For the second weekend in a row George Brunnhoelzl III and the Berkley Auto Racing team headed to the Stafford Motor Speedway for the rain delayed CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler 200 lap NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race.
After a morning on-track Pit Party, at which George was able to meet and introduce himself to many northeast modified fans, the teams were given a brief 30 minute practice session. During the session, the team elected to practice on old worn out tires to see how the car would possibly handle late in the race. George would radio to the crew that the car was tight in the middle of the turns, but awesome from the middle out and that it got better the longer he went. At the end of the practice, the # 46 was shown as the 13th fastest. George, owner Bob Katon Jr., and crew chief George Brunnhoelzl Jr. all felt confident that they had a very good race car for the 200 lap race, considering that most of the cars that were faster, were on brand new tires.
By virtue of the redraw, the Cape Cod Aggregates, J & R Pre-Cast, Viveiros Insurance Chevy would start the race from the 7th position. When the green flag flew, Georgie’s inside starting position proved to be a disadvantage as he was freight trained by the outside lane, falling back to 14th by the time he could slide up into line.
GBIII went up in smoke at Stafford. (Jim Dupont Photo)
On lap 7, he reported that the handling was “Bad Loose” everywhere (this would be a common report by most of the drivers to their crews, a result of the different tire compound left on the track surface by the cars in the preliminary races). On lap 10, he would move into the 13th spot, a position that he would retain until the races first yellow on lap 55. Radioing in that the car was still loose everywhere, the decision was made to wait it out for the next caution before coming in for fresh tires. Unfortunately, the engine temperature began to rise to over 250° while under caution necessitating a trip down pit road to open up the grille area. At this time a tire pressure adjustment was also made to help tighten the car up. Just one lap after the green flag came back out, the # 46 was once again on pit road as the crew tried to cool down the engine temperature. After several attempts to no avail, George would bring the car behind the wall. The final rundown would place George in the 29th position completing 91 of the 200 laps, a disappointing result to everyone. One positive that came out of the race, is that for the 2nd race in a row, the crew worked well together under challenging circumstances.
The next event takes place on Friday May 28th, once again at the Stafford Motor Speedway, for the 19th running of the TSI Harley-Davidson 125. Please make sure to visit www.georgebrunnhoelzl.com and www.nascarhometracks.com for more information on George and the Whelen Modified Tour.
