Story by: Langley Austin ~ langley@RACE22.com

Denver, NC(January 16, 2010) -- Matt McCall came back to the UARA-STARS Series in 2009 with one goal in mind ... it was simple to become to the first driver to ever win the series championship twice.

OK, maybe I'm oversimplifying it ... McCall's plan was destined to fail, destined for him to fall short of the title, I mean everyone else who had tried it had failed and McCall's chances against an increasingly tough level of competition had to be slim. McCall also added a little a twist to it of his own, he was also going to become the first driver to win the series championship driving for two totally different teams.

McCall had now thrown down the gauntlet ... on himself. It was time for the 2005 series champion to put up or shut up and as the series headed to it's first race of the season many wondered where McCall would stack up. McCall apparently didn't get the memo about how hard it was supposed to be as he delivered what many thought was a convincing performance in just the seasons first race. McCall qualified on the pole for the season opener at Bristol Motor Speedway and other than a brief couple of laps, he dominated the race and took home the victory in front of what was probably the largest crowd to witness a Late Model Stock Car race.

McCall's reign of domination would continue a month later as the series hit race number two at the Rockingham Speedway. It was the first start on the one-mile speed plant for Late Model Stock Cars of any kind and Matt McCall owned the track during qualifying as he toured the track faster than anyone else and won the pole. Unfortunately for him, that's where his Rockingham luck would run out as he quickly found before he hit pit road on the cool down lap in qualifying that he had a suspension part broken.

He quickly evaluated that he had a broken shock mount and once approved to do so by the UARA officials he would make the repairs before the race and would drop to the tailend of the starting lineup. McCall's next set back would come as the race played out and the UARA officials made some bad decisions in calling the race and had less than half the race ran under green flag conditions. It was killer for him to make progress from the back of the large field to the front and as the race finished under caution, McCall's run back to the front was halted in sixth place.

Concord Speedway was next and while McCall had never raced on the d-shaped 1/2 mile, no one would have been able to tell as he qualified second and raced into the lead early before fading back to second by the end of the race. Second place was a great finish for him on a new track and as they headed back to one of his home tracks, Tri-County Motor Speedway, McCall had to feel like he was at the top of his game. McCall's run in the number 51 Ford owned by Jerry Moody for the first three races was incredible with first, sixth and second would easily put him in control of the points standings, but now it was time to jump behind the wheel of Tom Pistone's number 23 car.

The move to this car seemed seamless as he qualified second, but as the laps clicked off, McCall found his car cutoff under caution and his night destroyed. He would return to the track, but a 21st place finish wasn't what the veteran was looking for on one of his home tracks. Now it was time to hit Dillon Motor Speedway in Dillon, SC, another track that he had never raced on and it was another race with the number 23 car, which had let him down in it's season debut at Tri-County. McCall and his car delivered after qualifying fifth, he finished sixth and had his ship going back in the right direction.

Next up was Orange County Speedway and last season when he was hitting tracks all over the region not running for points anywhere, he dominated in a couple starts on the 3/8 mile track. Orange County would be a great race for McCall as he took his second win of the season and second in the Moody owned Ford. Now it was time to visit his home track, Hickory Motor Speedway, where he was the 2004 track champion and McCall was hoping to continue to build momentum. His return home wouldn't go as well as he thought it might, but a fifth place qualifying effort and a third place finish with one of what seemed to be an endless supply of bad tires during the first half of the season.

As the series hit the midpoint in the season at Lonesome Pine Raceway, McCall had another showin of dominance as he qualified first and finished there after leading every lap despite consistent rain showers during the running of the 150-lap. The race was run in the most adverse of conditions as the series had to run the race in the rain due to impending showers for days that started just after the green flag flew on the event. McCall looked like he was on rails though as he didn't let anyone get near the top spot and he took home a convincing win.

Up next was a trip back to Tri-County and McCall was looking for redemption as he qualified second again, but this time he put an exclamation on his season to date as he took home a convincing win after a late race battle. Now with the championship lead in hand, McCall only had to worry about another veteran driver, Jamey Caudill, who was seeking his first championship as all other challengers had slowly, but surely began to fade away. McCall knew that this task wouldn't be easy, but Caudill was a familiar foe as he had beaten the elder driver to his 2005 series championship.

