #40 with engine trouble and Chad Freeman and the S&R crew had withdrew their number 53 for Jonathan Brown with steering rack issues. That would leave twenty cars to post a time for the 150 lap event.

It was no surprise to anyone that Brian King would set fast time and break Doug Wolcott's five year old track record. King has three Grand American modified track championships at Ace and a Super Stock championship on his resume as well. King calls Ace "his house" and let everyone know after his first career WSMT win here that if you were coming to Ace Speedway, the black number 17 was going to be a contender. But the first surprise of the evening came when the driver notoriously known as "The Rocket" would leave pit road. Brown would wheel his Hayes Jewelers #83 around the 4/10ths mile oval and snatch away the Bud Pole from King and rewrite the track record in the process.

Crew Chief Phil Moran would tell me he knew rather early in the evening that they were going to be strong. "I would say right off the truck, I mean, we went out, probably about the third round of practice there and we practiced on old tires because I like to get the balance on an old set of tires rather than putting new stuff on because new tires will only take you out. We were able to go into the 14.90's right off the truck and I felt real comfortable with that. You know, I saw some sticker guys going out there and making runs in the eights and sevens and I know Timmy, he can pick up two tenths on stickers so I wasn't too worried about it. For time trials, we just put our normal time trial deal in it and that's why the call him "The Rocket." He can time trial like a bugger man, I'll tell ya. Two track records show it. I mean, at Bowman Gray and here at Ace."

King would come home second quick, with Burt Myers third, L.W. Miller fourth and John Smith rounding out the top five. All five cars broke the previous track record with sixth fastest Jason Myers tying it. The post qualifying redraw was set at six with Burt Myers pulling the number one pill. L.W. Miller would line up to his right with Brown third, Smith fourth, Brain King fifth and Jason Myers starting sixth.

I had set up shop with Amie in the Adams Towing and Recovery suite outside of turn four. I was surprised to find absolutely no place for the media to work out of while we were here. But, after watching practice and qualifying from turn four, I knew it wasn't going to work from a visibility standpoint. I left Amie to do the Live Updates from the suite, while I found a place on the front stretch grandstands with the spotters in the spotters stand. The sun was setting behind the front stretch grandstands as the field left behind the Monte Carlo pace car. I've got to give the folks at Ace some credit on their appearance, though. The pace car and safety vehicles were all dressed up in a nice red and black color scheme and the place really does have a professional appearance to it. Let's just hope working conditions are a little better, next year and a big "Thank You" to Doug Adams and his folks for making room for us.

Burt Myers and L.W. Miller would come to the green and L.W. looked like he wanted the lead a lot worse than Burt did. It appeared Burt would just let him go at the start and Miller would lead the first lap. But L.W.'s time at the front would only last until lap eight when Burt Myers and Tim Brown would duck under him and drop the black and white number 36 back to third.

At Lap 10 the running order was Burt Myers, Tim Brown, L.W. Miller, Brian King, Woody Pitkat (in the purple and pink Coors Light Pontiac), John Smith, J. Wesley Swartout, George Brunnhoelzl, III (who was still carrying number 20 on his car from Martinsville), Brian Loftin (in the blue QMF Solutions #23) and Frank Fleming who was behind the wheel of the red and white Thomas #07 he ran at Bowman Gray earlier this year.

The first and only caution of the event would fly on lap number 19 as Brandon Hire would spin his maroon #44 Clemmons Speed Shop Chevrolet in turn four and come to rest with the front bumper against the inside guard rail. Hire would drive away with no damage and rejoin at the tail of the field. Under this caution, J. Wesley Swartout looked like he was just looking to get out of the chaos around him and simply did a pass through to rejoin with Hire at the tail of the line.

The only restart of the event would come three laps later at lap 22 with Burt still showing the way over Brown, Miller, King and Pitkat. As is the case with most of the WSMT events this year, there was very little movement throughout the top ten over the course of the next 28 laps. J. Wesley would be the first car to go one lap down at lap 47 and Junior Miller would finally make his way into the top ten from his 19th starting position on lap 48.

The top ten at lap 50 were Burt Myers, Tim Brown, L.W. Miller, Brian King, Woody Pitkat, John Smith, Brian Loftin, George Brunnhoelzl, III, Frank Fleming and Junior Miller.

The final lead change of the night came on lap 68 as Tim Brown would finally muscle his way past Myers' black and orange #1. "It was about 70 laps or so into the race and I seen Burt's car start twitching just a little bit up off and I was like, "Well, my car's still got real good grip. I'm going to see what I got" there and I jumped down in there and bumped him a couple times in the corner and he just give me the inside and I went on by" Brown would comment about the pass for the lead. Burt Myers would verify that his handling was fading away on his car. "We were a little too free and that hurt me in traffic. It seemed like if I got up off the bottom, the car really got really loose. Tim was definitely the class of the field tonight. I mean, he was pushing me pretty good and I knew my stuff was fading a little bit and I mean, all in all we had a decent run going."

