McReynolds Wins Kingsport as the UARA Wows the Crowd

It had been seven long years since the fans of Kingsport Speedway had seen action at their beloved track and they came out in force to see the UARA action November 7th. They were not disappointed with what they got.

The UARA came in some 26 cars strong and put on a great show. Brandon McReynolds set the Sunoco Pole time of 15.101 easily breaking the track record of 15.236. McReynolds was followed by Jamey Caudill getting the KLB Race Cars & Parts outside pole with a 15.116.
Point leader Matt McCall qualified third at 15.139. This alone was a setup for a super race.

The green flies and McReynolds takes the point with Caudill and McCall hot on his trail.
Caution one flies as the 55 car of Bruce Blessings makes contact with the pit wall in turn four after some mechanical problem. The 74 of Caleb Holman suffers engine failure and will come to a halt in turn one during this time.

The field goes back to green and the action is on. McReynolds will set sail as Caudill and McCall put on one serious battle side by side and nose to tail for several laps as the fans cheer them on. These two veteran UARA drivers show what championship racing is all about. Hats off to them both for the supreme show of professionalism and showmanship during this extreme close racing.

The car of Josh Brock was black flagged to get an exhaust pipe fixed that was coming loose.
Caution two will be for the debris on the track. Back to green it remains McReynolds out front followed by Caudill, McCall, Lee Tissot, Brandon McReynolds, Nate Monteith, Brennan Poole, Coleman Pressley, Paddy Rodenbeck and Brian Blevins as the top ten.

Back in the pack Garrett Campbell and local hero Keith Stiltner are having a race of their own running side by side for position. Campbell will eventually get the spot for now. Wade Day makes his move on Brian Blevins as well.

Coleman Pressley and Nate Monteith put on a side by side show with Pressley coming out with the 7th place spot.

Caution three flies as the Day car spins in turn two. The top five remain in tack with Poole, Pressley, Monteith, Rodenbeck and Campbell as the top ten on lap 50. Back to green Monteith and Rodenbeck battle back and forth for position. It will be Monteith on one lap and Rodenbeck the next. Rodenbeck will claim it for a while.

Jeff Woodward, Grant McGinnis and Paul Shull will all crash in turn one as the Shull engine erupts with a temporary ball of flames under that car. The field will go red to clean up the wreckage.

Green flies on lap 74 on to fly again on lap 75 as the Tissot car spins off turn two. The Brennan Poole car comes around to the pits with front-end damage to receive attention from his crew.

A short five-lap green period comes, then the Monteith and Campbell cars spin in turn one.
Lap 92 finds the green flying on to be caution before the lap is completed as Wayne Hale and Brian Blevins wreck in turn one. The field will go red once again to receive the attention of the wrecker and track crews. McReynolds continues to lead the field as the green hits the air again on lap 103. Caution nine will fall as Luke Laney wrecks in turn one. Laney will still come home as the Chassis Specialty Rookie of the Race for being the highest finishing Rookie. Caution ten will fly as Coleman Pressley spins in turn one and two after some serious racing and possible contact with Zeke Shell.

The final caution will fall as fourth place runner Kyle Grissom is once again struck with a stroke of bad luck. It appears he has front suspension problems and his day will end early. Grissom is the definite Aluminum Racing Products Hard Luck winner after this good run. Grissom also had engine problems on Friday and had to go to Charlotte Friday evening to retrieve another engine.
They worked diligently to get the car race ready only to have bad luck bite them again.

The final green falls on lap 139 and the fans will get to their feet. McReynolds is out front but Caudill is giving it his all to pass him. McCall is pressuring Caudill as well. It is a battle royal to the very finish with McReynolds winning with the Caudill car up to his door.

Post race McReynolds said “I kind of wore out my car there at the beginning and Jamey had an awesome car,” McReynolds said. “He has always run me clean so it was pretty cool to know that he was behind me. “I knew he would give me a run for my money, but he’d do it the clean way.” McReynolds will receive the RE Suspension and Performance Tee first place awards for his efforts. He will also claim the B Square Janitorial Clean Sweep Award for being the highest place finisher starting and finishing in the same position. Kowalsky Machine will come home with the Comp Cams Engine Builder of the Race award.

Caudill said “The only thing I wish I had done different, I wish I had started pressuring him earlier than I did. I got there with about 100 to go and started pressuring him and he started driving harder and getting looser. I just needed one more lap.” Caudill will bring home the G Force Shift of the Race award for all his hard efforts.

Racing along with the UARA-STARS were the Street Stock and Pure Four Divisions.
Roger Neece a Lonesome Pine regular won the Street Stock segment and Keith Helton also a Lonesome Pine regular won the Pure Four race. Many thanks to both of these divisions for supporting this effort by the UARA to bring racing back to Kingsport Speedway. Driver from Lonesome Pine, Bulls Gap, Newport and Wytheville were on hand to make this an exciting day with 22 Street Stock cars and 20 Pure Fours.

Below is an email post from one of many Kingsport fans to the UARA.

I know I speak for everyone at the track yesterday by telling you thanks for bringing the UARA Stars to the Kingsport Speedway. I stopped by Friday to catch some practice before going to work, and I'm glad I had my sunglasses on, otherwise all those solid race fans around me wouldve seen the tears.

I grew up right around the corner from the track, and hearing the roar of those cars testing a few days ago brought back soooo many memories. There seemed to be a fantastic turnout, as I knew there would be. I hope you seriously consider bringing the UARA series back next year, such a fantastic organization with some awesome racing!

Thanks so much,
Jonathan Edens
Kingsport, TN



Kingsport 11-7-09
Position / Driver Car #

1 - Brandon McReynolds 28
2 - Jamey Caudill 50
3 - Matt McCall 23
4 - Paddy Rodenbeck 81
5 - Lee Tissot 44
6 - Nate Monteith 14
7 - Wade Day 4
8 - Zeke Shell 97
9 - Coleman Pressley 59
10 - Dennis Queen 92
11 - Jeff Woodward 94
12 - Josh Brock 17
13 - Luke Laney 24
14 - Kyle Grissom 32
15 - Keith Stiltner 22
16 - Brennan Poole 5
17 - Matt Kurzejewski 70
18 - Wayne Hale 19
19 - Brian Blevins 40
20 - Garrett Campbell 12
21 - Paul Shull 48
22 - Grant McGinnis 41
23 - Jeff Maupin 51
24 - Brian Rose 72
25 - Caleb Holman 74
26 - Bruce Blessing 55

The UARA-STARS will be in action again at Saturday November 14 at Concord Speedway.

For more info visit www.uara-stars.com or call 828-692-3833
Press Release by: Wink Bodenhamer