Story by: Langley Austin ~ langley@RACE22.com

Mooresville, NC(December 23, 2009) -- In January of this year, two months before the start of the UARA-STARS Series season, Brandon McReynolds made an off-season move that would take his racing program to a new level with the hiring of 2008 UARA Championship winning crew chief, Nick Huchins.

Nick Hutchins joined Team McReynolds and it appeared to all of the rest of the UARA-STARS competitors and fans that the young son of former NASCAR Sprint Cup crew chief and current NASCAR on Fox TV Analyst, Larry McReynolds, was on the fast track to domination. In his rookie season in 2008 McReynolds picked up one win, but fell just a few points short of winning the Rookie of the Year award and while it looked like his program would be strong in 2009, the addition of Hutchins was a huge swing in momentum.

McReynolds season however would be scarred from the start as he was hit with engine issues in the first three races of the season and by the sixth race of 2009, he would have one win, a third and five blown engines. McReynolds season started off with engine related issues in the season opener at Bristol Motor Speedway after not getting to qualify due to blowing an engine late in practice, starting 31st and finishing a disappointing 21st. At Rockingham Speedway he qualified eighth and while he didn't suffer engine woes again he did suffer the fate of a cut tire causing him to finish 18th.

Concord Speedway was up next and McReynolds was really going to be reeling from this one after being fast in practice, he blew an engine late and only qualified 15th. McReynolds then had a solid run going before having yet another engine go south on him during the race giving him a 26th place finish. Now it was time to head to Tri-County Motor Speedway and at this point people were just kind of expecting him to have engine issues, so when he qualified third everyone figured he wouldn't finish anywhere near there. However, McReynolds ran a solid race challenging Paddy Rodenbeck for the lead for much of the race before settling for a third place finish late, leaving the young driver breathing a sigh of relief.

With that third place finish and a change in engine builders under his belt, it was now time for McReynolds and the rest of the UARA-STARS to head to Dillon Motor Speedway in Dillon, SC. McReynolds again qualified third and was hoping to atleast repeat his performance at Tri-County and he did that only better as he drove a solid race and found himself in position to win in the end. The win was a huge weight off he and his teams shoulders, but as the next race came about and he was again performing how he was anticipated to perform, McReynolds was struck with another blow from the engine department.

This time it was leftover parts from the initial engine problems he had started the season with and McReynolds knew that once they had everything gone through with their new engine builder, Don Kowalsky, they wouldn't be subject to any more problems. He was right as after the disappointment at Orange County Speedway on June 6th, he and his team were on the right track and never had to worry about their engine program again. Hickory Motor Speedway was up next for the UARA-STARS Series and McReynolds was again up on the wheel qualifying second and running among the lead group of cars until a late race brush with friend, Kyle Grissom. The tussle ended Grissom's night early and left McReynolds only able to manage an 11th place finish.

Lonesome Pine Raceway in Coeburn, VA would be the site of the eighth race of sixteen events for the UARA-STARS Series and the tight confines of the 3/8 mile track would be just the right fit for McReynolds as he qualified second once again. McReynolds left this race feeling like he "coulda', shoulda' and woulda' won" the race, but he and the rest of the UARA-STARS drivers were up against all odds as the race was run with a soaked race track from consistent rains, leaving the drivers more on edge than ever and slipping and sliding all over the track. McReynolds lost one position in the slipping and sliding and settled for third position, but when the checkered flag fell for the 150-lap race it was the tech process that was to be the next thorn in the side for this talented racer.

McReynolds third place finish was tossed out by UARA-STARS officials as he was found to have a engine block that didn't meet UARA series specifications and thus he was removed from the finishing order of the race on Monday morning. However, McReynolds appealed the infraction and had his case heard before a non-biased UARA-STARS Series Appeals Board made up of non-UARA employees and prominent people in short track racing. McReynolds appeal was then overturned and his third place finish was reinstated and for once a situation regarding engines had went in the young drivers favor(If you want to read about the DQ and/or appeal, please visit the RACE22.com Archives Pages)

With the appeal and disqualifcation behind him, McReynolds headed back to Tri-County, where earlier in the season he had been a contender for the win, but this time around he would qualify eighth and finish ninth, never contending among the leaders. Two weeks later the series headed to Ace Speedway in Altamahaw, NC and while McReynolds was very sick, he was determined to race, but had Rockingham UARA winner, Corey LaJoie on stand by just in case. Ace also marked the very point that his crew chief, Hutchins points to as the turning point in their season, a race where he says he took setup technology "to a whole new level".

