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CUP: Tuesday Daytona Notebook (UPDATE 6)
The second night of the UNOH Battle of the Beach on SPEED …
Tom Jensen  |  Posted February 19, 2013   Daytona Beach, FL
Danny Bohn gets flipped in a fiery crash in UNOH Modified racing at Daytona Beach. He walked away from the crash unhurt. (Photo: SPEED)
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Other Speedweeks 2013 Notebooks
MONDAY, FEB. 18
SUNDAY, FEB. 17
SATURDAY, FEB. 16
FRIDAY, FEB. 15
THURSDAY, FEB. 14















[TUESDAY 10:47 pm ET]

HAYLEY’S HAIL MARY – Canadian driver Cameron Hayley scored a stunning victory during a green-white-checker finish to win the final race of the Battle at the Beach, a 150-lap K&N Pro Series feature Tuesday night on the 0.4-mile backstretch course at Daytona International Speedway.

The lead changed hands three times on the final lap, as 15-year-old Gray Gaulding spun leader Michael Self, only to be passed just before the finish line by Hayley, who led maybe 100 feet the whole race. But it was all he needed to win.

“I don’t even know what to say,” said Hayley. “This is just the most incredible moment ever … I couldn’t be happier to be with this team.”

Greg Pursley dominated the race, leading the first 128 laps. But he got nerfed out of the lead on a late-race restart, allowing Hayley to win over Gray Gaulding, Bryan Ortiz, Ryan Gifford and Ben Kennedy.

Pursley started on the pole and set the pace early on, running 1-2 with second qualifier Derek Thorn at the one-third mark in the race. By Lap 100, Pursley still was out front, with Hayley moving into second place.

And then it happened.

On a restart on Lap 128, Pursley, who had never trailed, got hit by Cale Conley, who made a banzai move to the bottom of the track. Conley went three-wide for second under Self and collided with Pursley instead.

That put Self in the lead, with Conley second as Pursley fell all the way to 11th. Conley made a horrible restart on Lap 132, allowing Gaulding to move to second place.

A late spin set up a green-white-checkered restart, and it looked as if Self was going to win, but as happened in the other two feature racers here, the leader got dumped on the last lap.

“It was just one of them racing deals,” said Gaulding of the final lap contact.

NOTE — In the Whelen Modified race earlier, Matt Hirschman suffered a broken left wrist in a crash. He was treated at the track and released, according to track officials.















[TUESDAY 8:57 pm ET]

PARK SPINS TO WIN – Steve Park won Tuesday night’s 150-lap NASCAR Whelen Modified Series UNOH Battle at the Beach race at Daytona International Speedway, a sloppy affair punctuated by 17 caution periods, lots of wrecked race cars and bad tempers afterwards.

Park, the former NASCAR Sprint Cup regular, got hit from behind and then dumped Mike Stefanik on the last lap to win over Eric Goodale, Ted Christopher, Doug Coby and Patrick Emerling. Just like on Monday night, the race ended in controversy and the leader getting knocked out on the last lap.

It was Park’s first Whelen Modified victory in 16 years and he did it by leading only the last lap.

“Mike’s a good friend of mine and never meant to get into the back of him, but I was getting pile-drived from behind,” said Park. “… Sometimes, you’re better off being lucky than good.”

“Yeah, right,” Stefanik said when told Park said he had been hit from behind. “I’m just going to say the wrong thing here. I’m that pissed. That’s bulls—t.”

Veteran Todd Szegedy started from the pole flanked by young hotshoe Kyle Larson, with Szegedy holding the early lead over Goodale, as Larson slid back to fifth. At the 50-lap mark, the top two were the same with Stefanik up to third and Larson fourth.

Szegedy led every one of the first 100 laps, with Stefanik second at that point, ahead of Goodale and Larson. Up to this point, the race was a sloppy affair with 11 cautions slowing the action.

The scariest moment occurred on Lap 117, when Danny Bohn and Ryan Preece made contact coming out of Turn 4. Bohn’s car flipped over on the frontstretch and caught fire, but he was able to exit unscathed. Bohn is a protégé of Ray Evernham, himself a former Modified driver. “That was the first time I was ever upside down,” Bohn said. “I kind of wish you were interviewing me in victory lane.”

