Radford, VA ~ As the UARA series pulled into beautiful Motor Mile Speedway for race #9 on the schedule, there was lots of uncertainty leading into the event. As the year winds on and the economy gets worse, there is the question if some teams can continue. We also wondered if any of the locals would attend being that Motor Mile boasts some of the highest car counts in the nation. And on every racers mind was if Jamie Yelton could finish what he started at Motor Mile earlier in the year when he was dominating and suffered mechanical issues. The questions were answered Saturday night and they were YES, KINDA, and NO. Jamey Caudill did answer another question if anybody didn't already know, YES he is the man when it comes to the UARA tour.

"Pure Luck"

As practice started out the day, it was pretty uneventful. Thomas Hartensveld had his #36 machine a rollin', as he paced the first practice session. Local competitor Jason Mitcham was at the top of the charts too, timing in 2nd in the first practice. As the second practice concluded with Jamie Yelton at the top of the charts,

Ross Furr came in to change some tires for qualifying. As the right front was removed, a noticeable crack all the way across the hub was discovered. Had it not been for the tire change, Ross would have probably been picking his car out of the wall just a few laps into the race. The team was allowed to run a few laps to test it out and they were ready to qualify. Ross' luck the rest of the night wouldn't be the same, but we'll talk about that a little later.

"Long Road From Bristol"

After the race at Bristol, some drivers were put in a bad spot. One of those was Garrett Campbell. After blowing and engine in the first practice session at Bristol and not making the race, the team worked hard and got it back together only to have it break a cam on the dyno a few days later. The team showed up with a leased engine (the same one Brent Raymer qualified in top ten at Bristol) and were fast in practice and later backed it up qualifying in the 10th spot. Another driver with some problems was B.J. Mackey. After winning the Rusty Harpe Memorial at Caraway Speedway 2 days before Bristol, the DPM team had motor problems at Bristol and would finish dead last. Motor problems on combined with limited finances had rumors swirling all week that the team wouldn't be at Motor Mile. But there they were, and in the same way they had been, timing in at the 5th spot. While the rest of the field was close, Jamey Caudill beat the second place qualifier Alex Yontz to take Sunoco pole award. Following Yontz was Jake Crum

in 3rd, Richard Boswell II, Mackey, Yelton, Curtis Truex Jr., Scott Andrews Jr., Ryan Truex and Campbell rounding out the top ten.

"Time To Go"

After the on-track autograph session, we were ready to get it on. Jamey Caudill leads them to the green flag and for the first 2 laps Alex Yontz gives a valiant effort on the outside. Little did we know that this would be as close as anybody would come to passing Caudill all evening. Behind them Jake Crum doesn't look like his machine is handling in the early going and gets passed by Truex Jr. and Yelton before lap 4. Back in the pack cars are all over each other, and finally get together enough for a caution when Brandon McReynolds and Travis Swaim get together on lap 6.

"I Beat Superman!"

One of the more silent but fast cars of the night was Richard Boswell II. "Boz" has been on a tear this year, and Saturday night he qualified 4th and was never below that the entire event. A week earlier, on the UARA's off week, Boz took his Jr. Motorsports ride up to Motor Mile to race the regular weekly series race, the one's that Philip Morris has won 6 in a row. Boz lead practice, qualified on the pole, and lead every lap on his way to the win. Early in the race the only car that seemed faster than him was B.J. Mackey when he passed him for second on lap 20, and turns out B.J. would be a player all night.

"Motor Mile Demons"

Back during the first visit at Motor Mile for the UARA in April, Yelton had them covered. He was well on his way to lapping into the top ten. But motor problems before halfway would end his night prematurely. Going back this weekend, everybody knew he would be a car to contend with. He led the final practice session and qualified up in the 6th position. As the green fell he was on

the move taking over the 5th position after only 4 laps. But the demons would creep up again as the #8 machine pulled in and parked on lap 30. The problem this time, electrical.

"More Bad Luck"

After the field got settled down a bit, the top 3 cars of Caudill, Yontz and Mackey seemed to be in a league of their own. Racing was going on back in the pack, but most of it was cars trying to stay on the lead lap, the leaders were mowing cars down at will. All the passing stopped on lap 67 when a caution was displayed, for none other than second place running Alex Yontz. Alex has had an up and down year, he's either winning, or something was happening to take away the winning car he was driving. This time the culprit was a flat right front. He stopped in turn 2, brought out the caution and stayed on the lead lap after hitting pit road.

