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UARA-STARS Shine Bright at Denny Hamlin’s Showdown
Hendersonville, NC (4/29/11) –Many present and past UARA-STARS drivers competed in Denny Hamlin’s Short Track Showdown at Richmond International Raceway on Thursday, April 28th.
Two-time UARA Champion Matt McCall won the pole for the charity event Thursday night with a 22.840-second lap. Last year’s Rockingham sweeper Brandon McReynolds set the second quickest lap in qualifying. Aside from those two, three other UARA-STARS competitors qualified in the top fifteen -- Kyle Grissom, George Miedecke, and Paddy Rodenbeck.
Once the green flag dropped, McCall battled with one of NASCAR’s hottest drivers, Kyle Busch. On the first lap, UARA Rookie George Miedecke was caught up in an unfortunate event when Brandon Butler was spun by one of the celebrity drivers on the exit of turn two. With nowhere to go, Miedecke got sandwiched between the cars and did significant damage to the right front of his Jeld-Wen Ford Fusion.
“I took evasive action but they both rebounded off the wall and took us out,” Miedecke said after checking out okay from the race-ending accident. “It is a real shame!”
After starting 31st, Scott Turlington managed to dodge the first lap collision. Once the race was green, Turlington made his way from the back to the top 15. His team car, Tony Stewart, did not fare as well and retired before the race concluded.
By lap five, Kyle Grissom was in game mode and gained enough positions to place him in the top ten and danced around there for the remainder of the race and finished in tenth. Turlington continued to gain positions as he worked his way to a seventh place finish. Close behind him was pole winner McCall in ninth and Paddy Rodenbeck came home in 17th after surviving two wrecks, the final car on the lead lap.
The next tour stop for the UARA-STARS late model tour is at Rockingham Speedway for the Carolina 200 on May 14th. For more information and tickets, visit www.rockinghamspeedway.com or call (910) 205-8800.
For more info visit www.uara-stars.com or call 828-692-3833
Press Release by: Kassie Hughes
Turlington Leads the field to the green at Newport Photos by Race22
