Seuss Runs Up Front, Then Into Trouble, at Thompson
#70 Modified Runs As High as Second in Tour Race
When the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour visited Thompson International Speedway, it was a race with a lot of potential for Andy Seuss. His #70 team had endured a stretch of bad luck and various mechanical problems with their Modified lately, but with a top-10 finish in his past at the track, Thompson looked like a shot at turning things around.
And it was…until Seuss got turned around himself late in the going.
Seuss started 31st in the field when qualifying was rained out and he made it up as high as second place. A finish well within the top 10 looked probable, but with 20 scheduled laps left in the race he got caught in a wreck not of his own doing.
“It's disappointing the race ended the way that it did,” said Seuss. “We'll never know how the race would have shaken out. But I think we would have had at least a top-10 finish for sure - even with an ailing racecar. When [Eddie] Flemke got into the #79 [Ronnie Silk], he got me too and after that, the front end just wasn't the same. So we were holding on, but that is part of these races.”
Seuss' #70 Modified (Jim Dupont Photos)
On lap 130, Seuss was setting up another driver to make an outside pass when another car spun and parked tail-first into the turn three wall. The caution flag was not immediately thrown, the lights to the tow trucks in the infield actually went on before the flag waved, and when Seuss sailed into turn three, he was greeted with the surprise of Jake Marosz parked sideways in his lane. Seuss turned his steering wheel hard, but it was too late and heavy contact was made.
“I was setting up a move on the outside and the yellow wasn't out,” said Seuss. “ My spotter called it, but it was too late. I tried to spin to avoid him, but I couldn't do that in time. I was just stuck on the outside and that's racing.”
Still, the night was a positive one for the most part. Seuss got the chance to race for the lead with Ted Christopher and that is always a bonus at Thompson.
“It was a lot of fun while it lasted,” said Seuss of the race. “It's been awhile since I've had a car to run up there with Teddy. We've had our differences, but you know that when you do that, especially at Thompson, you're doing good.”
Now, Seuss has a busy weekend of racing planned. He'll drive the #47 Advance Auto Parts/Quaker State Modified for Riggs Racing in Friday's NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour event at Caraway Speedway before meeting up with the Northern-based #70 team on Saturday at Mansfield Motorsports Park (OH). That will happen after a little bit of work repairing the Thompson damage at least.
“We wanted to leave here with the car in one piece to go to Mansfield, but there will be a little extra work now. But that doesn't scare us. I just won't be able to take it easy this week. But we'll still be at Mansfield and we're excited about how good the car is running. So we'll just build on this.”
