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Quotable: Assorted sound bites from the Late Model world from the fall and winter:

"The only thing this car isn't undefeated on is that it didn't sit on the pole this weekend."
- NASCAR superstar Kyle Busch, on the Super Late Model he used to win the main event at CRA SpeedFest at Cordele, Ga. The car was new last July when he won a PASS North race in Oxford, Maine, and it had sat on jackstands since then until Cordele preparation began.

"I'm like, 'Wait a minute. Have you done this before?' He said he did iRacing. I'm like, 'That's not the same,' but he says it helps."
- Alex Smith, crew chief for 14-year-old John Hunter Nemechek, on the first time John tested a Late Model last December. In his second Late Model race, Nemechek qualified fourth and led more than 50 laps at Cordele before the halfway break.

"It was such a great honor and an awesome experience getting to visit the state capital and talk with Gov. Haslam and get our photo taken with him in his office."
- Nate Monteith, the 2011 Late Model Stock Car champion at Kingsport Speedway. He was also the Tennessee state champion in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series and recently met Governor Mike Haslam. A few other state governors have extended the same invitations to similar champions, most notably in Minnesota.

"I'll have to call Kyle up and see if I can get an incentive for letting him have my number."
- Rich Schumann Jr., the 2011 Limited Late Model champion at Dells Raceway Park in Wisconsin and a longtime Kyle Busch fan. Kyle, whose NASCAR Sprint Cup number is #18 and who drives a #51 in his Late Model races, recently unveiled the paint scheme and sponsor for the Nationwide Series #54 car that he and his brother Kurt Busch will split in 2012. Schumann's Late Model has been #54 since he began in the class nine years ago.

"I'm everything I used to despise when I was young."
- Curt Tillman, a 53-year-old racer and successful businessman based in Rockford, Ill.

"I think we're more like one big family."
- Robbie Brewer, the 2011 sportsman/Limited Late Model champion at Bowman-Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, N.C., on the friendly attitude that permates his division. The Stadium's famed modified class gets most of the attention there, for the way the racers and crews can fight as much as for the way they can race.

"It made us better racers when we traveled. I felt like the program was a lot better."
- Kris Bowen, who finished second in Late Model Stock Car points at Motor Mile Speedway in Radford, Va.

"Luckily we weren't in all the drama."
- Danny Willis Jr., a crew member for Stacy Puryear at the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 300 at Martinsville Speedway; Puryear finished third in the race marred by a postrace argument between eventual winner Lee Pulliam and late leader Matt McCall and their crews. Willis won the Limited championship at South Boston Speedway in 2011 with Puryear as his crew chief.

"After the season I get out of a race car and get into a deerstand. If you don't think I can solve every bit of the geometry problems and things on the race car while sitting in a tree for a couple months … I'm full of punch after that."
- Don Wentworth of Otisfield, Maine, who finished a career-high second in Late Model Sportsman points last year at Oxford Plains Speedway.

"Everyone has their own go-to person. With Mike I'd gone from having a sixth-place car to contending for the win each night."
- Mike Bologna, the 2011 Late Model champion at Riverhead Raceway on Long Island, N.Y., on Colorado shock builder Mike Leary, whose long-distance help has guided Bologna the last two seasons.

"It was awesome just to compete against him, with all the races he's won up there."
- Craig Lutz, the 2011 Late Model champion at Mountain Speedway in St. Johns, Pa., on Zane Zeiner, who won more than 75 percent of the Late Model races he attempted there in 2009-10. Both of Lutz's wins last season came with Zeiner in the field.

"I picked #82 and thought it was pretty cool. I was thinking about #18, but at the time I didn't really like Kyle Busch."
- Will Burns, the rookie of the year at Greenville-Pickens Speedway in Easley, S.C. Will's older brother Jeremy has been in Late Model Stock Cars for several years with two big wins since Labor Day 2009; Jeremy drives #81.

"I thought we had a real good chance of winning it this year, but a lot of other people do too. … A bunch of people think they can win the Daytona 500, but only one person a year gets to win it."
- Ricky Turner, crew chief for Snowball Derby winner Chase Elliott. As a driver, Turner won the 2002 Derby at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Fla.

"It was like we were rookies again."
- Jeremy Pate, a local driver making his first Snowball start since 2003.

"It took too much of the race out of the race."
- Augie Grill, on the excessive caution laps due in part to the rule limiting Derby teams to two-tire changes.

