Story by: Langley Austin ~ langley@RACE22.com

Mooresville, NC(December 29, 2009) -- Jamey Caudill ... it's a name that in the Late Model Stock Car world here in the Virginia/Carolina's region that stands for excellence and during the 2009 season, the veteran driver was ready to tackle the UARA-STARS tour in search of a championship that had eluded him for years.

Caudill had fought many different foes in his quest for the UARA-STARS Series championship starting with his first full season in 2005, but he had already won several races in the series and was well on his way to becoming the all-time wins leader he is today. Caudill is also the all-time Sunoco Pole Award winner with 17 of those to his credit and 13 wins in the UARA-STARS Series and 97 career Late Model Stock Car victories, a number few have or will match in the future. Caudill also has been a track champion of the Southern National Raceway Park in the past as well as a NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Regional Champion in the early 2000's, however the one thing he still can't lay claim to is a UARA-STARS Series Championship.

In 2009, Caudill came the closest to capturing just that title, but still fell short by 46 points, ten points closer than his third place effort in 2008 falling 56 points short to Jake Crum and in 2005 he fell 66 points short. In 2009 and 2005, there was only one driver standing in Caudill's way ... Matt McCall and in 2009 for sure he became a thorn in Caudill's side beating him often and eventually bumping him out of the way for a victory late in the season, which set up a classic championship battle.

Caudill's season started off hot with a second place qualifying effort and a second place finish, but as the series headed to Rockingham Speedway last year for the first time ever and Caudill didn't carry any of his Bristol luck with him. Caudill qualified fourth and finished 15th after struggling throughout the race and as the series headed to Concord, a track where Caudill doesn't have a victory, he was hoping for a rebound. At Concord, Caudill qualified fifth and finished seventh all the while as he watched while his brother, Jeff celebrated in victory lane with his young driver, Paddy Rodenbeck.

Caudill wasn't about to be outdone by his brother and as the series hit the next event a month later, Caudill did just like we expected the old veteran driver to do. He watched as young drivers ahead of him scrapped for the lead like it was the last lap, yet they were ten or more laps from it and after they were done, the veteran used his fresher tires to mount a challenge and drive away with the lead taking home the win at Tri-County Motor Speedway. Caudill started to build some momentum and this time the series rolled into Dillon Motor Speedway in Dillon, SC and he won the pole and looked poised to make a bid for another win. Caudill would finish second after seeming to wait to late to make a move on leader and eventual winner, Brandon McReynolds.

With the points lead in hand, the series wins leader, led the series regulars and other challengers into Orange County Speedway in Rougemont, NC and his momentum would slow a little as he qualified 12th and finished fourth. Fourth wasn't a terrible finish, but when the guy Caudill was battling for the championship, Matt McCall dominated the race and took back over the points lead heading into a great stretch of races for McCall, Caudill had to know he was in trouble. Hickory Motor Speedway was next for the series and Caudill had a great showing on McCall's home track finishing one position better than him in second, but not enough to regain the points lead.

The following week at Lonesome Pine Raceway, Caudill was dealt another crushing blow in his chase for the championship as McCall won his season leading third race while Caudill finished sixth after qualifying fifth. The way the Lonesome Pine race played out for Caudill and others was very challenging as the race was ran almost completely in the rain as the series officials worked hard to get the race in on the scheduled day and most drivers finished within a position of where they started. Now it was time to go back to Tri-County, where Caudill had just recently picked up UARA career victory number 12, but this time his championship competitor was the races victor and Caudill was only able to finish fourth.

By now it seemed as if Caudill was out of the championship hunt as he had slipped a ways behind McCall and with McCall running good enough to win four of the nine races and only seven races to go, Caudill had to hope for a little bad luck for his rival. As the series hit the Ace Speedway in Altamahaw, NC, a 4/10 mile d-shaped track known for being among the toughest tracks on the east coast, McCall began to falter, just a little. McCall's slip was only a couple positions as he finished fifth and Caudill came home third, but it began to show that McCall wasn't unstoppable.

On to Myrtle Beach Speedway in Myrtle Beach, SC and this time Caudill was again a top five competitor qualifying third and slipping to fifth at the end of the race, but the championship leader, McCall had his worst on track finish to date as he qualified eighth and finished a dismal tenth. Caudill was gaining on the points lead and McCall had to be feeling the pressure and now it was time for the series to hit Newport Speedway in Newport, TN for the only stop of the season on the 3/10 mile high-banked bullring and both drivers were up to speed in this one. Caudill qualified on the pole, but slipped back around the midpoint of the race and looked as if he may finish in the second position, but a late race red flag for rain allowed him to get a shot at leader, Kevin Leicht and he pulled off the victory.