Halfway (lap 75)

1.Caudill. 2.Mackey 3.Boswell 4.Crum 5.Truex Jr. 6.Campbell 7.Roger Lee Newton 8.Thomas Hartensveld 9.Paddy Rodenbeck 10.Ross Furr

"Knockin' The Wall Down"

We get to lap 85 and all eyes are on the 55 machine of Yontz. After changing the flat tire on lap 67 and starting as the last car one lap down, he mows them down to pop up in the top 10 only 16 laps later. As Alex is racing hard, the cars of Scott Andrews Jr., Clay Greenfield and Kyle Moon do likewise and get crossed up going down the frontstrech. Andrews slams into the outside wall extremely hard, and takes another lick as hits the inside wall in turn 1 and comes to rest. The car was totally destroyed, adding to his year of frustration. But to everyones relief, he climbs out unharmed, a very welcomed sight.

"The Best Car I've Ever Had"

It's getting to be go time as we approach 50 to go and the racing is picking up considerably. One of the cars having one of his best showings ever was the rookie, Garrett Campbell. Garrett was comfortably in the top ten for the entire race and was on his way to his best career finish. That was until the racing around him got frantic. After a few restarts the cars of Campbell, Newton, Yontz and Hartensveld were "gettin it on" rather well. On lap 114 Newton gets by Campbell and Yontz jumps in the hole to follow. As Yontz dives into turn 1 he looses the nose and slides up in the 12 car sending him around. As the field rides under caution, Campbell comes up and shows his displeasure with Yontz by rubbing fenders. By the end of the night though, Campbell would turn his attention to another driver

"Wild, Wild ..."

All the UARA races are exciting. Motor Mile earlier in the year

wasn't as great as some others, but this race changed that perception for sure. All night the "phenom", 14 year-old Darrell Wallace Jr. was battling an ill-handling racecar. Another rookie, Brandon McReynolds was involved in an earlier incident and both drivers battled back to get the "lucky dog" and get back on the lead lap. And I'm glad they did. Over the course of the last 30 laps the two drivers "wrecked' 15 times but never actually did it, putting on a whale of a show. In front of them, Ross Furr and Thomas Hartensveld were having a great battle themselves. Lap after lap, they were at it hard, until contact was made on lap 147 sending the Furr machine around in turn 2. Ross is the defending champion, and has a year to forget, so he voiced his opinion by beating on the #36 for about 5 laps under caution. Furr finally got in the position and we were ready for a green-white-checkered.

"See Ya"

As the field took the green, Caudill didn't dally around on this one. On the previous 3 restarts, Mackey was able to nearly get under him, one time actually knocking him up high in turn one.

Caudill checked out and the top 3 cruised to the line. Behind them was a different story, with Truex Jr. getting booted to the outside offering 3-wide, Wallace and McReynolds still fighting, and on the white flag lap Furr gets into Campbell putting the #12 ride into the outside backstretch wall. Everybody would make it to the line, but the story was far from over. Campbell went to voice his version of what happened to Furr and had to be restrained, leading to a war of words on pit road. It could have been ugly but we'll all be friends again at ACE Speedway in 2 weeks.

Jamey Caudill adds to his all-time wins list and is proving every week he is still the one to beat in the UARA series. And to anybody that hasn't attended an event at Motor Mile, well, shame on you. This place rivals many cup tracks with it's facilities. And if you weren't there for the UARA race, shame on you again, good gosh you missed out!

Official Race Results from MMS:
1 - Jamey Caudill #50
2 - BJ Mackey #2
3 - Richard Boswell #72
4 - Jake Crum #1
5 - Alex Yontz #55
6 - Roger Lee Newton #33
7 - Paddy Rodenbeck #81
8 - Darrell Wallace #76
9 - Brandon McReynolds #28
10 - Thomas Hartensveld #36
11 - Curtis Truex #88
12 - Kyle Moon #19
13 - Ross Furr #25
14 - Clay Greenfield #84
15 - Corey Lajoie #71
16 - Scott Turlington #48
17 - Toby Parese #22
18 - Andrew Carlsen #98
19 - Ryan Truex #6
20 - Garrett Campbell #12
21 - Wayne Hale #10
22 - Luke Laney #24
23 - Mardy Roberts #56
24 - Justin Boston #08
25 - Jason Mitcham #4
26 - Scott Andrews #18
27 - Dillon Smith #03
28 - Jamie Yelton #8
29 - Kyle Grissom #32
30 - Travis Swaim #21

Photos Provided by:
Langley Austin
"Official Photographer of the UARA-STARS"