McReynolds despite being ill and racing on one of the most demanding short tracks the series faces qualified on the pole and dominated the race, picking up his second victory of the season and the third in his UARA-STARS career. He wasn't without challenge though as he had a slow leaking tire on the final green, white, checkered finish and had to hold off a very strong Alex Yontz for the victory. With two wins in the bag, but no shot at rallying back to challenge Matt McCall and Jamey Caudill for the series title, McReynolds set a goal of getting as high in the points as possible and while third was a far reaching goal it wasn't too high for the young driver.

The next two races were decent runs as he qualified and finished sixth at Myrtle Beach Speedway and qualified fourth and finished ninth at Newport Speedway, but as the series headed back to the site of his first win of the season at Dillon, McReynolds was again among the players. While McReynolds only qualified tenth, he rallied in the late stages of the 150-lap race to finish second after the two leaders got together on the final lap, leaving one spinning and the other penalized for the contact. Now it was time to head back to Hickory Motor Speedway where McReynolds had been in contention until late in the race in the first stop for the tour, but this time he kept his nose clean after starting fifth and came home with a third place finish.

Win number three on the season came in the most unlikely of places as the young driver had a "near perfect" weekend at Kingsport Speedway. Everyone had considered many of the local drivers the favorite in this race as the track had sat idle for seven years, but when McReynolds hit it for the first time, the locals were out to lunch. Again, McReynolds qualified first and finished first dominating the race and leaving many to wonder including McReynolds and Hutchins what might have been if not for the early season engine problems that put them deep in the points standings.

McReynolds again looked to be on track to win the season finale at Concord Speedway qualifying on the pole twice after the race was scratched the week before the Kingsport event following qualifying and dominating the race. He would fall victim to a cut tire as many drivers did in this event and finished a very disappointing 14th, but it was a perfect ending of sorts for how his season had gone after coming in as a championship favorite and faltering early, he faltered again in the season finale with something out of
 

he and his teams control.

McReynolds certainly has come a long way in two seasons of competition on the UARA-STARS Series and while he won't have crew chief, Nick Hutchins back in 2010 for select appearances on the tour as he moves on to compete in the ARCA and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series this season, McReynolds will certainly still be a threat to win. The young driver has also already been impressive practing among the top five in his first ARCA Series test at Daytona recently and the sky is the limit for a driver who "shoulda', woulda' and coulda'" been the UARA-STARS Series champion in 2009.

McReynolds' 2009 Season at a Glance:

Date Track Name Start/Finish
3/21/09 Bristol Motor Speedway 31st/21st
4/18/09 Rockingham Speedway 8th/18th
4/25/09 Concord Speedway 15th/26th
5/22/09 Tri-County Motor Speedway 3rd/3rd
5/30/09 Dillon Motor Speedway 3rd/1st
6/6/09 Orange County Speedway 3rd/19th
6/27/09 Hickory Motor Speedway 2nd/11th
7/4/09 Lonesome Pine Raceway 2nd/3rd
7/17/09 Tri-County Motor Speedway 8th/9th
8/7/09 Ace Speedway 1st/1st
8/15/09 Myrtle Beach Speedway 6th/6th
8/29/09 Newport Speedway 4th/9th
9/19/09 Dillon Motor Speedway 10th/2nd
10/18/09 Hickory Motor Speedway 5th/3rd
11/7/04 Kingsport Speedway 1st/1st
11/14/09 Concord Speedway 1st/14th

Average Start - 6th Average Finish - 9th

McReynolds' Quick Stats 2009:

~Laps Completed: 2084 of 2294 laps
~Laps Lead: 527 laps(5 times)
~Money Won: $16,200
~Weeks Leading Points: None
~Bonus Points: 78(3rd best)