Sunday afternoon at Caraway Speedway is essentially a homecoming party for 2000 NASCAR Cup Series champion Bobby Labonte.
It’s also the highly anticipated season opener for the Southern Modified Auto Racing Teams.
There are a growing number of other Tour Type Modified drivers currently poised to challenge Labonte in his first race back as a full-time driver and at his home track. Labonte first took a green flag at Caraway in 1980 in a Sportsman Division race ultimately won by Dale Earnhardt.
Labonte claimed the track’s 1987 championship and now seeks a competitive run in his pursuit of the SMART Modified championship.
Standing in his way will be southern Tour Type Modified regulars Jeremy Gerstner, Brian Loftin, Tim Brown, Jason and Burt Myers, Tom Buzze, Jr., Frank Fleming and Mike Norman. John Smith will debut a new car owned by Buddy Ellis.
The early favorite has to be defending World Series of Asphalt champion Matt Hirschman. Other veteran outsiders include Jeff Fultz, Ronnie Williams and Caleb Heady in the 7NY owned by Tommy Baldwin. CARS Tour Super Late Model champion Jared Fryar will also race alongside Dennis Holdren, Gary Putnam and Daniel Beeson.
It’s a legitimately strong field for the first race of the new season.
The card also includes 602 Modifieds, Mini Stock and Charger Late Models. Racing begins at 3 p.m. on Sunday at Caraway.
- 04 Brandon Ward
- 07 Dennis Holdren
- 1 Burt Myers
- 3 Danny Propst
- 4 Jason Myers
- 5 Tom Buzze, Jr.
- 7NY Caleb Heady
- 8 Darin Redmon
- 12 Mike Norman
- 14 Bobby Messmer
- 15 Brian Loftin
- 17 Chuck Hossfeld
- 18 Daniel Yates
- 22 Jimmy Wallace
- 24 John Smith
- 24 Andrew Harrah
- 25 Bobby Labonte
- 39 Carlos Gray
- 40 Frank Fleming
- 44 Daniel Beeson
- 44 Jared Fryar
- 50 Michael Clifton
- 55 Jeremy Gerstner
- 75 Lee Jeffries
- 77 Gary Putnam
- 79 James Civali
- 83 Tim Brown
- 92 Brodie Jones
- 99 Ronnie Williams
Read more Short Track Scene:
Fred Wilcox
March 12, 2021 at 3:49 pm
Much hype about Bobby Labonte driving a modified. His actual debut was last November at Florence Speedway (SC) in the SMART sanctioned event.
Matt Weaver
March 13, 2021 at 11:31 pm
We know! There’s a story on the website about it.