Ward, Randy Humphrey Racing Win Miller Lite Rookie Title

By Paul Warner
Tuesday, November 06, 2007 3:57:00 PM

Rookie takes home $40,000 in bonuses

Myrtle Beach, S.C.-Brandon Ward was involved in a crash during his first Hooters Pro Cup race of the season, and his last. But in the middle, the rookie strung together one win, three top-five and seven top-10 finishes to edge Matt Hawkins by one point in the overall Miller Lite Rookie of the Year battle.

It was a stellar campaign, and one that wasn’t even supposed to happen.

Two weeks before the Hooters Pro Cup season started, Ward was competing in the Whelen Modified Tour, where he was leading the rookie points. But a call from an old friend, and competitor, two days before the season-opening race changed that.

"We won the UARA title in ’06, but we were unsure what we were going to do this year," said Ward, driver of the No. 93n SupplyOne Ford. "We got an opportunity to run the Whelen Modified Tour at the start of this season. We ran three races there and had some good runs when this opportunity came up at [Randy Humphrey Racing]. I don’t think anybody out there at the short-track level could turn down a good Hooters Pro Cup ride."

But after two races, the "ride" was a little bumpy. Ward crashed at South Boston and lost an engine at Shenandoah, leaving him 16th in points. But a win and two second-place finishes in the next four races jump-started the team’s run to the title.

"We’re just blessed that God blessed us with Brandon Ward, [crew chief] Robert Huffman and the rest of the guys on the team," said Randy Humphrey, RHR team owner. "We struggled when we came over from the Dash Series, but all the guys worked hard to get better. We had a goal to win a race and win rookie of the year. We’re just thankful that we were able to accomplish those goals."

But, in order to accomplish those goals, RHR needed a little help.

"We weren’t sure we were going to run the whole year," said Ward. "But SupplyOne stepped in to sponsor us, and I can’t thank them enough for all the help this year. Without them, we couldn’t have made it."

Even after everything fell into place for Ward and Co., the rookie battle came down to the last lap of the season-and one position.

Ward was sitting ninth with 10 laps to go in the Aaron’s 250, needing just to keep Matt Hawkins in sight to win the overall rookie title. A couple of laps later, however, Ward was sitting against the inside wall after contact with another driver.

"That was tough, but we were doing all we could do," said Ward. "Without that incident, we were good. We were tight off the corner and got together with Kirk Leone. It made it close."

Real close was more like it, especially after Hawkins finished fifth and Ward dropped to 21st.

When the race was over, there was no celebrating from Ward’s group as they waited for the final point tally.

"There was a lot of stress in those last 10 laps," said Humphrey. "It almost killed us."

But when Pro Cup emcee Gene Crane announced that Ward had won by one point, the team erupted in celebration, knowing they completed their final goal.

Ward’s take of the Miller Lite Rookie of the Year was $40,000.