stock car championship racing

Updated 12/23/2008

2008 WBC Report    

 2009 Status: pending 2009 GM commitment

Steve Caler, OH

2008 Champion

Offsite Links

 

Event History
1999    Rebekah Garton     37
2000    Tim Dolan     68
2001    Devin Flawd     60
2005    Seth Gunar     47
2006    Seth Gunar     42
2007     Jean Younkin     49
2008    Steve Caler     51
 Laurels

Rank  Name              From  Last  Total
  1.  Seth Gunar         NJ    08     66
  2.  Steve Caler        OH    08     36
  3.  Kevin Brown        GA    08     30
  4.  Jean Younkin       VA    07     30
  5.  Devin Flawd        PA    01     30
  6.  Tim Dolan          NJ    00     30
  7.  Derek Miller       VA    07     18
  8.  Mike Buccheri      MD    07     18
  9.  Jim Bell           MD    06     18
 10.  Keith MacFarland   NJ    05     18
 11.  Dan Hoffman        NC    01     18
 12.  Andy Lewis         DE    00     18
 13.  Luke Koleszar      VA    08     12
 14.  Phillip White      MD    05     12
 15.  Steve May          MD    01     12
 16.  Bill Place         PA    00     12
 17.  Rebekkah Garton    VA    99     10
 18.  Tom McCorry        VA    08      9
 19.  Nate Timko         PA    07      9
 20.  Chad Gormly        MA    06      9
 21.  Stuart Tucker      MD    05      9
 22.  Adam Gugliemini    PA    01      9
 23.  Darren Velez       NY    00      9
 24.  Rob Buccheri       MD    07      6
 25.  Dan Dolan Jr       NJ    01      6
 26.  Bob Olivere        AZ    00      6
 27.  John Weber         MD    99      6
 28.  Ken Sheffield      VA    99      4
 29.  Cameron Spaner     MD    08      3
 30.  Marshall Daw       NM    07      3
 31.  Mike Garton        VA    06      3
 32.  Rex Lehman         FL    05      3
 33.  Dave Bohnenberger  PA    01      3
 34.  Brian Carr         VA    00      3
 35.  Carol Caler        OH    99      3
 36.  Steve Cameron      PA    99      2
 37.  Joe Sposito        NJ    99      1

2008 Laurelists                                                 Repeating Laurelists: 0

Kevin Brown, GA
2nd

Luke Koleszar, VA
3rd

Tom McCorry, VA
4th

Seth Gunar, NJ
5th

Cameron Spaner, MD
6th


Past Winners

Rebekkah Garton, VA
1999

Tim Dolan, NJ
2000

Devin Flawd, PA
2001

Seth Gunar, NJ
2005-2006

Jean Younkin, VA
2007

The preliminary heats were standard straight track 250 lap affairs.

Up to nine drivers per race tried to qualify for the big oval.

 

 The 18 best drivers enjoy the spectacle of the WBC 500 oval.

 David Albin and Danny Lewis are ready.

A Team Caler Sandwich ...

What an exciting race the WBC 500 was this year! The Final included 18 of the top drivers from a field of 51. Doug Porterfield (#95) took the pole followed by Luke Koleszar (#71 Teddy Bear) and Cameron Spaner (#44 Slim Jim) while Tom McCorry was the last qualifier with a provisional in the #32 Tide car.

Jim Bell driving his specially made #63 Lysol car made the first move as the leaders tried to pull away at the green flag. Kevin Brown (#9) got manhandled by some slow traffic on lap 39 and took with some body damage. Cameron Spaner (#44 Slim Jim) was the first driver to earn the "Trinity" -- good car set-up, good engine setting and learn the track -- on lap 54 and tried his best to make his way to the front. Luke Koleszar (grabbed an early lead and held it until the first round of pit stops on lap 78. John Shaheen (#5 Tony the Tiger) opted to stay out in order to lead a few laps. Ernie Chambers (#28 Havoline) did a splash and go and moved up three positions while Lane Newbury (#12 Mobile) fired his crew chief after a 31.2 second pit time. He did manage to get out ahead of the #9 who took 35 seconds to repair his damage. #71 led them out of the pits but never regained the lead.

Dave Albin (#21 Take 5) completed his trinity on lap 102. Disaster struck on lap 108 when Carol Caler (#99 Dominos) got impatient and crashed, wrecking her car in spectacular fashion. Dave Zimmerman (#10 Tide) took control of the race and led until lap 138 by pulling away in the outside lane. The second pit window was on lap153 with Daniel Lewis (#33) and Luke Koleszar (#71) completing their trinity cards.

Steve Caler driving the #41 car led out of the pits with an 8.9 second pit time and #63 Lysol had the worst pit stop at 24.3 seconds, losing five spots. Ernie Chambers (#28) and John Shaheen (#5) tried to stay out last the race but came up short when they didn't get any yellows. Slow traffic was a major factor for the second half of the race and caused a lot of drivers headaches.

With 11 laps to go, Cameron Spaner (#44) made a spectacular move with a slingshot pass inside of slow traffic, passed two cars (#6 and #42), followed by another slingshot to the outside lane and finally pulling away with Steve Caler (#41) drafting in tow. Steve then passed #44 and beat the second place car of Kevin Brown (#9) to the finish line on the last turn. Luke Koleszar (#71) rounded out the top three taking a close third. Team Caler (Steve in #41 and Carol in #99) made a huge WBC 500 sandwich by taking first and last. Steve was overheard saying "Clearly, the husband can drive" after the race but when asked about his teammate's driving ability on camera, he declined to comment. Overall it was an exciting race with 14 lead changes, two yellow flags and three DNFs.

There's more than just wood at stake this year.

GM Mark McLaughlin is plenty busy inside the oval.

 

 Uh oh - the KMart car is off the shoulder on the inside.

 Everybody is ready to go.
 GM     John McLaughlin [2nd year]  216 Kinnakeet Run, Yorktown, VA 23693
   f15pilot@cox.net  757-256-3631 

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