LABONTE SURVIVES THE BATTLE TO WIN REVOLUTIONARY 99
Fifth Career Win in the SMART Modifieds for the former NASCAR Cup Champ
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sophia, NC (July 7, 2024) - A wild battle in the Revolutionary 99 at Caraway Speedway in Sophia, NC, sees Bobby Labonte drive to victory lane in the SMART Modified Tour powered by Pace-O-Matic.
With two laps remaining in the 99-lap race, Bobby Labonte made it a three-wide battle for the lead. Coming off of turn two, there was contact amongst Labonte, Jimmy Blewett and Ryan Newman. Labonte was the only one unscathed in the battle, as Blewett and Newman recorded DNFs.
“That was pretty exciting at the end,” said Labonte, who drives the Pace-O-Matic / Cookout number-18. “I was on the curb, there were two on the outside of me. I was going straight, as low as I could go and the caution came out.”
For Labonte, of Corpus Christi, TX, it was his fifth career win with the SMART Modified Tour and his first with the series at Caraway Speedway, where he was the Late Model Stock Car champion in 1987.
“We won a championship years ago, but I don’t normally run that good here, so this means a lot to me. It was tough, but we stuck it out. I thought the cautions would never stop, but I gotta thank all these guys from the S&S Racing, PSR team.”
This year’s Revolutionary 99 at Caraway Speedway became the longest race in series history at more than two hours long after 11 caution periods, including two red flags.
Danny Bohn, of Freehold, NJ, led a good portion of the early part of the race and was side-by-side with Labonte during a green-white-checkered finish, but ended up in the runner-up position.
“It was a long race. I’ve run 200-lappers that have been shorter than this,” joked Bohn, who drives the Ameri-Fast Supply of NC number-24. “Man, I should have pinched him (Labonte) a little bit down into three. I got a heckuva jump on that last restart and I think with three more feet there, I could have gotten to the bottom and probably would have won this thing. Bobby has an accomplished career, so I got beat by one of the best tonight. They knew we were here. We’re knocking on the door and we got this thing pointed in the right direction.”
In qualifying, Brandon Ward, of Winston-Salem, NC, won the Pace-O-Matic Pole Award. He finished third in a photo-finish with defending series champion Burt Myers of Walnut Cove, NC.
Making his first start of the season, Michael Ritch, of High Point, NC finished fifth. Unofficially, Ritch is also the Pace-O-Matic Hard Charger of the race by advancing 13 positions after starting 18th.
An official finish for the Revolutionary 99 will be announced this week.
The Tour will take a 55-day hiatus until its next event, which will be a doubleheader at the beach of North Carolina. The Pace-O-Matic 99 will be on Friday, August 30, at New River All-American Speedway in Jacksonville, North Carolina. The next day, Saturday, August 31, the SMART Mods will be at Carteret County Speedway in Swansboro, NC. More details will be announced soon for those events.
As a whole, SMART fans will be treated to 15 races at 13 different facilities in the tri-state region of North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. The season commences at the famed North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Carolina on Saturday, October 19.
All races can also be seen on FloRacing, the official streaming broadcast partner of the SMART Modified Tour powered by Pace-O-Matic.
To see the entire schedule for the SMART Modified Tour powered by Pace-O-Matic, as well as all the latest news and information, please visit the series website at www.smartmodtour.com, and be sure to follow the series on social media (Facebook: SMART Modified Tour| Twitter: @SMARTMods_ | IG: @smartmods_).