It was Caudill's record setting 13th victory and he was at the top of his game, again allowing a young driver to be out front burning his stuff up while he sat back waiting for an opportunity to pounce. McCall finished third despite struggling in the race after qualifying second and slipping as deep as seventh before rallying in the closing laps. Now it was time for the tour to head back to Dillon Motor Speedway where earlier in the season Caudill finished second and McCall was sixth, but this time these two would be the show as they battled like champions at the front of the field.

They raced side by side lap after lap as this 150-lap race wound to it's conclusion with Caudill holding his ground in the lead after qualifying second and McCall racing up from a seventh place time trial to second. Caudill leads, McCall races to the inside of him until the final few laps as things get more serious and Caudill begins to give McCall less room and McCall begins to think of how to make his next move. It was quite possibly the two best Late Model Stock Car drivers of this time period putting on a clinic, as they raced door to door and now bumper to bumper, each looking for the advantage they need to win.

Caudill had that advantage and there was but one way for McCall to get the position ... he had to hit Caudill and he did. Right as the two raced down into turn number three on the races' final lap McCall made a diving move trying to
 

get to the inside of Caudill and as Caudill drove lower into the corner to protect his position as he should, McCall hit him hard from behind and Caudill spun around. McCall went on to take the checkered flag, though due to UARA-STARS Series rules about contact on the final lap, he didn't collect the trophy or the points. He would be credited with tenth and Caudill was credited with ninth.

Caudill was upset, sharing his displeasure with McCall when he tried to apologize to him for the contact and when time came for the next UARA-STARS Series race at Hickory, the fans would find out just how at odds these two were going to be. Early on in the race the two would end up side by side in a battle for position and while they were racing close quarters, Caudill went for a spin, gassing up his car and trying to take McCall with him. Caudill claimed that McCall took him out and he was ready to retaliate against and when he got the chance to he slammed hard into McCall under green and while he wasn't able to wreck McCall he did seal his fate in the championship battle as he was penalized for retaliating and finished 17th.

From here, Caudill had to hope for McCall to have some bad luck and Caudill was going to give it his all to score as many points as possible and stay in the championship hunt. In the next to last race at Kingsport Speedway in Kingsport, TN, Caudill showed that he still wanted that championship and wanted to collect as many wins as possible as he qualified second and finished just a few feet short of passing Brandon McReynolds for the win in second.

Concord Speedway was next on the tour and would finish the season out and Caudill seemed to struggle a bit as he has in most starts on the 1/2 mile track as he qualified eighth and ran in the top ten until he cut a tire. At this point Caudill seemed to throw in the towel as he parked his car, but just a few laps later as he watched championship points leader, McCall go up in smoke as he blew his engine. With McCall out of the race there was a mad scramble on pit road as Caudill jumped back behind the wheel of his car and hit the track. Though, he was several laps down, Caudill knew that there was an outside chance that he could walk away with that championship that had eluded him so many times before.

Caudill's fate however was sealed as he too would have his engine expire during the race and he would finish 20th, just one position in front of McCall. Caudill's hopes were dashed and again McCall was wearing the championship crown, but Caudill has continued to shatter the UARA-STARS Series records including the 13 wins and 17 pole awards. Caudill is one of the greatest Late Model Stock Car racers in the 28 year history of these types of chassis and he's certainly set himself as arguably the greatest UARA-STARS Series drivers and his records speak for themselves.

If Caudill returns to the UARA-STARS Series for the 2010 season we could finally see him get that championship and we'll almost certainly see him continue to shatter his own records for wins and poles and continue to solidify himself as one of the greatest race car drivers to ever strap in behind the wheel of a Late Model Stock Car.

Caudill's 2009 Season at a Glance:

Date Track Name Start/Finish
3/21/09 Bristol Motor Speedway 2nd/2nd
4/18/09 Rockingham Speedway 4th/15th
4/25/09 Concord Speedway 5th/7th
5/22/09 Tri-County Motor Speedway 6th/1st
5/30/09 Dillon Motor Speedway 1st/2nd
6/6/09 Orange County Speedway 12th/4th
6/27/09 Hickory Motor Speedway 3rd/2nd
7/4/09 Lonesome Pine Raceway 5th/6th
7/17/09 Tri-County Motor Speedway 3rd/4th
8/7/09 Ace Speedway 3rd/3rd
8/15/09 Myrtle Beach Speedway 3rd/5th
8/29/09 Newport Speedway 1st/1st
9/19/09 Dillon Motor Speedway 2nd/9th
10/18/09 Hickory Motor Speedway 3rd/17th
11/7/04 Kingsport Speedway 2nd/2nd
11/14/09 Concord Speedway 8th/20th

Average Start - 4th Average Finish - 6th

Caudill's Quick Stats 2009:

~Laps Completed: 2236 of 2294 laps
~Laps Lead: 188 laps(6 times)
~Money Won: $17,025
~Weeks Leading Points: One time on Week Five
~Bonus Points: 60(6th best)