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Brown Ends Drought At Langley
Rolls to first Whelen Southern Modified win since 2008HAMPTON, Va. -- Saturday night’s Visit Hampton 150 NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour race at Langley Speedway proved that anything can happen during a 150-Lap race.
After it appeared James Civali was going to cruise to his third win of the season, Tim Brown ended a nearly two-year absence from Victory Lane pulling away in dominating fashion Saturday night to win the Hampton 150.
It was his sixth career NWSMT victory and first since he took the checkered flag at Caraway Speedway in Asheboro, N.C., on Sept. 27, 2008.
Brown took the lead from Civali on Lap 132 and pulled away for the win by more than three seconds after Civali had led all but 14 laps of the race up to that point.
Brown, who began driving the No. 02 T&C Motorsports car at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem,N.C., had a strategy to save his car and tires until late in the race and the plan worked out for the veteran.
“We have really worked hard on this 02 car with Tom and Connie (owners of T&C Motorsports),” said Brown. “We’ve been working together to get the car better and we were good off the truck up here and just tweaked some things. “
Brown showed he had a strong car at the start of the race as he passed Jason Myers, who started on the pole after post-qualifying draw of the top eight spots, and led the first four laps of the race.
Civali quickly passed Brown on Lap 5 and remained out front for the next 70 laps and built leads by as much as 15 cars lengths during that span.
Andy Seuss, who entered the race in second place in the point standings and coming off a win at Caraway one week earlier, passed Civali on a restart on Lap 76 and remained at the point until Civali got back around on Lap 85.
Civali appeared to have the race sewn up building a large lead again but his car started going away during a long green-flag run.
“We had a good car, but as the race went on we just didn’t have enough wedge underneath the car and the tires went away on us,” Civali said. “It happens. We learned some things on our car tonight and I think we will be real good for the remaining couple of races.”
After Brown took the lead from Civali and pulled away to lead by more than three seconds, Burt Myers and Zach Brewer put on a show in a battle for third place eventually won by Myers.
“I want to get into the top three and me and Zach have always raced good together,” Myers added. “These cars are made to lean on each other and give a shot here and there but you have to do it with respect. Zach came up to me after the race and said that’s the way we’re supposed to do it.”
The race was slowed just three times by caution with Brewer and Frank Fleming bringing out the first caution for a spin on Lap 5. Both drivers recovered to collect top-10 finishes.
The rest of the top 10 were Jason Myers, who finished sixth, followed by Gene Pack, Miller, Fleming and Brandon Hire. Civali won the Coors Light Pole Award earlier in the day and was able to take over the points lead by eight over Seuss (1,300-1,292). L.W. Miller, who entered the race with the points lead, finished eighth and dropped to third -- 19 points behind Civali.
The Visit Hampton 150 will air on VERSUS on Wednesday, Sept. 8 at 7 p.m.
The NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour will run its second-to-last race of the season at Tri-County Motor Speedway in Hudson, N.C., on Saturday, Sept. 25.
RESULTS | LAP-BY-LAP RECAP | AUDIO: TIM BROWN IN VICTORY LANE | AUDIO: SECOND-PLACE JAMES CIVALI | AUDIO: THIRD-PLACE BURT MYERS
Tim Brown smokes his tires after winning Saturday night's Visit Hampton 150 at Langley Speedway. Charles Ward/NASCAR
