BRANDON WARD WINS THE 2006 UARA-STARS CHAMPIONSHIP
On a cool, windy Saturday afternoon the dreams of Brandon Ward came true as he came home 6th in the Denver Marine 150 event at Hickory Motor Speedway clinching the
2006 UARA-STARS Championship. The Ward team and family had a great celebration
in victory lane but will get to really shine at the UARA-STARS banquet on January 13, 2007 at the Holiday Inn in Hickory.
Brandon Ward is not new to being a champion having won the North Carollina WKA Karting State championship 4 times and also the Virginia Mini Cup Championship once.
Brandon finishes the season off with an average finish of 6.67 showing just what a contender he is. The record books will show Brandon had 14 top ten finishes out of a 15 race schedule—quite an impressive show of numbers. Brandon had two wins, one second, one third, one fourth, two fifths, one sixth, three sevenths, one eighth, two tenths and one unfortunate 24th place finish for the season. Brandon’s one out of top ten race fell upon him at the Greenville, S.C. event when he was sidelined with mechanical problems. Ward compiled these excellent standings driving a Chevrolet, Monte Carlo SS with an ARP body on a Hedgecock chassis and his powerhouse was built by Clark Automotive. Doug Cline is the car owner of the 98 machine.
Brandon is a single 25 year old from Winston-Salem, NC who has a tremendous backup team of family and friends. Mom Terri is seen many a time supplying good food to keep the team nourished. His girlfriend Cathy Lee Hambright is also a strong cheerleader for Brandon. Kathy Lee is well practiced as such being a cheerleader for the Carolina Panthers as well.
Alex Yontz brought his car home with a second place finish and also laying claim to the second place in the point race as well a mere 26 points behind Ward. Alex completes the season with an impressive three wins and eleven top ten finishes. Yontz fell upon hard times at Kenley with a 15th place finish, Coastal Plains landed him a 17th, Newport posed a 20th and Tri County 26th. Through it all Alex kept that smile on his face and never gave up. That determination is what kept him and his team in the chase and he had an 8.07 overall average finish.
Kyle Grissom finished third in points after having an up and down season. Grissom started the year out looking like the dominate figure in the chase but lady luck did not always smile down on him. Grissom sees the 2006 season ending with two wins and a total of nine top ten finishes. Grissom’s season average finish was 8.73.
Grissom’s third place finish in the point chase is quite impressive for the 2005 Rookie of the Year. The series has watched Grissom grow the last two years and with his maturity will surely come some great things in his racing career.
The final spot in the top ten was up for grabs at Hickory and the lucky driver to land it was the youngest driver in the chase this year, Jake Crum. This hot shoe shows great promise for 2007 season with the UARA.
Crum’s best finish in 2006 was 4th at Shenandoah Valley.
UARA-STARS Top Ten Point Championship
1. Brandon Ward 2. Alex Yontz
3. Kyle Grissom 4. Jamie Yelton
5. Barry Andrews 6. R.A. Brown
7. Justin Hill 8. Lucas Ransone
9. Michael Giessen 10. Jake Crum