By lap 73 Junior Miller had passed Jay Foley to re-assert himself in the top ten after an earlier spat with Jason Myers had cost both of them some positions. But three laps later on lap 76, Junior Miller's night would come to an end after water was reported from the back of the Riggs Racing Dodge. 'We just don't have motor failures" crew chief Reggie Newman would tell me later. But this problem would cost Miller valuable points towards his third WSMT Championship as the Riggs team loaded up their car early.

Brown would continue to show the way and at times looked like he was on cruise control as he opened up a straightaway lead on Burt Myers and L.W. Miller. "I never really run the car hard and they kept saying "You got a straightaway lead" or "ten lead" or "no pressure" and I was like.....he's (Brown's spotter) like "save something for a caution" and I was like, "Man, I ain't running hard yet" so this thing was just hooked up unbelievably tonight. It was awesome and you don't have many cars hooked up that good."

Brian Pack would pit on lap 83 and his crew would go under the hood with what looked to be overheating problems, but "Sapo" would return 10 laps later on Lap 93, but still look off the pace. J. Wesley Swartout would pit on lap 94 and stay for two laps as his HIK Motorsports team also looked to be addressing overheating issues in his black and orange #26 car.

Lap one hundred clicked off the board with Tim Brown continuing to hold position on Burt Myers, L.W. Miller, Brian King, Woody Pitkat, Brian Loftin, John Smith, George Brunnhoelzl, III and Frank Fleming. Two laps later Loftin would make his move on Pitkat for fifth. I asked Loftin after the event if any of the previous history he'd had with the Hill's #79 this year had crossed his mind while racing for position. "Nah. Whole different driver. I don't think they've got a problem with me and I ain't got a problem with them. They weren't the ones on the steering wheel and I know who was." Pitkat also praised Loftin after the event for racing him clean. "I thought Loftin was really nice to me, you know? He had a lot of chances where he had the nose under there and probably could have stuck it in there and used me and he didn't. He waited until I finally messed up and he went by me."

Gene Pack would pit his Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse #31 with ignition problems on lap 107 and eventually retire. It's tough to see one of the genuine nice guys in the WSMT continue to struggle with his season. Hopefully, one of the last four events left on the schedule will bring better results for him and his team who have struggled all season long.

Tim Brown continued to put cars a lap down and would get to eighth place George Brunnhoelzl, III on lap 116 and Brian Loftin would get by Brian King for fourth on lap 120. The rundown at this point was Brown, Burt Myers, L.W. Miller, Brian Loftin, Brian King, Woody Pitkat and John Smith, who was the last car on the lead lap.

Usually about this time in the race, tempers start to flare and the business begins to pick up. I've been real critical of NASCAR lately in conversations with drivers and crew members about the lack of passing and riding until 30 laps to go. Both northern tour drivers Matt Hirschman and James Civali (who have raced on the southern tour this year) offered advice in saying that the southern tour could use a page from the northern tour's notebook on tire compound choice. Tim Brown told me after the Martinsville event that the biggest gap between the north and the south is the tires. "What people don't understand is that gap; the difference in that gap is just the tires. We get to come in here (Martinsville) one time a year and get to practice for an hour on that tire and they run all the time. When they come down to our place and they run on our tire, I'll wear their ass out. So, and that's what the general fan just seems to think the yankees are better than we are but they don't know it's about the tire."

Brown's crew chief Phil Moran knows firsthand about the difference between the two tire compounds. "These tires are a little different. You can't abuse them as much as you can up north. I've run 150 lap races without pitting, and winning. We've won, I think Todd (Szegedy) and I probably won three races at Stafford without pitting for 150 laps and down here, the tire doesn't let you do that. You know, you've got to start the race then drop back and ride for a while and then you save your stuff for 20 to go. And, up at Stafford with the tire we run at home, it's hammer down and you can run it hard for 150. If the setup is right, it will let you do it. Down here, if you've got a perfect race car, you've still got to baby it and save the tires for the end."

The southern tour definitely needs more racing and less riding, in my opinion. If the southern drivers are at a disadvantage going into the biggest race of the year due to lack of experience because of tire compound, common sense would say to put everybody on an equal playing field.

