Story by: Langley Austin ~ langley@RACE22.com

Odessa, FL(December 21, 2009) -- Missle, Misile, Missel, Mistle .... Four ways you could misspell the nickname of the UARA-STARS Series fifth place finishing driver, Paddy "The Missile" Rodenbeck.

Rodenbeck became known as "The Missile" last year because he was extremely fast, but usually would crash and burn long before the end of the 150-lap UARA-STARS Late Model Stock Car races. In 2009 however Rodenbeck was able to climb to the top of his game with a new team, new crew chief and a whole new looser attitude.

Rodenbeck's rookie season in 2008 was spent driving the Fat Head Racing Driver Development cars for fellow driver, Jamie Yelton and while he was fast week in and week out, it seemed as if he couldn't make it to the finish of the race without crashing out. Rodenbeck came into the 2009 season driving for his own family owned team and with new crew chief, Jeff Caudill, brother of fellow racer, Jamey Caudill and the young driver was immediately put on the fast track to competing for the full 150-laps and being in a position to even win several races.

Bristol was the site of the first race of the season and Rodenbeck wasn't about to suffer the same fate as he did there in 2008 when he qualified inside the top ten on one lap and slammed his car into the wall the next one. This time Rodenbeck in his clean, plain white and green number eighty-one car and posted the third fastest time in qualifying and in front of a grand stage of the largest crowd in the history of any Late Model Stock Car race as the UARA-STARS competed at Bristol following the NASCAR Nationwide Series race.

Rodenbeck drove the best race of his career to date at Bristol and finished fourth, getting his season started off on the right foot and putting himself in a position to carry some momentum into the next event, which would be held on the largest track for Late Model Stock Cars to compete on, the Rockingham Speedway in Rockingham, NC. The one-mile facility played host to the Late Model Stock Cars for the first time ever and Rodenbeck came there to race, first qualifying second only to Matt McCall and then when it came time to race he was right in the thick of things all day.

Battling side-by-side with Corey LaJoie to the finish of a 70-lap race marred with caution flags and caution laps and in the end Rodenbeck fell short of picking up his first win by one position, but kept his momentum going into race number three. Concord Speedway was next up on the 2009 schedule and Rodenbeck is fond of the 1/2 mile, d-shaped, lightning fast track and it showed as Rodenbeck backed up his performances with a fourth place qualifying effort. Rodenbeck took the lead during the race from Matt McCall, something that only happened a few times all season and Rodenbeck survived a couple of late race restarts to take home his first career UARA-STARS and Late Model Stock Car victory.

Rodenbeck wasn't going to be denied, he raced his heart out and proved to the world that he and crew chief, Jeff Caudill could get the job done. The young drivers win created one of the most memorable moments as in victory lane his father, Pat broke down in tears as he watched his son celebrate in victory lane. Momentum is a huge factor in racing and we've seen it a million times when a driver finally breaks through for a victory, he can sometimes quickly become dominant.

At Tri-County Motor Speedway for the next UARA-STARS Series race in Hudson, NC and the young driver was ready to keep his momentum swinging and he did qualifying on the pole for the first time of what would be several. Rodenbeck then dominated the race on the 4/10 mile track before being locked in a three-way battle for the win in the closing laps, first with Brandon McReynolds and then Richard Boswell joined the party. Boswell made a huge run on Rodenbeck and when the two entered turn number one with just a few laps left, Rodenbeck went spinning, slamming the outside wall hard and bringing his momentum to a slow crawl.

Rodenbeck finished 16th in what was one of the best races of the 2009 UARA-STARS Series season and while his finish wasn't indicative of how he was performing, he had served notice that he would be a contender no matter what size track. However, Dillon Motor Speedway was up next and Rodenbeck really couldn't get out of his own way, it was the first sign of weakness for the young driver this season, but it was something that Rodenbeck could only chalk up as a learning experience.

Orange County Speedway in Rougemont, NC would be the stage for the sixth race of the 2009 season and Rodenbeck had rebounded nicely from his Dillon issues as he qualifies on the outside pole and races hard with McCall in the first half of the race for the lead. McCall soon drove off from Rodenbeck as the race headed to the halfway point and Brandon McReynolds passed him by next just before he brought his car into the pits as it had began overheating. Another blow to Rodenbeck's season, but again he was in position to win or atleast challenge for the win, when a small issue delivered him a set back.

Rodenbeck wasn't taking his missed opportunities well as he wanted everyone to know that he wasn't going to lay down and in the next race he delivered his message with authority. Rodenbeck rolled into Hickory Motor Speedway in Hickory, NC and delivered a TKO(Total Knock Out) as he qualified on the pole, led every lap of the race and crossed the finish line first for his second career win and doing it the way he wanted to with Total Domination! Rodenbeck's season had been a roller coaster of emotions, but this time was his time to bask in glory of dominating a race in a series that provides the toughest Late Model Stock Car races anywhere.

Now it was on to Lonesome Pine Raceway in Coeburn, VA and while it was a long drive to the track for many drivers who had good cars, the race was extra long due to rain that rolled through the area and was expected to be in the area for a couple days. This forced the series to run the race in the most adverse of conditions as the rain continued to fall, but the green flag remained in the air. After qualifying fourth and getting messed up in an incident with his former team owner, Jamie Yelton, who was making a one-off start in the series, he finished seventh.

