Story by: Langley Austin ~ langley@RACE22.com

Hickory, NC(March 17, 2010) -- This past weekend opened the 2010 season for the UARA-STARS Series Late Model Stock Car tour and by now you probably know who won and all the basic details, but this edition of News, Notes & Commentary will get you the in-depth information you've come to love from RACE22.com

RAIN, RAIN, GO AWAY ...
On Friday as the series rolled in with most of their cars to have a UARA controlled test session, it was evident that the rain was going to be a big part of the season opening event and it was. Rain kept the drivers off the track for much of the day on Friday and then after some more practice on Saturday, rain washed out the race and it was moved to Sunday. It was a long weekend filled with rain and even after the checkered flag dropped on Sunday evening, the rain began to fall when we left the track.

GLUED TO THE TRACK ...
Nick Hutchins once again proved that his setups with a talented young driver could produce success as his new driver, Kyle Grissom took home the pole award. Grissom out qualified 30 other cars after being among the fastest in practice session despite sometimes not putting on sticker tires. Grissom turned a 15.289 and grabbed his first pole of the season, which if his success and his crew chief's success last year with Brandon McReynolds is any indication he could be poised to take many more before this season is over.

GETTING HEAT IN YOUR TIRES ...
Jessica Murphy came to Hickory Motor Speedway in hopes of making her Late Model Stock Car debut on the historic 3/8 mile track and while she wasn't among the fastest cars, she certainly had hoped to get some laps in. Murphy from Florida has spent most of her time behind straight rail Late Models, but this was her first time in a Late Model Stock Car and maybe gearing up to run a UARA-STARS Series race wasn't the best idea. For Murphy however it didn't matter as on her warm up lap for qualifying she got loose and hit the inside wall destroying her car and ending her day, not the way she wanted to start her season for sure.

DROP THE RAG ALREADY ...
After sitting around in the rain on Saturday and returning to the track on Sunday for more practice, qualifying and the race itself, everyone there was just ready to get the show on the road. However, a couple of funerals at the cemetery next door slowed the pace of things just a little and ended caused the first red flag of the race on lap 18.

UP TO SPEED ...
Finally the green flag went in the air and pole winner, Kyle Grissom led the field down to the green flag with Alex Yontz along side followed by Shane Huffman, Coleman Pressley and Jamie Yelton. Certainly there was no lack of experience among the top five, but the top ten was another story as Grant McGinnis, Clint King, Ty Dillon, James Goff and Lucas Ransone started sixth through tenth.

From the start it was all Grissom, the guy who everyone has been pegged as the biggest off-season championship contender along side Yontz, but that was certainly short lived for the young talent as his day went south quickly. By lap 18, Grissom was parked in the pits on jack stands as his team worked to repair a broken sway bar mount, but in the midst of bad luck Grissom caught two good breaks.

BAD BLOOD ROUND 2 ...
First there was a crash on the track with Lucas Ransone and Frank Deiny, Jr. getting together on the front straightaway ending both their days. Both were certainly upset with crash happening so early in the race, but these two still had a little bad blood left over from last years Myrtle Beach 400, when Ransone moved Deiny out of the way for the win. Deiny had certainly not forgot about that.

"He's cost me a lot of money in the last few months," said Deiny. "I just got up on the high side, because that's where I was going to run and I don't know if his spotter didn't tell him I was up there or what, but it certainly ruined both our days."

21 GUN SALUTE ...
Grissom's next break came as the field was stopped under this caution for the funeral at the next door cemetery and while the field was under the red flag, it gave his team a chance to work on their car. Unlike NASCAR, where you aren't allowed to work on your car under any circumstances, the UARA's only penalty is a two-lap hold on pit road once work has been completed. The work was going to take much longer than two laps, so the decision was made to go ahead and do the work and take the penalty and by the end of the race, this decision would pay off for him.

BACK TO GREEN ...
While Grissom was having his troubles and Deiny and Ransone were crashing, 1999 Hickory Motor Speedway champion and former NASCAR Nationwide Series driver, Shane Huffman was flexing his muscle out front. Huffman was being chased by Pressley and Yelton, who both were showing the field that they had great cars along with Huffman and with Grissom out of the way, these were the three cars that would settle it.

LAPPED TRAFFIC SUCKS ...
Yelton was beginning to put some heat on the rear bumper of Huffman for the top spot, but as quickly as that happened it was over. A crash happened in front of them and Yelton made contact with Huffman ripping the right front fender loose from his bad fast car. Yelton would spend the next lap or two under caution trying to get the fender off without having to pit, but to no avail as what appeared to be the fastest car on the track was headed to pit road. With Grissom and Yelton in the back of the pack, things were quickly settling down up front as Huffman and Pressley were all that were left.

