WB James Strong Start to Fall Modified Special Events Season at Danny Serrano 100 Memorial

WB James came into the Danny Serrano 100 Memorial with high hopes and expectations for his first 100 lap modified race. He qualified in the 25th starting position and completed all 100 laps with an 18th place finish in the 32 car field that far exceeded all his expectations for his biggest race of his first season of modified racing.

After taking about 12 years off from racing; WB James returned last year to crate late model racing and then made the decision to switch to spec motor modified racing for the 2021 season. With help and advice from Will Shields; the first year modified team has improved their performance each week as they learn the new division. A few weeks ago; WB got his second top ten of the season with a 7th place at Bridgeport and then followed it up with qualifying for the Danny Serrano 100 Memorial his biggest race of his first year of modified racing.

Coming into the Danny Serrano 100 Memorial WB had hopes of qualifying and keeping the car straight.  Despite being one of only a few who did not practice on Friday night; WB timed 5^th in timed hot laps and made the redraw where he drew the 6^th starting position for the 20 lap qualifying heat.  In the qualifying heat; his 11^th place finish missed the cut for the field and moved him into the last chance qualifier on Sunday afternoon.  In the last chance qualifying heat; WB was able to stay out of an early contact incident and hold onto the 4^th and final transfer spot from his 7^th starting position and qualify for his first Danny Serrano Memorial 100.   

WB commented “As of now we have about 15 races under our belt in a modified in our first year of modified racing.  Our best finish of the season actually came on the 9-11 Memorial race where we finished 7th at Bridgeport.”

WB continued “In Saturday’s heat race; the key moment was when we got run up high to the wall before entering turn 1 and immediately lost several spots before turn 1 first lap. We also had the right rear go soft and then we proceeded to burn the RR tire off within the next 6 lap which dropped us to a 11^th place finish with only the top 6 cars qualifying. That put us in the last chance consolation on Sunday.  We had a two and a half hour drive back to the track on Sunday morning giving us a lot of time talk over what we need to change in our setup to get quicker and faster.   We ended up deciding to stay with the same setup from the previous night and just changed the right rear a harder tire.  The consolation was filled with good cars as usual at Bridgeport and we knew we would need to run as hard as possible to get into the field.  In the consolation; we were running 6^th with good speed and then got the break we needed when Danny Bouc slowed in front of us which moved us to 5^th on the next restart putting us within one position of the final transfer spot.  When the leader fired; I drove the car as hard as possible into turn 1/2 and I came out of turn 2 in 3rd then fell back to 4^th but was able to hold off the 44 of John McClelland for the remaining laps to get the last transfer position into the feature.  Qualifying for the Danny Serrano Memorial 100 lap feature was huge for us because we are a new owner/operator modified team with a small crew racing against the big guys.  Getting into the 100 lap race was huge; but sitting on stage with the biggest names around was just amazing and something I never dreamed would happen in our first season of modified racing.”

 WB also noted “We couldn’t have done this without the help of Jamie Mills at Blue Hen Speed, Wayne Benson at Scuderia Benson Technologies, Marty Brown Race Engines, Will Shields and my brother Beau James.   A special thanks to Doug Rose and the Bridgeport Speedway staff for putting on such a memorable night that we were proud to experience in our first year in a Modified.”

In his first 100 lap race WB finished 18^th from his 25^th starting position and completed all 100 laps with no major damage.   Couple that together with a season best 7^th place finish at the Bridgeport points finale a few weeks ago and things seem to be coming together for the 119 team just in time for a strong finish in the final two months of the 2021 season.

WB & the 119 team look to keep the momentum going into the final months of the season with a busy schedule in October with two races at Georgetown; 2 races at Delaware International and the first modified underdog 20 race at Bridgeport on October 9^th.  Then they will close their 2021 season out in November with the Wildcard Weekend at Bridgeport Motorsports Park.