Wytheville, VA(July 1, 2009) -- As the UARA-STARS Late Model Stock Car series draws near on the halfway point in the 2009 racing season we thought it was a good time to take a look at the story lines heading into the UARA 150 at Lonesome Pine Raceway on Independence Day.

FROM ZERO to HERO
Paddy Rodenbeck has made a complete turn around from his rookie season on the tour in 2008 where he and his team spent more time repairing his car than they did getting a chance to get it dialed in. 2009 has been quite a different story with Rodenbeck becoming a threat to win every week and looking as if he could be a title threat.

Rodenbeck rarely found himself on the track to finish a race in his rookie campaign, but this season he's already racked up two career wins, the first of which came in April on the fast-paced half-mile Concord Speedway. Then the young driver solidified his position in Late Model Stock Car racing by winning the most recent tour race at "America's Most Famous Short Track", the tight little 3/8 mile, Hickory Motor Speedway.

That win came on the heels of a devastating crash in a NASCAR Whelen All-American Series race at the same track a week earlier in the same car. The Rodenbeck Racing team, led by crew chief Jeff Caudill went to work on the car, repairing the damage and getting it back into shape in time for the UARA 150.

Rodenbeck was then flawless all day long practicing consistent and then posting his car on the pole with a blazing fast lap around the track despite the extreme temperatures at the track that reached over 100 degrees. Rodenbeck's performance in the race was nothing short of heroic as he started out front and looked to be glued to the track leading every lap en route to his second career win.

Rodenbeck has certainly come full circle from his days of being the known as the "Missile" to being known as one of the top prospects in short track racing. David Smith recently said of Rodenbeck; "I feel he is making a strong enough impression that should warrant interest from NASCAR teams looking to take on young talent." Very strong words from what many consider to be the "Talent Scout" of NASCAR racing.

BAD TIRES
Coleman Pressley's performance in the UARA 150 at his home track of Hickory Motor Speedway was less than impressive as the youngster struggled throughout the day qualifying outside the top ten and racing there for most of the night. Pressley was easily one of the favorites heading into the event and many wondered what had went wrong.

We've had reports this week that he and Brennan Poole were among a handful of drivers who were handicapped by a bad set of tires. Poole, like Pressley was among a short-list of favorites heading into the Hickory event, but struggled too. Poole, who is Jamie Yelton's lastest prodigy has spent more time on Hickory Motor Speedway this season that anywhere else and even nearly pulled off a win in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series event the week before.

The young drivers both struggled greatly in the UARA event, but regained their confidence following the event when they figured out that it wasn't them, but rather the tires that caused them to struggle. We haven't had any reports that this was the issue with Dylan Presnell, but he too uncharacteristically struggled in this race.

CAUDILL ON A CONSISTENT TITLE RUN
Jamey Caudill isn't the kind of guy you want to have hanging around the top three in points this early in the season ... well, that is if you're one of his competitors. Caudill is no doubt one of the top names in all of Late Model Stock Car racing maybe ranking above two-time National Champion, Philip Morris because of his ability to win and race competitively everywhere.

That ability is what has many of his competitors should be worried about and current point leader, Matt McCall knows that all too well. Caudill finished only sixty-six points behind McCall for the 2005 UARA-STARS Series championship and this time he's only four points back through the first seven races of the season. McCall over the last few seasons hasn't been all that consistent with mechanical failures often keeping him from the consistent finishes, something Caudill is known for.

RIVALRIES BREWING
The UARA-STARS Series has always been known for having rivalries going all the way back to the first season of racing, but this season tempers have been flaring at an unbelievable rate and even among friends. Most recently Brandon McReynolds and Kyle Grissom traded insults with each other on pit road following an incident on the back stretch that ended McReynolds top five run.

McReynolds contends that Grissom ran him in the wall and this incident luckily was caught on video for all of us to view and is part of the video clip ... to view CLICK HERE. This incident is very similar to one from the race at Hickory last season when Jake Crum and Matt DiBenedetto got together putting DiBenedetto into the wall and eventually ending his night. McReynolds was lucky enough to finish the event placing 11th, but reportedly had some words for Grissom following the race.