So, when the ringside bell was finally rung with twenty to go, L.W. Miller was all over the back of Burt Myers' #1 car. Miller would reel in Myers only to get held up by a lapped car, or not being able to complete the pass due to Myers' aggressive driving style. "I ran Burt down with about 30 laps to go and every time I'd get up under him, we'd either run up on a lapped car or he'd drive down into me and kill my momentum. We just started the car out a little too tight in the race and it never, you know, I was hoping maybe it would free up a little bit but it didn't. It got to the point where I could snap it loose but it was still just too tight pretty much the whole race and it never changed the entire race. It stayed the same. We really didn't know what the track was going to do and of course, we hadn't run this car since 2003 so we really didn't have the car fine tuned."

With ten to go, Brown was leading by a comfortable margin with Burt Myers doing all he could to hold off L.W. Miller who was still looking for a way past for second. Brian Loftin was closing in on the two in fourth with Brian King hanging on to fifth. King would comment about being off the pace and not in contention for the win: "When I was passing John Smith we got together and knocked the toe off about an inch and a half or two and it just killed it. It made it loose in, tight off and just burnt the tires off it. The car was so hard to drive with the toe off; I really had to pay attention. If I had been somewhere else besides here (Ace) with the car off that much, I'd have come in tenth or twelfth. But because I was here, I was able to get around and know how I could get around and my lapped cars would just kill me. When I had to pass him on the outside, I couldn't do it."

John Smith would finally fall a lap down with ten to go leaving Brown, Myers, Miller, Loftin, King and Pitkat the final cars on the lead lap. Pitkat and King would exchange positions inside ten to go and L.W. had one last shot at Burt Myers as the two raced down the backstretch and into turn three on the last lap.

As the two dove into three, Myers turned left, and Miller had nowhere to go but into the side of the black #1. The ensuing contact would send Myers into a spin and a huge plume of smoke as Burt tried to spin the car in the right direction to make it to the start/finish line, amidst cheers from the Junior Miller fans that had little else to cheer about since their driver's early retirement from the event.

After the race, Miller's comments on the frontstretch were interrupted by yet another post race argument and finger pointing as Burt charged the front stretch guard rail to make his displeasure known. "He made a comment that I kept cutting him off well, there's an apron down there that's made to go in the pits and then there's a race track made to race on and I think he decided to go halfway down the pits to try to get into me and turn me around and when he hit me he never let me try to save it or anything. He just hit me and turned me on around but I promise you L.W.'s going to remember who Burt Myers is. He's going to go to bed thinking about him and he's going to wake up thinking about him until this year is over with."

Afterwards, Miller voiced his opinion. "To tell you the truth, I've had run-ins with a lot of drivers. Junior Miller, Brian Loftin and I, and I've had run-ins with a lot of drivers but there's only one bunch that ever seems to just not take their licks and go. I mean, if I dish it out and I get it back, I'll take it. I'll load my truck up and come home and I'll race again. It just seems like they make a real big deal out of anything any time things don't go their way. So, I think it's just more noticeable. We've had hard racing all year with everybody. I've raced everybody just as hard as the Myers. It just seems like they're the ones that makes the biggest out of it when it happens to them. There's not a whole lot you can do, it's the last lap of the race. I'd drive up under him and when I drove up under him, he'd drive down into me again but by that time he was already sideways before he'd head down the track. I don't know whether he wanted me to drive through his driver's side door or turn him on the rest of the way around, but that was the choices I had. So, that's hard racing. He's mad. I'm sure he's going to crash me next week or whatever he wants to do but, we're all big boys. We'll live by the sword; we'll die by the sword."

In Victory Lane, Tim Brown's crew was as vocal as a win on a Saturday night at Bowman Gray Stadium. The six time modified champ speaks his mind and today was no different. "This is the same hot rod that we raced at Martinsville Saturday night, had a real good car up there and got caught up in a wreck and tore it up pretty good. I love all my guys to death but that crew busted their ass on that thing. They worked like 20 hours on this car and turned it around. It wasn't done when we got to the race track and all this Brown Motorsports crew right here, they thrashed on this thing. We were about half asleep and we put too much motor oil in it and it blowed oil out in the first practice and then the steering wheel wasn't clocked right and we put a new rack on it the second time we went out so we didn't really get a whole lot of practice but Phil, the crew and all of them told me, they said "Hey, we got a dang good race car and if you just keep your head on right, we'll win this thing" and I tell ya what, I'm super, super proud of my sponsors. Hayes Jewelers, if you need any jewelry, Christmas is coming up go down to Hayes Jewelers and buy some jewelry. Larry Tomar this race track's owed me one for a long time. So I finally spanked its butt tonight! My hats off to Snapple, those guys came on board for Martinsville and they're on board with us here. First win for Snapple in their second race on the race car, we got Rahmoc power and the motor in this thing is freaking ungodly! It is awesome and these cars and I tell ya, VP racing fuel I've got so many I can't think I'm just spun out right now. I'm wore out, I'm tired. I ain't slept but we just wore their butt out. I love every one of these guys right here that work on this race car to death. The wives, the families. They've suffered, they've endured, they've spent time at home without them and they do it because we come down here to race and win and we did and my hats off to them and I love them to death."

