Hudson, NC(May 24, 2009) -- Tri-County Motor Speedway was the site of round 4 in the 2009 UARA season, and it was finally time to get back in the groove of racing. The season has been a wet one so far, with 2 of 5 races being postponed for weather, the race at Tri-County being one back on April 10th. After beautiful conditions all day, the skies looked threatening once again when race time approached, but luckily the clouds held off. And It's a good thing they did, as the race witnessed at Tri-County Friday night was one that will be remembered for a long time. While 2 cars dominated much of the race, the ending was something we didn't expect, but it was hardly a surprise to see the face we saw in victory lane.....Jamey Caudill.

Teams have always struggled out of the gate when they get to Tri-County, matter of fact It's rare to find a driver that would ever say his car is even good after the first practice. Much of the same again, as the weathered track with multiple grooves constantly throws teams a curve ball, the setup that worked last time here could be absolutely terrible the next time back. Tight, tight, tight was the reaction of the day, as wholesale changes were being made to "free" the cars up. Some were good too though as Jordan McGregor and Paddy Rodenbeck paced the early practice sessions and made minimal changes throughout the day.

One face that was not where everyone was expecting was Matt McCall. Matt has pretty much owned the Tri-County track the last few times he's raced there, and at every UARA event he is either the fastest car in practice or sitting on the pole, one or the other. But Friday he could barely get into the top 5 in the practice sessions, and some were wondering what was going on. Not all were though, they knew better, and as qualifying rolled to an end the #23 Cadillac badged car of McCall was sitting on the outside pole once again with Rodenbeck collecting his first career pole award.

As the race started, McCall set sail. But Rodenbeck would never let him get out very far as the hottest driver of 09' had his sights set on another win. Rodenbeck couldn't worry about the lead too much, he had Brandon McReynolds all over him from the drop of the green flag until the end of the race. After a few quick cautions for spins, it became evident that McCall, Rodenbeck and McReynolds were going to be the cars to beat on this night. Or were they?

As the race went through the first half, may stories were developing. Caudill was nearly 4 seconds behind the front 3, but after he made his way past UARA newcomer Chris Lawson for 4th, he started to ever so slightly reel them in. Andy Loden is known for his "Highside" driving line, and the 2008 Tri-County regular season champion put it to quick use moving into the top 8 early on. Lawson himself was a great story, the track regular was one of the ones at the top of the practice sheets all day, qualified 4th, and would remain in the top 5 for the entire race until a skirmish at the end put him back to 6th in the results.

The leaders were getting it done out front, but from the back of the pack there was another car clicking off better times than them. Garrett Campbell had struggled at the track in his previous starts, and after practice and qualifying 19th, it looked to be another long day for the UARA sophomore. But Campbell assured everyone that it would race good, and he didn't lie.. It only took 50 laps for him to crack the top ten, and he didn't stop there, passing cars on the outside and sometimes 3-wide to move into the top 5 for the second half of the race.

Rodenbeck looked to have something for McCall at times, but then McCall would turn it up another notch and pull away ever so slightly. The leaders were slowed by numerous cautions in the early going, and on lap 42 Rodenbeck wouldn't have to worry about McCall anymore, he didn't cause the caution, he just made it longer. After a spin by Kyle Moon and Ryan Gray in turn 4, while under caution the leader McCall came to a rest just out of turn 2. He was done, that quick. A bad ignition would ruin his day, he would later return many laps down but having a problem like that while leading the race was a devastating blow to the #23 team.

Before the halfway mark we had our own version of the "big one" coming down the backstretch. Logan Ruffin, driving a Alex Yontz machine for Venturini Racing, turned Kyle Grissom sideways halfway down the backstretch, triggering a 7 car incident. Grissom, RA Brown, Darrell Wallace Jr. and Dylan Presnell all sustained heavy damage ending a chance at a good run, and for Presnell, ending his night completely. Grissom has already lost 2 brand new cars this season, but luckily his chassis was spared on this incident, and he continued the race looking much like a modified division car.

As we get past halfway, Coleman Pressley begins to flex his muscle as he was content to pass all cars on the outside.Pressley moves past Lawson for 4th and starts to reel in the leaders. Richard Boswell was also mounting a charge, and he would be a player before the night was over, we didn't know it but the was saving something for the end.

When the field saw 50 to go, it got extremely racy. McReynolds began to hound Rodenbeck for the lead, Pressley got by Caudill for 3rd, Caudill back by Pressley, Boswell by Lawson for 5th, Lawson by Boswell and Pressley to take 4th, Campbell by Loden for 6th.....whew, and that was just in a ten lap period, it was getting wild.

As it got down to time to lay it on the line, the cars of Rodenbeck, McReynolds and Caudill looked to be the only cars going for the win. With 10 to go Rodenbeck goes high with McReynolds down low, but McReynolds can't get the bite off the corner to complete the pass and falls back in line. Caudill had been watching and waiting as he usually does, and now was his time to try the low side. He dives it in the corner lap after lap, sometimes with the top 3 going 3-wide through the turns. With 4 to go Caudill has worked the low side enough to get even with McReynolds for second, and keeps it down low to get on Rodenbeck for the lead. Behind them Campbell and Boswell had gone 3-wide with Lawson in middle, and put Lawson from 4th to 7th in one corner. The leaders racing hard allowed Boswell to catch up quickly, and as Caudill finally cleared Rodenbeck with 3 to go, Boswell was with them also.

2 to go and Rodenbeck and McReynolds go high, Boswell dives down low and pushes up the track into Rodenbeck sending the #81 car into the turn 1 wall. Rodenbeck would continue, but surely not getting the finish his run for the night deserved. It looked to be just hard racing, and Boswell was frustrated it happened after the event, he said his car just pushed up the track and he couldn't get it back.

Green-white-checkered, and we looked for more fireworks to go off, but you have to remember Jamey Caudill was the leader. Caudill would have none of that, and would cruise to the victory, and move ever closer to the top of the points battle.

Jamey Caudill is not just a race car driver, he is a strategist, an artist behind the wheel. We saw the same thing at Hickory last year, the leaders would go tooth and nail, and Jamey was content riding in 3rd, he was planning his attack for the win. He did the same at Tri-County, it looked as if he had a 3rd place car for much of the event, but he knew that had was driving a winning machine the whole time. People talk about the greatest Late-Model racers of all-time and names like Blankenship and Beggarly come up. Jamey Caudill is in the same group, and if he hasn't already, it is shaping up that he may go down as the best of all-time after collecting his 96th career Late-Model win Friday night. And he is no where near done.