The duo over at JR Motorsports, Richard Boswell and Owen Kelly are creating "friends" at an alarming rate as the two have been accused by many of their competitors as being overly aggresive recently. Boswell has been involved in incidents with two different competitors in the last two races starting with the event at Orange County Speedway, where he and Stacy Puryear got together on the track and then again on pit road(CLICK HERE for Video of the incident and the confrontation afterwords). Boswell then was bumped in the Hickory UARA race by Roger Lee Newton before intentionally trying to wreck Newton while running at under race speed and being lapped.

The incidents have left Boswell continuing to lose points where he has fallen back to sixth, 125 points out of the lead. Luckily for the young driver the series is heading to a familiar place as Boswell captured his first career UARA-STARS Series win at the 3/8 mile Lonesome Pine Raceway in beautiful Coeburn, VA. Boswell is hoping to get his season back on track and maybe this week he won't have any controversy to deal with when the race is over.

There are certainly no shortage of little rivalries brewing amongst the UARA-STARS regulars and with a handful of outsiders joining in each week, there's bound to be some more excitement heading our way.

NO ROOKIE STANDOUT, NOT JUST YET
When the season started one of the articles on RACE22.com was about a "quiet crop of rookies" and that statement for the most part has rang true, but there are a few guys from the rookie crop looking to make some noise. Matthew Godley started the 2009 season looking as if he'd be the first rookie to break out and give us something to talk about, but following a tenth in the season opener and a third place finish at his home track of Concord Speedway, the youngster has fallen apart at the seems.

Godley hasn't been competitive since his third place finish at Concord while fellow rookie, Brennan Poole looked as if he might make a charge as he qualified on the outside pole at Dillon. Poole then was black flagged for jumping the start and made a huge charge through the field all the way to fourth before a mechanical failure sidelined him.

Michael Rouse is another rookie, who might be able to make some noise on the heels of two straight top ten finishes at Orange County and Hickory. Had Rouse not missed some of the early season races he may very well be in the thick of the rookie title fight.

Among the rookies this season is 14-year old, Dylan Presnell and after missing the Bristol and Rockingham races due to his age, he's trying to make up some ground and for him the Lonesome Pine race couldn't come soon enough. Presnell has already won two races this season at Lonesome Pine Raceway in weekly Late Model competition, which goes by the same rules as the UARA-STARS and he's looking forward to defending his "home turf".

HOME TURF
Speaking of "home turf", there is expected to be a handful of drivers who race full time at Lonesome Pine Raceway who will test their skills against the best of the best in the UARA-STARS Series regulars. Former track champions, Wayne Hale and Nate Monteith are expected to be among the tracks top competitors who will be racing.

Also expected to compete is second place points man, Brian Blevins, who is also the only multi-time winner this season who is running full time and youngster, Caleb Roark, who just won his first ISCARS Dash Series race this past weekend. Presnell as mentioned above considers Lonesome Pine his home track and he should certainly be a threat considering his four races of experience this season including his two wins.

"FOREST CITY BAD BOY" RETURNS TO THE TOUR
Jamie Yelton's prodigy, Brennan Poole has had a rough go of it so far this season often missing it in qualifying and struggling to get the finishes that he and the FatHead Racing team deserves. Yelton has been left scratching his head at how the season has went so far, but with the halfway point in the season approaching something's got to change.

Yelton will be climbing back behind the wheel of his car this weekend at Lonesome Pine Raceway in an effort to help try and solve some of the problems with Poole's car. One thing Yelton won't be able to help Poole with is the bad luck that has been trailing the young driver in his first season of racing full bodied Late Model Stock Cars on asphalt.

Yelton and Poole have raced against each other already this season in a NASCAR weekly race at Hickory Motor Speedway, but this will be the first race on the UARA-STARS Series tour that both drivers have been on the track and the first race of the season for Yelton. Yelton started tenth and finished third at LPR last September, so he could be a contender and so could his young driver.

THE RACE IS ON
The UARA-STARS 150 at Lonesome Pine Raceway is certainly shaping up to be one of the best races of the 2009 season and the fireworks in the sky on Saturday night to celebrate July 4th won't be the only fireworks when the most competitive form of racing hits the track for 150-laps.