Fresh off a victory at Orange County Speedway (NC), Brandon Ward knew he would have a fast car Saturday afternoon at Concord Speedway (NC). That proved to be true when he pulled his No. 19 Modified into Victory Lane following the Southern Modified Racing Series “Spring Explosion” at the North Carolina tri-oval.
The win was Ward’s second Southern Modified Racing Series victory of the 2017 season after going winless in 10 previous starts.
Ward qualified on the pole for the 125-lap feature event and stayed within the top five for almost the entire race.
Bryan Dauzat led a majority of the opening laps but dropped to sixth after surrendering the lead to Bobby Measmer Jr. That set up a battle for the lead between Ward and Measmer throughout the race.
A lot of the strategy played into the pit stops that took place. The competition caution was thrown twice throughout the race after the field went caution free for a total of 84 laps.
Two-time NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour champion Andy Seuss, driving the Brady Bunch No. 00, made up most his ground on the final pit stop. When the entire field decided to pit, Seuss exited pit road as the leader of the race.
Ward didn’t allow Seuss to lead for too long, taking the lead back after a few laps. Measmer wasn’t far behind as he made sure to stay within Ward’s rear view mirror, letting him know he would be there if Ward slipped up.
Both Burt and Jason Myers found their way up through the field after qualifying outside of the top five. Going into the final laps they would be running third and fourth putting on a brotherly battle of their own but would fall short of making it a Myers 1-2 finish.
In the end, consistency was key as Brandon Ward played all of his cards correctly and ended up right where he was planning to be in the winner’s circle.
Now two-for-three in 2017 Southern Modified Racing Series competition, Ward is off to a strong start as he holds the points lead early on in the season.
SMRS returns to competition on Saturday, April 8 when they make the trip to Southern National Motorsports Park (NC).
An on-demand Trackside Now replay of Saturday’s race can be seen by clicking here.
-By Hannah Newhouse, Speed51.com Southeast Correspondent
-Photo credit: Speed51.com
Southern Modified Racing Series Unofficial Results
Concord Speedway (NC) – April 1, 2017
| Pos | # | Driver |
| 1 | 19 | Brandon Ward |
| 2 | 14 | Bobby Measmer Jr |
| 3 | 1 | Burt Myers |
| 4 | 4 | Jason Myers |
| 5 | 25 | John Smith |
| 6 | 00 | Andy Seuss |
| 7 | 17t | Tyler Truex |
| 8 | 22b | Kyle Bonsignore |
| 9 | 2 | JR Bertuccio |
| 10 | 40b | Danny Bohn |
| 11 | 22 | Jimmy Wallace |
| 12 | 15 | Jeremy Gerstner |
| 13 | 5e | Kyle Ebersole |
| 14 | 77 | Gary Putnam |
| 15 | 83 | Tim Brown |
| 16 | 12 | Mike Norman |
| 17 | 5 | Tom Buzze Jr |
| 18 | 97 | Bryan Dauzat |