BAD, BAD BOY ...
Yelton going to the back didn't mean his day was over by any means as he returned to challenge for position over the second half of the race. Yelton rarely gives up and he wasn't about to after having the best car once Grissom was off the track, but when he got to the top ten, the cars weren't about to move over for him. Yelton's day now wasn't far from over as on a restart he got up underneath Clint King spinning the youngster and was black flagged when UARA President, Kerry Bodenhamer made the call to black flag him and not the race director.

"I don't know what happened to him(King), he just didn't get going with everyone else," said Yelton. "Someone said that he had a problem with the car jumping out of gear on a previous restart, so maybe that's what happened, but it cost a chance to get up there and compete when they black flagged me for something I couldn't avoid."

Yelton was upset, but so was King, who had qualified in the top ten and ran in the top five for much of the day in only his second start in the UARA-STARS Series and Late Model Stock Cars in general. King said that he didn't miss a shift and the car didn't jump out of gear, so who knows what really happened to cause the incident, but it ruined both drivers top ten runs for sure.

SETTLING IT UP FRONT ...
Huffman and Pressley spent the final 30 or so laps battling it out for the victory with Pressley going inside and out to try and get around the more experienced driver. In the end the two raced side by side rarely touching one another for the lead with Huffman crossing the finish line ahead of Pressley. It was a victory for the GM crate engine for Huffman with the newly approved Ford crate engine finishing second with Pressley.

Huffman has won many races at Hickory Motor Speedway over the years and for him it was good to be back in a familiar place in one of the tracks biggest races of the season. For Pressley it was a great start to the season in which he's running for the championship and this will likely be Huffman's only start on the tour this season.

NOT A ROOKIE, BUT GREAT RUN ANYWAYS ...
Ty Dillon isn't a rookie and while that may be a little confusing given that the UARA-STARS Series awarded him the Rookie of the Race award, but the young driver has competed in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series and competed in a full season of Late Model Stock Cars last year all over the region from Hickory, Tri-County, Caraway, South Boston, Martinsville and Myrtle Beach.

Take nothing away from the young driver though, Dillon had a great first run in the same car that Matt DiBenedetto piloted in the Bailey's 300 last fall at Martinsville. The new Marlowe Racing Chassis certainly proved to be a good piece for the young driver and Dillon himself drove a great race, keeping his nose clean and coming home with a third place finish.

FOURTH NOT SIXTEENTH ...
Brennan Poole is becoming known as a poor qualifier, but when the green flag drops on the start of the race, he knows how to aim his rocket toward the front. Poole again proved he wasn't a great qualifier as he turned in a 16th place effort despite being among the fastest in nearly every practice session Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Poole, however once again proved that he could race, though as he took on 15 of the best in the business in front of him and was able to drive his way up to fourth in the final laps of the race after breaking into the top ten during the first half of the race. Poole made the move for fourth on the final lap as he passed Yontz for the position, giving Poole his second best career UARA-STARS Series finish off the heels of last falls best career finish.

GOOD POINTS DAY ...
Alex Yontz has never been good at Hickory Motor Speedway and he readily admits that he's not that fond of the historic 3/8 mile bullring, but on Sunday you would have never known it by his performance. Yontz first qualified on the outside pole and then put together a solid day staying in the top five the entire race and bringing his car home in perfect condition finishing fifth. It's not where he wanted to finish, but the veteran racer certainly got his title run off to a good start.

WE'RE OUTLAWS & DON'T YOU FORGET IT ...
Roger Lee Newton and his team are known as the "Outlaws" and they certainly live up to that reputation on any given week and during this race at least one competitor found out just how much of an "Outlaw" he could be. You know the old saying "You mess with the bull, you get the horns"?, Patrick Molesworth found out just how true that saying is when after pinching Newton off for several laps, the veteran driver got in behind him, lifted his rear wheels off the ground on the front straightaway and sent him hard into the wall in between turns one and two. Molesworth was done for the day, but Newton continued on to finish sixth.

IT'S NOT WHERE YOU START ...
Garrett Campbell came into the 2010 season looking for a fresh start after two years of riding a roller coaster from cellar lows to mountain highs, but what he got for most of the weekend was much of the same. Campbell wasn't blowing anyone away with his practice times and when it came time to qualify, the young driver was only able to turn in the 23rd fastest time among a 31-car field.

During pre-race, it was obvious he frustrated, telling me it was "the same old, same old", but when the green flag dropped the youngster was able to come to life climbing from his 23rd place qualifying effort to eventually finish in seventh position. Though it wasn't what he wanted, he proved it doesn't matter where you start, only where you finish.