With Caudill hot on his heels, it was time for McCall to stand up over a stretch run that would end the season featuring three track that he'd never been to and no races at the tracks he had already picked up his four victories at. McCall's first ever start on the tough 4/10 mile Ace Speedway was a first hurdle he had to get over and he stood up as he qualified fourth and finished fifth. It wasn't a Matt McCall-like performance, but it was enough to keep his championship points lead strong.

A stop at Myrtle Beach Speedway would prove to be the biggest hurdle for McCall and while he finished tenth after qualfiying eighth, it was an uncharacteristic failure for the veteran driver. Now the series hit Newport Speedway and McCall would start second and finish third, but a rivalry began to ignite following the race. As a conversation between McCall's father, Danny and Jamey Caudill ensued after Caudill's victory, the two weren't exactly happy with one another. McCall had asked Caudill to ask his brother, Jeff, who is crew chief for another competitor, Paddy Rodenbeck, to calm his driver down. This led into a he said, he said battle of words that left Caudill upset that the elder McCall thought that he and Rodenbeck were working together against him for the title.

With that race and that conversation in the rear view mirror, it was another stop at Dillon Motor Speedway that would really throw gasoline on the verbal sparring after the Newport race. The duo of McCall and Caudill raced side by side without contact for much of the 150-lap race, but was contact on the final lap that still has fans of the series talking. McCall couldn't get around Caudill racing side by side with him, but on the final lap the two made contact as McCall hit Caudill from behind, it spun Caudill and McCall seemingly drove off to the victory. The win was stripped from McCall by the UARA Officials for the contact as they have a rule against contact on the final lap resulting in advancement of position. McCall was credited with a tenth place finish.

Caudill was mad, McCall was mad ... it was a war that wasn't going to end in Dillon and certainly didn't as it carried over into the next stop at Hickory. At Hickory, Caudill went for a spin again resulting according to him from contact by McCall again and Caudill retaliated hitting McCall. The retaliation resulted in Caudill being penalized by the UARA officials, which ultimately cost the veteran the championship, but it still wasn't over. McCall finished fourth despite the on-track action with Caudill and in the next race the two played nice with Caudill finishing second and McCall third at the next to last race at Kingsport Speedway.

The final race was upon the series and to be staged at Concord Speedway and with McCall's qucik adaption to this track and with Caudill not having good results here, it looked to be an easy ride for McCall to win the championship. However soon after racing up to second from his third place start, McCall had his engine expire, this came just eight laps after Caudill had parked his car after cutting a tire. Caudill had given up, but now he was racing to get back out on the track to make a run at the title with McCall out of the race for good.

Caudill however had his engine expire just a few laps later and despite McCall's 21st place finish, he was going to be crowned with the championship. It was a special title, one he worked very hard for, one that was won with two different car owners, two different cars, two different engine builders, two somewhat different crews. It was an incredible accomplishment and to be the first guy to ever win the UARA-STARS Series championship twice, was a huge feat that McCall wanted to accomplish.
 

McCall's 2009 Season at a Glance:

Date Track Name Start/Finish
3/21/09 Bristol Motor Speedway 1st/1st
4/18/09 Rockingham Speedway 1st/6th
4/25/09 Concord Speedway 2nd/2nd
5/22/09 Tri-County Motor Speedway 2nd/21st
5/30/09 Dillon Motor Speedway 5th/6th
6/6/09 Orange County Speedway 1st/1st
6/27/09 Hickory Motor Speedway 5th/3rd
7/4/09 Lonesome Pine Raceway 1st/1st
7/17/09 Tri-County Motor Speedway 2nd/1st
8/7/09 Ace Speedway 4th/5th
8/15/09 Myrtle Beach Speedway 8th/10th
8/29/09 Newport Speedway 2nd/3rd
9/19/09 Dillon Motor Speedway 7th/10th
10/18/09 Hickory Motor Speedway 8th/4th
11/7/04 Kingsport Speedway 3rd/3rd
11/14/09 Concord Speedway 3rd/21st

Average Start - 3rd      Average Finish - 6th

McCall's Quick Stats 2009:

~Laps Completed: 2236 of 2294 laps
~Laps Led: 633 laps(10 times)
~Money Won: $19,875
~Weeks Leading Points: 1-3 & 6-16
~Bonus Points: 94(1st)