first Super Late Model race win. It is real cool finally getting the one that we have been needing; we have been close many times. We have finished fourth and sixth and have knocked on the door. It held together and we finally won one, and it's pretty exciting. Plus, it's exciting to win a PASS race. This is a good series and a tough one with a lot of good competitors. Ben Rowe was here and so was Cassius; the 44 (Sanborn) ran really well, and Haase was up front, too, so I'm happy to say I was able to beat them here tonight.”
The number-51 Chevrolet Impala SS was quick in practice, qualified just shy of the pole and took only 30 laps to work up to the lead after starting fifth.
“In qualifying the car was great. It took a lot of hard work because made a lot of changes to get us to where we needed to be for qualifying. We had a setup that we knew would work for two laps (in qualifying), which is all we needed. Once we got it going we knew it was good.
“Starting fifth on the redraw was challenging, but with my spotter, “Duke,” (Matt Kentfield – Director of Race Operations for BDI Racing) on the radio he got me clear and got me out front. From there everything went great.”
Things almost didn't go so great for Stroupe, however. While running third on lap 23, Stroupe had nowhere to go when the second-place car of Cassius Clark went up in flames on the backstretch. Clark turned to get out of Stroupe's way, but came right across the nose of Stroupe's car and caved in the right-side of the #51 Chevy's hood.
“I could see what was going on with Cassius' car. For the last few laps his motor was going pretty bad. It finally blew up right there and was on fire pretty good. I understand completely what he did; he had to jerk the car to the bottom real quick and to be able to get out of the car. There are no hard feelings. I probably would have done the same thing too. The car still ran good.”
Things turned out just fine for Stroupe after the contact with Clark. Stroupe restarted second to Justin Wakefield and took the lead on lap 37, a lead that he held until dropping to third on a restart on lap 87. But just a few laps later, the two leaders tangled, forcing Stroupe to take evasive action to regain the lead.
“All of our restarts were decent. (Justin) Wakefield got by us once and we had problems with two cars getting by us, the #44 (Trevor Sanborn) and the #51H (Alex Haase). We were bad for about five laps, but after that we could put a straight-away them, so we knew we just had to settle ourselves in line for five laps, then go.
“When the #44 and #51H got by us, they were battling pretty hard. I couldn't exactly pick a line to get by, so I settled in at third and waited for something to happen and it did. Those drivers race real hard. Neither of them were giving each other anything. Luckily I didn't get caught up in their mess.”
Williams, who narrowly beat Stroupe for the pole both at Motor Mile and PASS South's previous event at Watermelon Capital Speedway (GA) and previously held the record as the youngest-ever PASS South winner, became Stroupe's biggest threat for the victory for the remainder of the race. Williams took the lead from Stroupe on the ensuing restart, but Stroupe returned the favor on the final restart of the night on the outside groove and went on to hold off Williams for the victory.
“We knew that we had a car that could survive on the outside, but we didn't want to risk it early since we knew it would burn the right front up,” said Stroupe. “Northern Tire with the American Racer brought a great tire though. We went down there and held it tight. We held it as close to the bottom and next to Corey's door. It ate off that corner and down the backstretch to clear him.”
In victory lane, the BDI Racing team celebrated with its young driver, but Stroupe could not help but think about the integral parts of the team that were at Motor Mile with him and one important member who could not be.
“I think this is just the second race Bob has missed,” said Stroupe of his car owner Bob Dillner, who was at Darlington Speedway covering the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event for SPEED. “It is pretty hard for him to not be here with us, but we finally won one. Everyone did a great job and it was great bringing Bob a win.
“Plus, to win on Mother's Day weekend is pretty cool. My mother has been there since the beginning. From Go-Karts to Bandos, to Legends, to Pro Challenge and now, for the last 11 years she has been going to my races, which is pretty cool. This one is for her.”
The BDI Racing team has a host of supporters that enabled this victory to occur, including Chevrolet, MAC Tools, Racing Electronics, Gatorade, Hamke Racecars, Pro Shocks, ARP Bodies, Circle Racing Wheels, VDL Fuel Systems, The Decal Source and Performance Friction Brakes among others. BDI Racing also utilizes two engine builders, McGunegill Engine Performance and Hamner Racing Engines (both part of the S.E.A.L. engine program) which provide plenty of power for their Super Late Model effort. A Hamner Engine propelled the team to victory in this instance at Motor Mile.
Stroupe now has a bit of a break to relish his history-making victory before getting back in the #51 BDI Racing Chevy Impala SS on June 7 th at Orange County Speedway (NC).
Marketing opportunities for the BDI Racing team and its driver development program in Super Late Models, Pro Challenge, Legends Cars and Bandoleros are still available for the 2008 season. For more information on how partnering with BDI Racing can provide a multitude of benefits for companies of all sizes, contact the team at (704) 788-2134 ext: 7. |