When asked about his race and the car's dominating performance, Brown added, "It was awesome man, that's probably the best race car I've ever sit in. I've won a bunch of races in my career but I don't know if I've ever won one with a car that was that good. I mean, that thing never twitched all night long. Through traffic, the top, bottom, it didn't matter, The thing sit right there and the crew chief told me before the race started "we had a good car, just use your head and you'll be fine" but he really meant it tonight when he said we had a good car. Oh my god! *laughs* It was awesome."

Brown's win also put his crew chief in a pretty select company as only one of four crew chiefs (Jeff Riggs, David Hill, Joe Brady and Phil Moran) to win on both the northern and southern modified tours. "I think it's pretty cool, to be honest with you. I emailed somebody back at home when we won our first race at Bowman Gray and I said, "I made it to the big time, I came down and won a race at Bowman Gray" but to win here on the Whelen Southern Modified Tour, it's pretty cool because there's some tough competition down here with the Myers, and L.W. and all the guys. They're a tough group and to win down here is pretty cool. Any modified race is cool."

Brian Loftin would come home third in Clarence "Clev" Rierson’s blue #23. "We just had a great race car. We were that quick the whole race. We were just stuck back there. We started eighth and I think I finally got in about tenth and we had a long way to come without any cautions and that ain't easy. You lose too much track time playing with guys here because it ain't the easiest place in the world to pass. We didn't beat on anybody and we didn't knock anybody out of the way and I passed them all clean and that's the way I like to race. There at the end I don't know what happened. I know my spotter said L.W. and Burt were beating on each other pretty hard and I came around and I just saw a lot of smoke and he said "go high, go high" so I guess they were beating and banging just a little too much. *laughs* But, me and the guys went through this car and we've got everything like we like it now and it took us a race or two to get it that way. I can't thank Clarence and Tina Rierson enough for giving me the opportunity to drive it. I mean, it's a great race car. David Pinnix built an awesome motor and I'm really happy with the horsepower in it and I think we're going to take this car to Caraway next week and try and get us one."

Woody Pitkat came home with his first top five on the WSMT at the controls of Roger and Sandra Hill's Coors Light Pontiac. I jokingly asked Woody after the race if the Hills were paying him overtime for all the racing he got in this weekend. "Oh, I don't know, it was good. You know, just get out here and get some more seat time and try to get adapted to what they want to do and see what we like and they like and just get together as a team and I think we were just a little bit tight today but all in all it was good you know? Probably what? My fifth or sixth time with them and only my second official race of finishing a whole race between rain outs and TV with other races and the Blewett accident and stuff like that so I'm pretty happy to run the whole 150 laps and see how that is and try to get used to the longer races and obviously I'm whipped because this is my fifth race in six days but it was a blast and it was probably our best finish of the week with the tour. So, I've just got to look ahead and use this as a confidence booster and go on to Thompson next weekend."

When I asked him about his race and the difference between racing on the north and south tours, he responded with, "Actually today, with the racing that there was, I thought that maybe they gave me a little bit more respect. I don't know if maybe they saw the rookie on the back bumper or wasn't sure what I was going to do but I got back to Brian King later in the race and got into him once you know just to try and rattle him and let him know I was coming and I got a good run going into one and he probably could have came down in front of me but he gave me the room and it screwed him up even more and I got by, so you know if anything I think they gave me a little bit more room and a little bit more respect than on the north so far but all in all like I said, I was glad and I'm not here to try and piss anybody off like Civali did that one race. I'm just here to gain some respect because I would imagine with the Hills and stuff if I am with them I'm thinking they're going to want to do more southern races next year too, so you know I just want to gain some respect from everybody and race hard and clean and that's it. If you get into somebody, you know, you lift for them and that's about it and just let them know if you screw up. At the end there they told me I was just as fast as the leader. I know they were starting to come back so, I think if we would have had a caution we might have been able to get maybe a fourth or a third but I know Brown was really good. I don't think we had anything for him and L.W. was good but you know I'm happy with a top five I think maybe we could have gotten a couple more if there was a late caution but you know? What if?" *laughs*

Saturday, the Whelen Southern Modified Tour heads back to Caraway Speedway in Asheboro, North Carolina in its run towards the final four races of the championship. L.W. Miller holds a slim 34 point lead over Burt Myers with Tim Brown third only 50 markers behind Miller. Defending series champion Junior Miller is fourth, 91 points behind.

Grandstand gates open at 6 PM. Admission is only twenty dollars and the race is 150 laps. Mod Series Scene will be on hand with live updates and a full post race report from Caraway.