LUCAMA, NC – Non-Toyota drivers have 500 reasons to try to end the dominance of the Toyota Celica drivers in the U-CAR class at Southern National Motorsports Park.
The Toyota drivers have won every single race in the U-CAR division, but a $500 bounty that remains on the Toyota Celica cars casts doubts as to whether they can sweep the season. The bounty adds incentive for drivers from outsiders to come to the track, though the Toyota drivers are already feeling pressure from within.
“I just want to win,” U-CAR driver Ronnie ‘Buckshot’ Jones said. “The bounty doesn’t put any pressure on me, I go there to win the race every weekend.”
Jones, who has one win on the season, attributes the Toyota success to handling, but he feels the 2014 track champion James Stroud could be in position to threaten in the season’s final race on September 12th.
“If other people work on their Preludes and stuff, James Stroud is faster than us,” Jones explained. “He just hasn’t raced every race this year. If he ran every race this year and didn’t have problems, he would have one or two wins right now.”
Points leader Tyler Horne is looking to Saturday night’s race with the opportunity to clinch the championship he felt got away from him last year.
“Winning the championship is my main goal,” Horne said. “We had a chance to win it last year and kind of choked in the final three races.”
Horne also feels Stroud is one driver who could upset the Toyota drivers. Stroud certainly feels like he’s in position to do just that.
“I think we’ve got a little something for them,” Stroud remarked. “We’ve been faster, just no luck this year. We’re going to get everything we got and hopefully we can collect that money.”
One U-CAR driver who could upset all of them is local favorite Joseph Pittman. Pittman has struggled in recent weeks but he’s been making adjustments to his Acura Integra in hopes of making it better for the final race of the season.
“It’s going to take a good amount,” Pittman commented. “We’ve been struggling a little bit. I’ve changed some things so hopefully that will give us a shot.”
Pittman said the Toyota cars have been strong at Southern National because of their ability to turn up.
Travis Miller and Wayne Goss are a part of the local contingent that hopes to score a victory as well, but a $500 bounty promises to draw cars who normally race at other tracks as well.
The U-CAR race is part of the Whelen 9/11 Tribute and Championship Night which will also see racing for the Late Models, Chargers, Legends, Bandoleros as well as the Southern Ground Pounders Vintage Racing Club and the Hampton Roads Karting Club Champ Karts.
For more information about Southern National Motorsports Park, check out SNMP’s website at www.snmpark.com, “like” Southern National Motorsports Park on Facebook or “follow” @SNM_Park on Twitter.