Szegedy led the first 126 laps, but his right-front suspension broke just after the restart, which put him out of the race in heartbreaking fashion.

That handed the lead to Stefanik, ahead of Goodale and Larson.

On a restart on Lap 145, Larson struggled to come up to speed and got hit from behind and put into the wall, ending his shot at victory. And then, on the final green-white-checker, Park hit Stefanik and drove to victory.

[TUESDAY 6:33 pm ET]

THORN IN THE SIDE – Polesitter Derek Thorn made quick work of the field in the second of two 25-lappers in the K&N Pro Series, the final qualifying race in tonight’s Battle at the Beach at Daytona International Speedway. Thorn was never headed as he bested Ben Kennedy, Cale Conley, Gray Gaulding and Michael Self.

SPEED will televise tonight’s 150-lap Whelen Modified Series race from DIS at 7:15 p.m., followed by the K&N Pro Series 150-lap tilt at 8:30 p.m.

[TUESDAY 6:02 pm ET]

PURSLEY PERFECT – Greg Pursley captured the first of two 25-lap K&N Pro Series qualifying races at Daytona International Speedway, outrunning Cameron Hayley by 0.850 seconds. CJ Faison came home third ahead of David Mayhew and Dylan Kwasniewski.

[TUESDAY 5:22 pm ET]

TIGHT FIGHT – Eric Goodale started from the pole, but Todd Szegedy muscled by him in the closing laps to claim the second 25-lap Whelen Modified Tour heat race in the UNOH Battle at the Beach. The two waged a great battle, but in the end it was the veteran Szegedy by 0.534 seconds at the line. Danny Bohn came home third, trailed by Doug Coby and Ryan Preece.

[TUESDAY 5:05 pm ET]

LARSON AGAIN – Kyle Larson was a dominating winner in the first 25-lap Whelen Modified Tour heat race in the UNOH Battle at the Beach. Larson, who won Monday night’s late-model race in controversial fashion, was clean this time, winning by 0.874 seconds over Ron Silk. Mike Stefanik was third, followed by Donny Lia and Brandon Ward.

[TUESDAY 3:25 pm ET]

LET’S GET READY TO RUMBLE – The weather at Daytona International Speedway is just about perfect for tonight’s second and final round of the UNOH Battle at the Beach. Right now, it’s 76 degrees with only a few light clouds. It should be a great night of racing.

The two main events will be televised live on SPEED, with the Whelen Modified Tour event at 7:15 p.m. ET, followed at 8:30 p.m. by the K&N Pro Series Race (Live on SPEED).

A couple of footnotes: Kyle Larson, who won Monday night’s late-model race with a controversial move to shove C.E. Falk III out of the way on the last lap, will race in both of tonight’s events. He is the only driver who will run all three races.

Ben Kennedy, the great-grandson of NASCAR founder William Henry Getty France, will compete in tonight’s K&N Pro Series race. That will make him the first member of the France family to ever compete in a race here at DIS.

[TUESDAY 11:05 am ET]

Kyle Larson leads the field in the UNOH Battle at the Beach at Daytona International Speedway. (Photo: Getty Images)
BATTLE AT THE BEACH – The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series doesn’t get back on track until Wednesday, but the UNOH Battle at the Beach continues tonight at Daytona International Speedway, with the two main events televised live on SPEED.

The schedule:

12:15-1 p.m. — NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour practice
1:10-1:55 p.m. — NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour final practice
2:05-2:50 p.m. — NASCAR K&N Pro Series practice
2:05-2:50 p.m. — NASCAR K&N Pro Series practice
3-3:45 p.m. — NASCAR K&N Pro Series final practice
5 p.m. — NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Race No. 1
5:20 p.m. — NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Race No. 2
5:40 p.m. — NASCAR K&N Pro Series Race No. 1
6 p.m. — NASCAR K&N Pro Series Race No. 2
7:15 p.m. — NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Race (Live on SPEED)
8:30 p.m. — NASCAR K&N Pro Series Race (Live on SPEED)

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief of SPEED.com, Senior NASCAR Editor at RACER and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. You can follow him online at twitter.com/tomjensen100.
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