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Haley Moody is hoping to make a splash in her first Late Model Stock Car race of the 2016 season, teaming up with Lee McCall and Hawk McCall Motorsports at a track she has had success at in the past.

Moody, 21, from Kinston, North Carolina, will be racing McCall’s no. 41 car in the Championship Auto Racing Series (CARS) Late Model Stock Tour race on September 3rd, her first race since competing in the Thanksgiving All-Star Classic at Southern National last November.  On paper, the combination of Moody and McCall at Southern National is potent and could yield strong results.

Moody won three Limited Late Model races at Southern National in 2014, the same year she won the division championship.  She will be driving for the same team Brayton Haws won the 2014 Autumn Classic and the 2015 CARS Late Model Stock Tour championship in and a car that was most recently piloted by Chase Purdy.

“I’m very excited about having the opportunity to race with Hawk McCall Motorsports,” Moody said.  “It’ll be my first race of the year and, with it being at Southern National, I’ll be confident I can run well for the team and my sponsors.”

When she takes the green flag in the 125 lap Late Model Stock Car portion of the CSX Play It Safe 250, she knows she will be up against some tough competition – most notably the series points leaders, Deac McCaskill and Tommy Lemons, Jr.

McCaskill has four track championships at Southern National and has scored two wins and led all but three laps in three prior CARS Tour races at the Lucama, North Carolina speedplant.  Lemons won the track championship in 2014 and is the hottest driver on the circuit with wins at Greenville-Pickens Speedway and Orange County Speedway.

“Well, I’m definitely going to do my best no matter what,” Moody commented.  “Racing with someone of the best late model racers like Deac, Tommy and others.  It’s going to be tough but it will only make me better.”

The only thing that eclipses the opportunity Moody has to race with McCall, who was a successful NASCAR crew chief with Sterling Marlin and Jamie McMurray, is the happiness of being able to get back in the cockpit of a racecar.  Her primary car was totaled in an accident in a Southeast Limited Late Model Series “race” at Myrtle Beach Speedway last November.

Moody did take advantage of the time out of the car to focus on her college courses.

“It’s been tough, not being in the car but, I know everything happens for a reason,” Moody explained.  “Plus, I was in school so I really needed to get that behind me.  We wanted to have the car as good as we can get it and that has taken time.  It was a rough wreck and we wanted everything right.”

The accident that ultimately damaged her car at Myrtle Beach, in a bizarre and disastrous 100 lap “race” that saw 23 caution, was just the proverbial salt on the wound for Moody.

After winning the Limited Late Model championship at Southern National in 2014, Moody struggled immensely in 2015 – only scoring two top-five finishes, one in a race at Myrtle Beach Speedway in the summer and a second in the inaugural Carteret County Speedway race.

“Yes we did have a bad year, but it happens to us all,” Moody remarked.  “Hopefully my luck has turned around and we can come up with some good finishes.”

If everything goes well in the CARS Tour race at Southern National, Moody hopes to compete in the Valley Star Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway in October.

“It all depends on sponsorship but hopefully everything will work out,” Moody claimed.  “Solid Rock Carries and Ask Logistics came on board for this year and I can’t thank them enough, along with PFC Brakes, Champion Spark Plugs, Ford Racing and everybody else who helps out.”

She also hopes to race at Carteret County Speedway and at Myrtle Beach Speedway during Myrtle Beach Speedweeks 2016.

Emilee Riley, another female Late Model standout, will drive for Hawk McCall Motorsports in a Late Model Stock Car race at Hickory Motor Speedway on August 20th.

Marquis comes from St. Charles, Maryland and has a widespread background in journalism, having covered politics in Washington and Maryland as well as nearly every form of auto racing, including NASCAR, IndyCar, AMA Motocross and IHRA Drag Racing. Now living near Emerald Isle, North Carolina, Marquis covers Late Model Stock Cars and Super Late Models in the Carolinas and Virginia.

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