Stout Wins YesterYear's First Ever Visit To Lanier National Speedway

Eric Stout's Tour Modified

The YesterYear Racing™ League took its first trip to Georgia on Tuesday night to race the Peach Tree 150. A state known for peaches, the Allman Brothers Band, R.E.M., Uga (the World's most famous Bull Dog), and the busiest airport in the world, would play host to Round #4 of YesterYear's Tour Modified Series. A full field of 24 drivers were set to tackle the 0.375-mile bull ring in the second night race of the season. Eric Stout set the tone early by capturing pole with a blistering qualifying lap of 12.916 seconds. Starting beside him on the front row was OBRL driver Roger Hurley, who is a rookie in YesterYear this season, but a long-time veteran of the OBRL racing league. Once the green flag flew, two immediate cautions flew in the first 8 laps as drivers had to deal with changing track conditions due to the track "rubbering up," and the sun going down. From there, the race settled and drivers dealt with two long green flag runs. The first, roughly 36 laps in length, saw the drivers gradually settle into a single-file parade around the tricky Lanier bull ring. The second, a 69-lap marathon, had drivers hanging on as tires began to degrade substantially on most cars. When the caution finally flew around lap 110, almost all drivers who did not pit around lap 45 came onto pit road to change right-side tires, with two exceptions. James Lowe and his teammate Chris Worrell. Lowe, for his part, was tied with Luke "The Kid" Allen in the standings coming into the race and he valued track position over fresh tires. The strategy was to hold onto track position knowing "The Kid" was well back in the pack and would have a rough time working his way to the front with only 38 laps remaining in the race. Worrell, who sat third in points coming onto the night, played a similar strategic card by staying out. When the green flag flew again, Worrell and Lowe battled it out for the lead and even touched at one point. This was uncharacteristic of the two teammates who had worked so well together in prior rounds of the Series. This battling by two cars on old tires allowed the lead pack to stay close, and more importantly, allowed Stout to work his way back close to the front. When a late caution flew with 12 laps remaining in the race, Worrell decided to pit for fresh rubber, but got caught by taking too much time to change his two right-side tires. The result was Worrell going a lap down and falling out of the hunt for the win or a decent result. On the next restart, Lowe was re-starting on the inside, while Stout was on the outside on fresh rubber. The outside had been the preferred re-start position while the inside was the preferred racing line position once drivers began to settle. With the fresh tires, Stout made quick work of Lowe and started to pull away. Soon, Kenny Allen, who also had fresh tires, had worked his way into second and was chasing Stout. It looked like a "two-horse" race until a late caution flew due to contact between Gavin Adams and Jeff LeMire in turn 2. The result created a one-time Green/White Checkered attempt to settle the race.

With Stout starting on the inside, and Kenny Allen starting on the preferred outside lane, the green flag flew. Unfortunately for Allen, he missed a gear shift and caused a stack-up on the high line that collected several cars and once again the caution flew. With the rule package only allowing for one Green/White Checkered attempt, the race was then destined to end under caution with Stout taking the victory and James Lowe getting second. Todd Liston brought his car home in third place to round out the podium. When asked about the inaugural visit to Lanier National Speedway, Allen Wannamaker, Founder and co-owner of the YesterYear Racing™ League said, "I think it was a great race and show for the fans. Any time you get those types of green flag runs on a tight bull ring like Lanier, it is exciting to watch. The track proved tricky as it changed over the course of the night, but given the talent of the field, I was not surprised at all of the quality racing on the track."

The Series moves on to Stafford Motor Speedway for Round #5 on Tuesday, April 28, to race the YesterYear Spring Sizzler.