By Bob Dillner - X: @shorttracklife_
SMART Modified Tour Race #8
Unofficial Race Results for the Revolutionary 99 - 07/06/2024
Caraway Speedway - Sophia, NC - 0.455 mile
Race Length: 99L - 45.045 M - 72.468 KM
Fin-Str-Car-Sponsors-Laps
1-2-18va-Bobby Labonte-Pace-O-Matic / Cookout-99
2-1-24-Danny Bohn-AmeriFast Supply of NC-99
3-7-4-Brandon Ward-Q104.1 / KevinSaysYes.com-99
4-10-1-Burt Myers-Citrusafe / Peanut Patch-99
5-18-11-Michael Ritch-A Better View Glass & Mirror-99
6-13-25-Tom Buzze Jr.-Mark III Financial / UNITS Moving-99
7-17-12-Cody Norman-Severt Auto / AJP Transport-99
8-11-79-Anthony Bello-SunDrop / EME Industrial-99
9-16-4-Jason Myers-QRC HVAC / Greg Butcher Trucking-99
10-15-2-Joey Coulter-TORCH Eyewear / SRI Performance-99
11-4-15-Brian Loftin-Steve Tires & Automotive-99
12-19-16-Jonathan Cash-Pace-O-Matic-99
13-25-2-Ryan Newman-SHITI Coolers / Aggressive Hydraulics-97
14-12-99-Jimmy Blewett-Dunleavey Trucking-97
15-5-23-Carson Loftin-LeBleu Water / L&R Transmission-97
16-14-77-Gary Putnam-CURB Records / SUNOCO Fuels-96
17-20-18-Daniel Yates-Yates Grading & Paving-93
18-3-63-Josh Lowder-Lowder Construction-40
19-9-21-Jimmy Wallace-Carolina Drilling-28
20-21-22-Jason Tutterow-Carolina Drilling-28
21-6-7va-Luke Baldwin-Pace-O-Matic / Mohawk Northeast-27
22-22-21nc-Dwight Sauls-5
SMART Modified Tour
The SMART Modified Tour captures the essence of one of the most legendary forms of racing in America, pavement Modifieds. Born in 1988, these ground-pounding, 600-horsepower missiles for the SMART Tour are a must-see for any racing fan.
In 2020, Chris Williams brought SMART Modifieds back to prominence after a brief hiatus. Due to the overwhelming popularity from its fan base, a four-race schedule in its initial year has given birth to an adventurous 15-race schedule in 2024.
This year will mark the fourth full-season of SMART Modified Tour racing since its return. Many of Modified racing’s best drivers, from all over the country, will compete with the series, which visits 13 different racetracks in three different states in the Mid-Atlantic - North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.
SMART Modifieds compete on grueling asphalt oval short tracks, embedded in quaint local communities, each spring, summer and fall.
Pace-O-Matic
Pace-O-Matic develops, produces, and licenses fun and entertainment in the form of skill games in various states, including Virginia, Pennsylvania, Kansas, South Carolina, Texas and Wyoming, among others. Since its founding in 2000, the organization has built a talented leadership team and a culture defined by integrity, innovation, and compliance. Learn more at www.paceomatic.com.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sophia, NC (July 7, 2024) - A wild battle in the Revolutionary 99 at Caraway Speedway in Sophia, NC, sees Bobby Labonte drive to victory lane in the SMART Modified Tour powered by Pace-O-Matic.
With two laps remaining in the 99-lap race, Bobby Labonte made it a three-wide battle for the lead. Coming off of turn two, there was contact amongst Labonte, Jimmy Blewett and Ryan Newman. Labonte was the only one unscathed in the battle, as Blewett and Newman recorded DNFs.
“That was pretty exciting at the end,” said Labonte, who drives the Pace-O-Matic / Cookout number-18. “I was on the curb, there were two on the outside of me. I was going straight, as low as I could go and the caution came out.”
For Labonte, of Corpus Christi, TX, it was his fifth career win with the SMART Modified Tour and his first with the series at Caraway Speedway, where he was the Late Model Stock Car champion in 1987.
“We won a championship years ago, but I don’t normally run that good here, so this means a lot to me. It was tough, but we stuck it out. I thought the cautions would never stop, but I gotta thank all these guys from the S&S Racing, PSR team.”
This year’s Revolutionary 99 at Caraway Speedway became the longest race in series history at more than two hours long after 11 caution periods, including two red flags.
Danny Bohn, of Freehold, NJ, led a good portion of the early part of the race and was side-by-side with Labonte during a green-white-checkered finish, but ended up in the runner-up position.
“It was a long race. I’ve run 200-lappers that have been shorter than this,” joked Bohn, who drives the Ameri-Fast Supply of NC number-24. “Man, I should have pinched him (Labonte) a little bit down into three. I got a heckuva jump on that last restart and I think with three more feet there, I could have gotten to the bottom and probably would have won this thing. Bobby has an accomplished career, so I got beat by one of the best tonight. They knew we were here. We’re knocking on the door and we got this thing pointed in the right direction.”
In qualifying, Brandon Ward, of Winston-Salem, NC, won the Pace-O-Matic Pole Award. He finished third in a photo-finish with defending series champion Burt Myers of Walnut Cove, NC.