"If you do what they don't, it helps, unless it hurts."
- Pat Thomas, crew chief for Jerry Artuso, on getting off sequence in Derby pit strategy.

"It's racing. The only thing that stays the same is that everything changes."
- Chris Gabehart, crew chief for Boris Jurkovic who drove a Kyle Busch Motorsports car in the Derby.

"I think I hit half the cars out there, and they hit me. It was a group effort."
- Logan Boyett, who finished 10th in the Allen Turner Snowflake 100 with numerous dents in his Pro Late Model. The Snowflake was slowed by 13 cautions, with 11 coming after lap 73.

"It's a great crowd. If they didn't make some money this weekend, they need to look at the books."
- Justin Milliken, the newly-crowned track champion at Myrtle Beach Speedway and the runner-up in the Myrtle Beach 250 Late Model Stock Car race, on promoter Bill Hennecy and track owner Billy Hardee. The 250 and its support classes drew crowds almost twice what they were for this event in 2010. There were also nearly 70 LMSC entries and 51 Limited Late Models.

"I'm like Frankie, who's the most talented guy at Motor Mile even though he's finished second a bunch of times this year."
- Chris Clyne, who finished second at the Open Comp Fall Classic at the Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the second time, on Frank Deiny Jr. Deiny and Clyne were close friends in their younger days before Deiny relocated from the West Coast to Virginia. Clyne was the top Open Comp finisher in a straight-rail Super Late Model; winner Derek Thorn and his two teammates were in Spears SRL Southwest Tour-legal cars which some figured had a horsepower advantage.

"It's hard for him to say good stuff to my face, but I heard he says good stuff behind my back."
- Bobby Good, on his racing mentor Marty Pierce. Good, the son of former driver and car owner Mike Good, earned his biggest win Oct. 29 in the Marion Edwards Memorial at New Smyrna Speedway in Samsula, Fla.

"That was comforting and discomforting at the same time. We raced together for a long time, but he hasn't raced with the PASS series a whole lot. It has its good and bad points."
- Alex Fleming, on having Kevin Floars start right in front of him in the latest PASS South race at Hickory Motor Speedway in Newton, N.C. Fleming has two full seasons of PASS racing and several more on a part-time basis, while Floars was in his third PASS appearance. Both drivers call Wake County Speedway in Raleigh, N.C., home, and Fleming won this year's Wake championship.

"I don't want them to get confused with me as the driver of the 1 or the 26 right now."
- C.E. Falk III, who finished second in the Danville Toyota 300 at South Boston Speedway. The race was highlighted by Philip Morris' tap of leader Lee Pulliam's #1 car into a spin with 64 laps left, then marred by third-place finisher Pulliam's ramming of Morris' winning #26 Late Model Stock Car after the race, then a subsequent brawl. All three top finishers were Virginia track champions this year: Morris at South Boston, Falk at Langley Speedway, and Pulliam at Motor Mile Speedway.

"I think everything but the roof's got donuts on it."
- Austin Thaxton, on the South Boston event.

"The 13 cars that Auburndale ran off won't go back because of the way they run the track, including myself. Next year they're gonna have six cars. But that's OK because until three years ago, I never knew Auburndale existed."
- Jeff Scofield, a veteran racer from Plant City, Fla., on Auburndale Speedway, which had 12 Late Models Oct. 22 as opposed to car counts in the mid-20s many times in its monthly races since 2010. In this latest race, Scofield bumped Steve Dorer out of the lead with six laps left but did not send Dorer spinning nor caused a caution. Officials black-flagged Scofield after pulling into victory lane; he and Dorer were disqualified moments later after a crew scuffle.

"The boy done a good job. I don't wanna take all the credit with him, but we took a 10th-place driver from last year, and this year he was the only one week in and week out who could beat Poole."
- Jamie Yelton, the car owner for Ronnie Bassett Jr. who won the Dwight Huffman Memorial at Hickory Motor Speedway in Newton, N.C. Bassett was also the only driver other than runaway points leader Brennan Poole to win more than one feature in UARA. Bassett's deal with Yelton's FatHead Racing ended after the Huffman, and now Ronnie has returned to family-owned equipment with his younger brother Dillon.

