SMT: Greenville-Pickens race notes

NASCAR WHELEN SOUTHERN MODIFIED TOUR DRIVER JUNIOR MILLER PICKS UP VICTORY SATURDAY NIGHT AT GREENVILLE-PICKENS SPEEDWAY

GREENVILLE, S.C. (April 8, 2006) - Defending NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour champion Junior Miller put on quite a display Saturday night at Greenville-Pickens Speedway and showed why he's one of the best in the business with his dominating victory in the Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 150.

Miller started on the pole as the field was set per the NASCAR rulebook when rain showers rolled through the area and cancelled qualifying in the first Whelen Southern Modified Tour race at the famed half-mile short track. Miller pulled out to the lead on the first lap and had to hold off a late race challenge from Tim Brown to pick up his first win of the 2006 season, leading every single lap.

While it might look like it was an easy night for Miller, well it was until he had to hold off Brown on a restart with two laps remaining when his car appeared to lose traction coming to the green flag.

"All the guys on my team put together an awesome car for me and to be able to lead every lap is pretty cool," Hedgecock said. "I slipped on that restart and about let it slip away from me. I thought I was going to wreck and it was going to be all over for me. To win here at such an historic race track like Greenville-Pickens in my very first race means a whole lot to me. This just makes my night."

Miller admits that Brown could have turned him around and gone on to win the race.

"But I'd have had to drive back over him to get the lead back," Miller joked with Brown standing beside him after walking up to congratulate him.

Brown said that he wanted to win, but not at the expense of wrecking the leader to do so.

"I'd never been around this track before until last night when we rode around here in a van so I really didn't know what to expect," Brown said. "Junior is one heck of a driver and for my team to give me a car that had a chance to beat him and win the race says a whole lot about how good they really are. I just didn't want to tear anything up because we head back to Caraway (N.C.) Speedway next weekend. This is just the second race of the year and you don't want to make enemies this early in the season. We finished second and that had to help us out a lot in the points so it was a good night for us."

L.W. Miller was third, followed by Burt Myers and Bobby Hutchens to round out the top-five.

The first caution was thrown for debris on Lap 54 - and with Miller still in command of the race - the second yellow was brought out when Michael Clifton went for a harmless spin betweens turns one and two on Lap 70.

The third caution of the night came out on Lap 86 when Jay Mize spun entering turn one while Hutchens and Earl Baker also got caught up in the smoke and got their cars turned sideways, with all cars getting back out on the track without major damage. Unfortunately for Mize, he was also the reason for the fourth caution when he looped his car in the second turn. Mize also brought out the next caution on Lap 97 when he was tapped and sent spinning heading into the third turn.

The final caution that set the stage for the green-white-checkered finish came on Lap 144, but when all was said and done their was simply denying Miller the victory.

The NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour returns to action next Saturday night, April 15, at Caraway Speedway,

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