Now it was time to go back to Tri-County and while the young driver had dominated the race and finished a disappointing 16th with major damage to the car, but this time Rodenbeck would never even be competitive. That's how the UARA-STARS Series seems to be, one trip to a track and you are flying like the wind and the next, the competition has stepped it up and you're not even in contention and that's exactly how this race played out as he qualified 13th and finished 15th after getting taken out by Owen Kelly late.

The next three races would be one of the toughest stretches of the UARA-STARS Series season as the series visited the 4/10 mile d-shaped Ace Speedway in Altamahaw, NC, then hit the Myrtle Beach Speedway in Myrtle Beach, SC and Newport Speedway in Newport, TN. Rodenbeck all three times proved he was up to the challenge qualifying eighth, second and third respectively in time trials for these three tough races on three of the toughest tracks on the tour. Rodenbeck would finish 15th, 13th and 15th in these three races after having issues in all three and ironically after those races Rodenbeck would be happy to see the 4/10 mile Dillon, SC track despite not even being competitive in his previous start there.

Rodenbeck would post the fastest qualifying time on the Coastal region track, which goes back to what we said about being lighting quick one time and out to lunch the next, except Rodenbeck had reversed that and was solid this time around. After the long 150-lap race that ended in a most controversial way, the young driver had claimed a third place finish, which was just what the doctor ordered for him right before the series took a short break for the biggest Late Model Stock Car race in the country. The Bailey's 300 at Martinsville Speedway would be Rodenbeck's next race while the tour was taking a break and Rodenbeck showed the strength of the series by qualifying just outside the top 22 and then dominating his heat race to put himself solidly in the show among 85-cars. Rodenbeck's great run would come to a disappointing end as he had a mechanical issue and would be out early in the race.

Now it was time to go back to Hickory Motor Speedway, the site of his second win, where he dominated, leading all the laps. Again, "fast the first time and out to lunch the second race" came into play as Rodenbeck didn't qualify poorly, with a fourth place effort, but as the laps clicked off he found out he wasn't going to be in contention eventually finishing 18th. With Hickory in his rearview mirror and after thinking he was going to be the dominant driver again, it was time to head to a new track, one he had never raced on and this time without his crew chief.

His crew chief, Caudill was scheduled to be on a hunting trip and with this race being rescheduled due to an early
 

season cancelation, Caudill was forced to miss the race at Kingsport Speedway in Kingsport, TN, a track that hadn't seen any racing action in seven years. Without him there to guide the team, he had a familiar foe guiding him as Richard Boswell, who had been involved in the crash that took Rodenbeck out of the lead late at Tri-County. Boswell would be a stand in crew chief and spotter and Rodenbeck had a great race despite getting slammed into on a restart, charging from ninth to fourth.

With his crew chief back and as the series headed to it's finale at Concord Speedway, the site of his first career win, Rodenbeck was hoping to challenge for the win. Again, however his return wouldn't go as good as his debut and after being in position to win the race after the two early leaders fell out, Rodenbeck ended his race getting spun after working as hard as he could to stay ahead of the cars behind him, despite being obviously off-pace compared to the cars he was racing. That's how Rodenbeck's season would end, with damage and in tenth place, but certainly his journey was a stellar one as the young driver continues to look to move up the racing ladder.

Missile definition; "A rocket-propelled weapon designed to deliver an explosive warhead with great accuracy at high speed. Missiles vary from small tactical weapons effective out to only a few hundred feet to much larger strategic weapons with ranges of several thousand miles."

Certainly in his rookie season, Rodenbeck had lacked the accuracy, but in 2009 he raced much like a missile delivering explosive performances in nearly every race and proving to everyone that he had the neccesary talent to race with the best Late Model Stock Car drivers in the business. Paddy Rodenbeck is different ... look at him, his hair is long, he's always smiling and he has a swagger about him that makes helps make him one of the young drivers who everyone in NASCAR should be looking at to fill their soon to be vacant drivers seats.

In 2010 it appears that Rodenbeck will move up to run in selected NASCAR Camping World Truck Series events, but he's also planning to keep his Late Model Stock Car and he's planning to run a handful of UARA-STARS and NASCAR LMSC races. So we'll be seeing much more of this young talent before he finds himself behind the wheel of one of NASCAR Sprint Cup's most prominent rides.

Rodenbeck's 2009 Season at a Glance:
Date Track Name Start/Finish
3/21/09 Bristol Motor Speedway 3rd/4th
4/18/09 Rockingham Speedway 2nd/2nd
4/25/09 Concord Speedway 4th/1st
5/22/09 Tri-County Motor Speedway 1st/16th
5/30/09 Dillon Motor Speedway 18th/20th
6/6/09 Orange County Speedway 2nd/20th
6/27/09 Hickory Motor Speedway 1st/1st
7/4/09 Lonesome Pine Raceway 4th/7th
7/17/09 Tri-County Motor Speedway 13th/15th
8/7/09 Ace Speedway 8th/15th
8/15/09 Myrtle Beach Speedway 2nd/13th
8/29/09 Newport Speedway 3rd/15th
9/19/09 Dillon Motor Speedway 1st/3rd
10/18/09 Hickory Motor Speedway 4th/18th
11/7/04 Kingsport Speedway 9th/4th
11/14/09 Concord Speedway 4th/10th
Average Start - 4th Average Finish - 10th
 
Rodenbeck's Quick Stats 2009:
~Laps Completed: 2087 of 2294 laps
~Laps Lead: 455 laps(4 times)
~Money Won: $13,050
~Weeks Leading Points: 1(one) on Week Four
~Bonus Points: 72(4th best)