"There's a lot of challenges with your son running at the track you run. Nobody cares when you're stuck in seventh or eighth, but when you're competing for a lot of wins, you get asked a lot of questions."
- Kevin Piercy, the promoter at Hickory. His son Matt Piercy won four times in the Limited Late Model division and ran in the Late Model Stock Car class for the first time at Hickory when he qualified fourth in the Huffman.

"I can't imagine the dollar figure at the end of it. Maybe it's because we were pitted down there where they were putting all the wrecks."
- Mark Metz, the crew chief for Brandon Oakley in the Jegs CRA All-Stars Tour race at Winchester Speedway. The high-banked Indiana facility is famous for wreckfests. The Jegs crate Late Model race, where Oakley placed 12th, contained only five cautions, but the modified feature was especially damaging, as was the next day's Winchester 400 CRA Super Series race.

"The tow rig is the only thing that didn't get torn up."
- David Pletcher, crew chief for Stephen Nasse, on his Winchester 400 weekend where Nasse crashed out in the late laps. On the way home, the van carrying Nasse and several family and crew members hit a deer; they made it back in that van, which had a huge dent.

"Ronnie takes care of them cars pretty good. When he first started driving Ronnie's cars, he did everything I said."
- Augie Grill, on Bubba Pollard who drives for Ronnie Sanders. Sanders fields Grand American Race Cars, a chassis brand which Augie's father Frankie Grill owns; Augie is known for good consulting with most or all GARC customers.

"It's like flying an airplane, which I do. You're never done learning."
- Scott Mulkern, who won the PASS North season finale at Oxford Plains Speedway. Mulkern, from Falmouth, Maine, was in only his sixth start of the year; he has fielded the entry for PASS points runner-up Lonnie Sommerville this year and Ben Rowe in 2010.

"It'd probably be easier if you moved."
- Dave Pavlock, the pit announcer at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Fla., to driver Allen Karnes. Karnes is from Sharpsburg, Ga., but Pavlock and other track announcers have repeatedly told audiences he lives in Sharpsbury.

"I pride myself in that. There's a lot of great-looking race cars out there. Mine looked great until that last lap, then it had the whole right side torn off of it."
- Brandon Butler, who had one of the two best-appearing car awards at the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 300 at Martinsville Speedway. Butler, from Richmond, Va., finished second in the race despite getting caught up in the aftermath of the last-lap bump that eventual winner Lee Pulliam gave to Matt McCall. (For a look at Butler's car and the other group of the best paint schemes from the day, see LMD's Facebook page.)

"Dennis Setzer called me after the race and said, 'You just ran your first enduro race/demolition derby."
- Dexter Canipe Jr., who finished fourth at Martinsville. He had failed to qualify for the 200-lap feature in his two previous attempts.

"It sucks that the biggest race of the year makes the drivers look like retards. "
- Matt McCall, who was credited with fifth place. Before the last-lap incident that took him out of the lead, there were 15 other unplanned cautions in the main event.

"The people that were there said it was a heck of a race. I think the series is on the mend. Maybe that'll equivolate to more people in the grandstands."
- A.J. Frank, who won the CARS Pro Cup Series event at Hickory Motor Speedway in Newton, N.C. It was Frank's first Pro Cup victory in 85 career starts. Despite having only 14 cars, the race contained five lead changes including the final pass with 14 laps left.

"I probably should've run it. I'd've had a good parking spot for the rest of the weekend."
- Skylar Holzhausen, on the Thursday night Futures race on the first day of the four-day Oktoberfest race weekend at LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway in West Salem, Wis. The Futures race, originally intended for drivers who had never been in a Sunday 'Fest feature, has had relaxed eligibility rules in recent years, with veterans Paul Paine and Dennis Prunty winning it in 2008-09. Holzhausen probably could have run it if he had desired. His highlight from the 42nd annual Oktoberfest was winning the Big 8 Limited Late Model Series feature.

"It was weird watching them race. They actually have respect for each other. I'm used to racing where if you give 'em an inch, they're gonna take a mile."
- Kyle Shear, on the racing he watched at Sandusky Speedway, after relocating to northern Ohio this summer. Shear, who races in Wisconsin and Illinois and won the JMcK 63 Limited feature at Oktoberfest, took a job with ThorSport Racing's NASCAR Camping World Truck Series operation, where one of the crew chiefs is Joe Shear Jr. from his home area.

"Ron Wimmer said, 'You look like a hero in our area now.' That meant a lot."
- Neil Knoblock, who won the Dick Trickle 99 triple-segment Super Late Model race at Oktoberfest. The Wimmer family owns State Park Speedway in Wausau, Wis., which is Knoblock's home track.

