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Southern
Explosion
By Paul Warner
 Lakeland
event to showcase stout field
Myrtle Beach, S.C.—When the Southern Division teams begin
to unload at USA Int’l Speedway in Lakeland, Fla., on
Friday, March 9 for the preseason Tech Day, they’ll likely
be scoping out the competition unloading around them. If so,
they better have a big scope.
With nearly two weeks to go before the event, the Southern
Division registration is stacked—really stacked.
Fifty-eight teams have already signed up to compete in the
Aaron’s Southern Division this season. But it’s not just
the number of teams that is impressive; it’s the quality
that is unbelievable. There will likely be no less than 30
fully-funded, full-time teams competing for the Southern
Division title.
"There’s no way to pick a clear favorite in the
Southern Division," said Gene Cox, USAR President.
"It’s going to be amazing to see the caliber of teams
and drivers that will be on the track during the whole
season. With this amount of teams, the biggest race may come
in qualifying."
Mac Hill Motorsports, with driver Dange Hanniford, Henderson
Motorsports, with driver Caleb Holman, WJP Motorsports, with
drivers Bill Plemons and Mike Garvey, Hawkins Racing, with
driver Matt Hawkins, Turner Motorsports, with drivers Gary
Helton and James Buesher, Highland Motorsports, with driver
Wade Day, and Coulter Motorsports, with driver Joe Coulter,
are all new teams aiming at shaking up the Southern Division
with full-time efforts.
If you throw in former Elite Division drivers’ Jeff Fultz,
Dusty Williams and Justin Wakefield, who all ran partial
schedules last season, into the mix with Northern Division
defectors’ Shelby Howard, Mart Nesbitt and Woody Howard
and all the returning teams, the Southern Division fields
will be the biggest and most competitive in the 11-year
history of the Hooters Pro Cup Series.
"We’re proud to have all these drivers and teams find
a home in the Hooters Pro Cup Series," said Cox.
"Bob Brooks never looked at this series as a
‘stepping stone’ series, and I don’t either. We love
to see our guys move up, but there are only about 100 seats
past this level of racing, and only five or six of those
come open each year. For the guys that aren't lucky enough
to get one of those rides, we want the Hooters Pro Cup
Series to be the place where they come to race. And by
looking at the early registration, we’ve become that
place."
Southern Division Registered Drivers
Car #-Driver-Hometown
1. (0) Scott Seither, Winter Garden, FL
2. (1) Don Satterfield, Spartanburg, SC
3. (2) Matt Hawkins, Canton, GA
4. (3) Daniel Johnson, Midland, NC
5. (4) Jay Fogleman, Durham, NC
6. (5) Frank Deiney Jr., Ashland, VA
7. (7) Ryan Duff, Charles, KY
8. (7) Mike Laughlin Jr., Gray Court, SC
9. (8) Kirk Leone, Raleigh, NC
10. (9) Tom Hessert, Cherry Hill, NJ
11. (10) Ryan Crane, Panama City, FL
12. (11) TBD, Raleigh, NC
13. (12) Carl Long, Troutman, NC
14. (14) TBA, Bogart, GA
15. (15) Bill Plemons, Locust Grove, GA
16. (17) Mike Garvey, Locust Grove, GA
17. (18) Andrew Rogers, Indian Trail, NC
18. (21) Derrick Kelley, Auburndale, FL
19. (22) Shelby Howard, Greenwood, IN
20. (23) JP Morgan, Ether, NC
21. (24) TBD, Conover, NC
22. (25) Billy Bigley Jr., Naples, FL
23. (26) Matt Carter, Denver, NC
24. (28) Michael Ritch, High Point, NC
25. (29) Trevor Bayne, Knoxville, TN
26. (31) Lucas Ransone, Madison, NC
27. (32) Bobby Plowman, Carthage, NC
28. (33) Mike Mason, Bakersfield, CA
29. (34) Mike Herman Jr., Kannapolis, NC
30. (40) Dusty Williams, Savannah, GA
31. (41) Luke Hill, Safety Harbor, FL
32. (42) Willy Evernham, Mooresville, NC
33. (44) Charlie Vest, Ocoee, FL
34. (51) Dustin DesChamps, Brooksville, FL
35. (52) Kirk Leone, Raleigh, NC
36. (54) Jeff Fultz, Troutman, NC
37. (55) Woody Howard, Davidson, NC
38. (57) Bryan Silas, Stuart, FL
39. (58) John Coffman, Live Oak, FL
40. (65) Dange Hanniford, Mooresville, NC
41. (73) Chad Dokken, Clearwater, FL
42. (75) Caleb Holman, Abingdon, VA
43. (81) Mark McFarland, Mooresville, NC
44. (84) James Buescher, Plano, TX
45. (86) Gary Helton, Sevierville, TN
46. (88) Richard Boswell, Mooresville, NC
47. (92) Mart Nesbitt, Swannanoa, NC
48. (96) Wade Day, Elizabethton, TN
49. (98) Justin Wakefield, Woodstock, GA
50. (99) Brett Butler, Snellville, GA
51. (00) Derrick Kelley, Auburndale, FL
52. (01) Buckshot Jones, Hoschton, GA
53. (02) Joe Coulter, Miami Springs, FL
54. (04) Larry Barrett, Ringgold, VA
55. (05) Steve Redditt, Orlando, FL
56. (06) Bobby Gill, Concord, NC
57. (08) Brian Scott, Mooresville, NC
58. (09) John Wes Townley, Athens, GA
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