Story by: Langley Austin ~ langley@RACE22.com

Myrtle Beach, SC(August 13, 2009) -- Round #11 of 16 for the UARA-STARS, the premier Late Model Stock Car series in America is upon us and this weeks race takes the top stars in the series to Myrtle Beach Speedway. There are many storylines heading into this weekends race and we're going to try and give you all the insight needed to be up to speed when you roll through the gate.

ONE FAST DODGE

Brandon McReynolds looked like he was glued to the track at Ace Speedway in Altamahaw, NC for the last stop of the UARA-STARS Late Model Stock Car tour. He was incredibly fast in his Dodge, despite the fact that he was sick ailing from a severe throat infection scoring his second win of the 2009 season. McReynolds also goes into the next event as the favorite to win Myrtle Beach with the Dodge considered to have a horsepower advantage and with the way he and his crew chief, Nick Hutchins are clicking the possibilities are endless.

FAST AS THE LAST TIME

Jamey Caudill hasn't been as dominant in the last two seasons as he once was, but Caudill flexed his muscle last November and took home the win in the Myrtle Beach 400, the biggest race of the year on the South Carolina track. Caudill's hoping he can repeat some of that magic as the UARA-STARS Series heads there for the first time since 2006. Caudill made up a few points on series leader, Matt McCall, but he needs to rekindle his previous success to put himself in a position to compete for the series championship, a series where he's finished runner-up on more than one occasion.

PREVIOUS BEACH WINNER

In 2006, Alex Yontz finished second in the championship standings to Brandon Ward when the season came to a close, but he didn't lose any points in an appearance at the beach as the young driver took home a win. Yontz hasn't competed in many starts with the series this season, but rather has competed in many weekly shows at Caraway Speedway, but after being disqualified for the third time this season at Caraway, the driver is looking to venture out with his new team.

Yontz, who has been recently competing with William Barber's team traveled to Ace Speedway last Friday with the UARA-STARS and after qualifying on the outside pole he posted a second place finish despite making some strong challenges on McReynolds for the win in the final laps. Yontz is hoping to give his new team it's first UARA-STARS Series win as they travel to their second straight series event and with his previous Myrtle Beach Speedway success he's one of the favorites.

HUNGRY FOR ANOTHER VICTORY

Paddy Rodenbeck started off the 2009 season setting the world on fire scoring his first career Late Model Stock Car win in race number three at Concord Speedway in Concord, NC, but since his second win at Hickory in late June, his flame has been growing a little more dim. Despite several great runs including dominating the biggest race of the season at Hickory Motor Speedway, the Dwight Huffman Memorial, the young talent hasn't been able to get the finishes that he would have hoped for.

Rodenbeck looked to be headed for a good run last Friday night at Ace Speedway, before tangling with track regular, Rodney Cook early in the race. Rodenbeck has had a good amount of success on bigger race tracks which Myrtle Beach Speedway would be included, but what makes this youngster a favorite in this race might be his crew chief. Jeff Caudill, brother of driver, Jamey Caudill, who we mentioned above won the fall big race at Myrtle Beach and Jeff was turning the wrenches on his car, so no doubt he has a great setup for this race track.

NOT YOUR ORDINARY PIG

Matt McCall's 2009 season has seen the veteran driver become extremely dominant all the while driving two totally different race cars, his Pistone LTO House car and Jerry Moody's "Pig Rig" Ford Fusion. Competitors almost never know which car he'll be in, but one thing they have become used to is looking at his back bumper, whether they can see it from where they are in the field or not. At Myrtle Beach, McCall will be piloting the "Pig Rig" Ford Fusion and he's hoping the old wore out race track will be "digging pigs" as much as he and his team do.

McCall currently has a pretty good grip on the points standings, but after an uncharacteristic week where he finished 5th at Ace Speedway(yes, I said he finished fifth, that's a horrible finish by McCall's standards), the veteran driver is hoping that he'll ride his pig all the to victory lane for the fifth time this season. As he chases series wins leader, Jamey Caudill for that title and with six races still remaining in 2009 he could very well get there as he only needs two victories to tie(Caudill 12, McCall 10). McCall is also seeking another column in the record books as he tries to win his second career UARA-STARS Series title, a feat that has never been done before.

ROOKIES BEWARE

To say that Myrtle Beach Speedway wouldn't be the best track for a rookie would be an understatement, the old track that chews up tires and drivers alike could make a huge impression in the UARA-STARS Series rookie title battle. Rookie, Matthew Godley has pretty much owned the rookie title battle this season, but recently fellow rookie, Brennan Poole has started to find his groove and gained 25-points on Godley in the most recent race at Ace, closing the gap to only 60-points.

Poole, who scored his first top ten with an eighth place finish at Ace Speedway, has already tested at Myrtle Beach Speedway with his FatHead Racing team led by one of the winningest drivers in series history, Jamie Yelton. Poole felt as if he was strong when the team tested and had even planned to race in a NASCAR Weekly Series show at Myrtle Beach two weeks ago, but rain washed the event out. Poole is looking to improve on his eighth place effort, but still has a long way to go to equal the best finish of the season by a rookie, which was third at Concord for Godley.

ON THE RISE

Garrett Campbell hasn't set anything on fire ... he hasn't won a race on the UARA-STARS Series tour yet ... he hasn't even really come close, but what the young driver has been doing is closing the gap on a championship battle with consistent finishes. Campbell rallied from a back of the pack start at Ace to finish sixth and with the strong finish and passing points for all the positions he gained he moved up to fourth in points.

Campbell is 188 points out of the lead, but is only seven points behind third place points driver, Paddy Rodenbeck and the way Campbell's season is going he could very well sneak into top three. Campbell is one of the young drivers who is still looking for his first series win and with several good tracks for him up next, he could very well be breaking through sooner rather than later.

JR-LESS

JR Motorsports drivers, Richard Boswell and Owen Kelly were among the missing on Friday night at Ace Speedway and don't expect to see them anytime soon racing in the UARA-STARS Series. Boswell and Kelly both made the trip up to Motor Mile Speedway last weekend and while Kelly struggled much as he had this season on the tour, Boswell claimed a third place finish among a tough crowd of racers. Boswell is easily emerging as a standout no matter where he races and could be a huge threat down the road in NASCAR or UARA Late Model races.

LOCAL STANDOUTS

Myrtle Beach is shaping up to be one of those tracks where you potentially have some tough local drivers as multi-time track champion, Rick Smith is among the top locals set to take on the stars of the UARA-STARS. Stuart Ricks, Ryan Hall and Justin Milliken are a few of the other local drivers ready to go and Milliken has had a little success this season already winning two races. Another local expected to make a start will be NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver, Chad McCumbee, who has been a serious challenger in the past at Myrtle Beach Speedway.
 

NO MORE BAD TIRES?

After a bunch of bad tires and plenty of complaints to the series officials, Goodyear represenative made an effort to fix the tires that had been plaguing the series all season long. Several competitors participated in a tire test last week at Hickory Motor Speedway with a new version of the same tire the series had been running all season. To everyone's delight it looks as if the issues with the tires coming apart have been solved and won't be an issue for the rest of this season, very good news as the tour heads to one of the toughest tracks on tires.
 
Now it's time to GO RACING!