BRUNNHOELZL'S FAMILY ROOTS HELP ON NASCAR SOUTHERN MOD TOUR
Young Racer is One to Watch
If you walk up and down pit road at any NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour event and ask the drivers and crews about who they think is going to be the next future star on the horizon, more than a few people will point towards George Brunnhoelzl III as the driver to watch.
Racing isn’t just a hobby for Brunnhoelzl – it’s the only way of life the 25 year-old resident of Mooresville, N.C. has ever known.
“My family has always been in racing and now I’m a third generation driver,” Brunnhoelzl explained. “My grandfather and my dad raced Modifieds, so I grew up watching them and wanting to do what they were doing. I’d say I was going to races before I was even born with my mother going to watch my dad race. I got addicted to racing at an early age and I still love it.
“There really wasn’t ever any question of what I wanted to do with my life. Once you’re around racing long enough, you either love it or you hate it. I love it.”
Brunnhoelzl (No. 28 Oval Blue Ford) followed in the Modified path that was paved by his dad, George Jr., and seemingly every other member of his family over three generations. Brunnhoelzl would work on his family’s Modifieds while living on Long Island, New York, helping the family at the track at places like Riverhead Raceway before getting behind the wheel of a 600-horsepower Modified for himself in 1999.
“I ran my first Modified race at my hometown track in Riverhead when I was 16 years old,” Brunnhoelzl said. “After I moved down here to Mooresville (N.C.) I ran the Modifieds for a while before I started racing in the Hooters Pro Cup Series. I ran that series for a couple of years before I came back to the Modifieds and it’s been a lot more fun.”
Once Brunnhoelzl graduated high school, he moved to North Carolina to further his racing career and help out the family business of building jacks and other pit equipment as the vice-president of Brunnhoelzl Racing Inc.
Most of the top NASCAR Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Craftsman Truck Series teams use the jacks that Brunnhoelzl Racing builds.
“The whole deal with the jack business started with my dad who wanted a jack that was lighter because he didn’t have a lot of people helping him out in the shop so he needed to move the car around by himself,” Brunnhoelzl said. “One night he decided to make his own jack, and he came up with a very crude aluminum jack. Before long, a lot of the other teams wanted one for themselves and from there it’s just evolved into a very successful business.
“I guess that was about 25 years ago and dad was the first one to come out with an aluminum jack. I believe we have a very good reputation, and our company prides themselves because each jack is hand-tailored so we can accommodate each jackman and their special needs.”
All Brunnhoelzl Racing products are made in the United States.
Business is good for Brunnhoelzl and family, but for right now the focus is on him scoring his first career Whelen Southern Modified Tour victory. His next chance will be this Saturday night in the Whelen Southern Modified Tour 150 at Caraway Speedway.
Brunnhoelzl came painfully close to ending his winless skid last Friday night at Ace (N.C.) Speedway, running on leader L.W. Miller’s rear bumper until just past the halfway point when he experienced mechanical problems.
Brunnhoelzl would finish the Ace race with a disappointing 15th-place finish but rebounded in a rare Whelen Southern Modified Tour doubleheader the next night at Caraway with a fourth-place finish which moved him to 10th in points.
“It’s kind of aggravating to come so close to winning my first race on the Whelen Southern Modified Tour,” Brunnhoelzl said. “It’s hard to accept that we were so close to winning at Ace because we had one of the cars to beat. It’s aggravating but it’s also exciting because I know I can win one of these races pretty soon. I know I can do this.”
Miller, the defending NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour champion, admits that the young Brunnhoelzl is taking all the right steps in his goal to pursue a career in the NASCAR world.
“George and that whole team have done a great job so far this season after they struggled a little bit last year,” Miller said. “They regrouped over the winter and built a new car, and it’s obviously paying off for them so far this season.
“George is a guy that’s going to be tough to beat everywhere we go this season. I have a lot of respect for not only George but his whole family. His shop is only two doors down from my shop, so we’ve always got along and worked together very well.”
Brunnhoelzl jokes that he might be too respectful of his fellow drivers a little more than he should.
“I try to race people clean and a lot of the time I probably race a little too clean,” Brunnhoelzl said. “I just want people to race me the same way I race them and be respectful. The biggest thing for me is that the Whelen Southern Modified Tour is a lot of fun. The crowd in the grandstands gets to see one of the best shows in all of racing. It’s NASCAR’s oldest division, and that says a lot about this kind of racing.
“It’s a very laid-back but professional series where everybody is very courteous to one another. It’s like one big family when you really think about it. The Whelen Southern Modified Tour has got just a great atmosphere and it’s really fun to be a small part of it.”
And winning his first Whelen Southern Modified Tour event would be the biggest moment of his racing career.
“That would be the icing on the cake because I’m trying my best to make it happen and happen soon,” Brunnhoelzl said. “I want to end this little streak Saturday night at Caraway. It’s hard to say what I’d do if I were to win. Hopefully we’ll get to see what happens pretty soon.”
