When Andy Seuss and his family-owned race team headed to the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race at Martinsville Speedway this past weekend, they had a secret weapon. It wasn't a high-dollar part or a brand-new engine though. It was even better than that. For the Martinsville race, Seuss' NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour team of Riggs Racing came to combine forces with the #70 team. The Riggs are from Martinsville and even though they've won races all through the South with Seuss and their former driver Junior Miller, their knowledge of the Martinsville half-mile is incredible.
With help from the Riggs setting up the car, Seuss was able to time-trail eighth and draw the fifth starting position for the race.
“They've been doing this for 40 years,” said Seuss. “Every time I work with them, it like going to school. I learn something each and every time that we work together.”
After starting fifth, Seuss found himself following a formula for the race. He would move through the field and then have trouble that put him back in the back. He went through this cycle and few times before finally hit the wall hard with 33 laps to go in the race and finishing 20th.
“I just kept coming up through again and again, I had a really good car,” said Seuss. “The first time, I got in the junk on the outside and spun around. Then I got back up to sixth and LW [Miller} spun me. We were coming up through again and there was contact between Wade Cole and I on the backstretch. He was having brake issues and he came up and apologized for that after the race. There are no hard feelings, he's a good guy and I knew that he hadn't done anything on purpose.”
The hit into the wall was a hard one.
“I was looking at the sky until I felt the wall,” said Seuss. “I tried to love the wall, but it didn't budge. The car held up and kept me safe. It's wrecked pretty bad though, so we'll start working on it and see just how bad it is.”