Making his first start of the season, Michael Ritch, of High Point, NC finished fifth. Unofficially, Ritch is also the Pace-O-Matic Hard Charger of the race by advancing 13 positions after starting 18th.
An official finish for the Revolutionary 99 will be announced this week.
The Tour will take a 55-day hiatus until its next event, which will be a doubleheader at the beach of North Carolina. The Pace-O-Matic 99 will be on Friday, August 30, at New River All-American Speedway in Jacksonville, North Carolina. The next day, Saturday, August 31, the SMART Mods will be at Carteret County Speedway in Swansboro, NC. More details will be announced soon for those events.
As a whole, SMART fans will be treated to 15 races at 13 different facilities in the tri-state region of North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. The season commences at the famed North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Carolina on Saturday, October 19.
All races can also be seen on FloRacing, the official streaming broadcast partner of the SMART Modified Tour powered by Pace-O-Matic.
To see the entire schedule for the SMART Modified Tour powered by Pace-O-Matic, as well as all the latest news and information, please visit the series website at www.smartmodtour.com, and be sure to follow the series on social media (Facebook: SMART Modified Tour| Twitter: @SMARTMods_ | IG: @smartmods_).
By Bob Dillner - X: @shorttracklife_
SMART Modified Tour Race #8
Unofficial Race Results for the Revolutionary 99 - 07/06/2024
Caraway Speedway - Sophia, NC - 0.455 mile
Race Length: 99L - 45.045 M - 72.468 KM
Fin-Str-Car-Sponsors-Laps
1-2-18va-Bobby Labonte-Pace-O-Matic / Cookout-99
2-1-24-Danny Bohn-AmeriFast Supply of NC-99
3-7-4-Brandon Ward-Q104.1 / KevinSaysYes.com-99
4-10-1-Burt Myers-Citrusafe / Peanut Patch-99
5-18-11-Michael Ritch-A Better View Glass & Mirror-99
6-13-25-Tom Buzze Jr.-Mark III Financial / UNITS Moving-99
7-17-12-Cody Norman-Severt Auto / AJP Transport-99
8-11-79-Anthony Bello-SunDrop / EME Industrial-99
9-16-4-Jason Myers-QRC HVAC / Greg Butcher Trucking-99
10-15-2-Joey Coulter-TORCH Eyewear / SRI Performance-99
11-4-15-Brian Loftin-Steve Tires & Automotive-99
12-19-16-Jonathan Cash-Pace-O-Matic-99
13-25-2-Ryan Newman-SHITI Coolers / Aggressive Hydraulics-97
14-12-99-Jimmy Blewett-Dunleavey Trucking-97
15-5-23-Carson Loftin-LeBleu Water / L&R Transmission-97
16-14-77-Gary Putnam-CURB Records / SUNOCO Fuels-96
17-20-18-Daniel Yates-Yates Grading & Paving-93
18-3-63-Josh Lowder-Lowder Construction-40
19-9-21-Jimmy Wallace-Carolina Drilling-28
20-21-22-Jason Tutterow-Carolina Drilling-28
21-6-7va-Luke Baldwin-Pace-O-Matic / Mohawk Northeast-27
22-22-21nc-Dwight Sauls-5
SMART Modified Tour
The SMART Modified Tour captures the essence of one of the most legendary forms of racing in America, pavement Modifieds. Born in 1988, these ground-pounding, 600-horsepower missiles for the SMART Tour are a must-see for any racing fan.
In 2020, Chris Williams brought SMART Modifieds back to prominence after a brief hiatus. Due to the overwhelming popularity from its fan base, a four-race schedule in its initial year has given birth to an adventurous 15-race schedule in 2024.
This year will mark the fourth full-season of SMART Modified Tour racing since its return. Many of Modified racing’s best drivers, from all over the country, will compete with the series, which visits 13 different racetracks in three different states in the Mid-Atlantic - North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.
SMART Modifieds compete on grueling asphalt oval short tracks, embedded in quaint local communities, each spring, summer and fall.
Pace-O-Matic
Pace-O-Matic develops, produces, and licenses fun and entertainment in the form of skill games in various states, including Virginia, Pennsylvania, Kansas, South Carolina, Texas and Wyoming, among others. Since its founding in 2000, the organization has built a talented leadership team and a culture defined by integrity, innovation, and compliance. Learn more at www.paceomatic.com.
