July 16, 2007 Hendersonville, NC

Mackey Claims His Second 2007 UARA Win in the Seneca 150 at Dillon

B.J. Mackey brought his Townsend ARP Chevy to Dillon and was fast from the git-go as the expression goes.  Mackey looked good from the start and landed his machine on the Sunoco Pole followed by Jake Crum with the Brisco Outside Pole.  Mackey’s car looked good all day.  He said they made adjustments during the day and would return back to the setup that felt best.  Darrell Poe will bring home the Comp Cams Engine Builder of the Race award for building the powerhouse in the Mackey car. 

With a full field of 28 cars and rain all around the area the UARA-STARS would prevail and put on a fantastic show for the crowd.  There was a rain delay and the phones were ringing off the wall but with the effort of the UARA and Dillon staff the track was dried and the show was on from there. 

Jake Crum jumped out front on the first lap but Mackey would gain control on lap 2.  The first caution falls on lap three as young Casey Holt and Brandon Dean spin in turn one.  Dean will later be black flagged due to a fender being loose on his car. 

Caution two will fly on lap 40 when the car of Jason Calhoun blows an engine. The field will end up in a red flag condition as the track crew scramble to clean up the damage.  Coming into turn one the cars of Calhoun, Lucas Ransone, Casey Holt and Barry Andrews all start spinning out of control right in front of the leaders.  Ransone’s and Calhoun’s car are the worst for wear after this incident ending their hopes of coming home with a good finish. Ransone will be awarded the Aluminum Racing Products Hard Luck Award due to this accident. The front runners Mackey and Crum spin as well and Crum will come out to the good blending in with the field in 3^rd place. 

Clay Greenfield will take over the lead followed by Matt Leicht. Greenfield will lead the pack for 12 laps while hot on their trail the Mackey, Lee Tissot and Alex Yontz cars have some serious racing going on and giving the crowd plenty of action to see.

Matt Leicht takes over the point on lap 53.  The running want be easy for him as Jake Crum gives his all to take over the first position.  Leicht holds the spot as Crum has Clay Greenfield giving him a run for the money for second place. 

A few cars back Mark Setzer and Matt DiBenedetto are in a battle of their own.  DiBenedetto gets loose in turn four maintains control but Mackey sees his opportunity to get by and takes advantage of the situation.  Just up ahead Greenfield flies by Crum and it becomes obvious that the engine in the Crum machine has gone sour and his hopes for a repeat win will end on lap 65. 

The car of Roger Lee Newton looks really strong but Newton is 36 laps down at this point.  Newton had some great laps early in the day but the fourth turn wall bit him and they made extensive repairs during the course of the afternoon just to get the rear section of the car welded back together to run.

Lap 81 finds the Mackey machine doing some serious rubbing with the Greenfield car for second position.  Mackey will end up the victor of this battle and will set his sights on Matt Leicht who is having the best run in his UARA career.  The top running order on lap 90 is Matt Leicht, Mackey, Greenfield, Tissot, Yontz, Setzer, DiBenedetto, Kevin Leicht, Pope, and Clint Mills. 

On back in the pack R.A. Brown, Ross Furr, Ryan Salomon, Nick Hutchins and Clay Jones have a race of their own. 

Around the 100 lap point Matt Leicht has managed to get himself a good lead on the field but Mackey is gaining fast.  By lap 111 Mackey has caught Leicht and they do some side by side battle for the front.  Lap 114 Mackey takes the lead and will maintain the position thru the remainder of the race.

Caution three flies on lap 132 as the second place car of Matt Leicht hits hard into the the turn four wall.   Leicht had a cracked break rotor that during the race eventually gave way causing the accident.  The field will once again find themselves in a red flag condition while the track crew cleans up the Leicht wreckage.  This will save the final laps to allow the fans the opportunity to see an exciting green flag finish. 

When the green falls the action is fierce all through the field but it will be Mackey who prevails to the end to collect the checker.  Due to his great run Mackey was also presented the Tri County Graphic Solutions Smooth Move of the Race Award. 

Matt DiBenedetto will come home as the Melling Select Rookie of the Race with his 5^th place finish.  Ross Furr was voted as the Holley Performer of the Race.  

       Official

Seneca 150 Results

    1. B.J. Mackey

  2. Lee Tissot

  3. Alex Yontz

  4. Ross Furr

  5. Matt DiBenedetto

  6. Daniel Pope II

  7. Clay Greenfield

  8. Mark Setzer

  9. Nick Hutchins

10. Clint Mills

11. Robbie Ferguson

12. Zeke Shell

13. Clay Jones

14. R.A. Brown

15. Mikey Kile

16. Barry Andrews

17. Ryan Salomon

18. Robbie Mew

19. Dennis Queen

20. Matt Leicht

21. Roger Lee Newton

22. Kevin Leicht

23. Mike Potter

24. Jake Crum

25. Casey Holt

26. Jason Calhoun

27. Lucas Ransone

28. Brandon Dean 

The UARA-STARS will be in action at Bristol Motor Speed July 28, 2007 

For more info visit www.uara-stars.com or call 828-692-3833

Press Release by: Wink Bodenhamer