"We got a great bullet, but I'm glad I left it in the trailer after what happened with Dan and I."
- Griffin McGrath, who set fast time for the Dick Trickle 99 and received a large wooden bullet as a trophy ("faster than a speeding bullet"). McGrath was taken out in a first-lap accident in that Friday feature, and he blamed a move made by outside polesitter Dan Fredrickson.

"The Trickle race is so exciting, but it beats the heck out of your car."
- Fredrickson, who recovered to finish second in that Friday event.

"I reminded him of that the first time we met. A lot of guys in our shop see that my car's got a 14 on it and they think I switched to 14 because of Tony. No, my dad ran a 14 in 1989, when I wasn't but three years old.' "
- Bobby Measmer Jr., the runaway Late Model champion at Concord Speedway in Midland, N.C. Measmer's day job is as a fabricator at Stewart-Haas Racing; the team owner for that NASCAR Sprint Cup Series operation is Tony Stewart, who runs the 14 in Cup as a tribute to his childhood racing hero A.J. Foyt.

"I'm just a racer. I must not be very smart, 'cause I'm on the wrong end."
- Billy Bigley Jr., on the disappointing payouts for just about everyone but the winner in Florida Late Model racing now. That wasn't a concern for Bigley in his latest start, the Oct. 1 race at Punta Gorda Speedway, as he ended a three-year victory drought.

"It was a simple and very unfortunate mistake by a staff member here at MEP. Bubba sent the engine to us a few weeks ago because of a lifter failure that hurt the cam. Instead of putting the correct Ford camshaft back in Pollard's Blue Oval crate engine, a staff member accidentally put in the approved Comp cam for the MEP 425LM approved crate engine. Nonetheless the camshaft was wrong and should have been disqualified. We want to apologize to Bubba Pollard and his team for this issue. … This is only the second time that Bubba raced this engine since we repaired it. Coincidentally there was no measurable performance advantage with the incorrect cam, but it was still wrong. "
- Statement from McGunegill Engine Performance on the Oct. 8 disqualification of flagged winner Bubba Pollard at the Allen Turner Tuneup Pro Late Model race at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Fla. The DQ also took Pollard out of the running for the five-race track championship, which went to his often-rival D.J. VanderLey.

"I don't mind how it looks, as long as they give us the money at the end.' "
- Kevin Richards, the crew chief for Shelby Thompson. Thompson won the Spokane 200 in Washington after a last-lap tangle battling for the lead with Jeff Jefferson. Thompson's car crossed the finish line with no front bumper and some other damage.

"What little bit we got wasn't very good, but that's part of racing. I love it. I wouldn't trade it for a thing in the world."
- Chase Elliott, who finished second in the Alabama 200 at Montgomery Motor Speedway. This race was the afternoon after a CRA South event at Gresham Motorsports Park in Jefferson, Ga., where Elliott, Bubba Pollard and 200 winner Augie Grill all competed. The Jefferson race ended at about midnight, and Pollard won.

"It was totally uncalled for and very unprofessional. It's just ridiculous. I have no respect for that little kid any more. I'll give him no respect and no room any more. He can look forward to this."
- Bob Weber on George Skora III. Weber crashed out of the lead of the U.S. Open Late Model feature at Dunn Tire Raceway Park in Lancaster, N.Y., when pursuer Skora made a three-wide pass attempt with a lapped car. George's cousin Scott Skora wound up with the victory.

"When you're beating your head against the same wall continually, it helps to beat your head against other walls. You might come back home and say, 'Hey, there's a stud behind this wall that I didn't know before.' "
- Cris Muhler, a former Colorado National Speedway Late Model regular who has traveled to some CRA races this year. He returned home to place fourth in CNS' annual Challenge Cup.

"I wondered about the fan base down there and what they thought of me. The next night I checked Facebook and I had 15 people from South Carolina wanting to be my friend. It makes you feel good; you must've done something right."
- Scott Wise of Raleigh, N.C., after willing the Labor Day Late Model special in Dillon, S.C.

"One's sitting in the corner right now, and I'm not sure what we're gonna do with it. It might involve a plasma cutter, torches, a sawzall … any or all of the above."
- Vermont driver Scott Payea, on one of his two Late Model Sportsman cars. His primary car has treated him well this season at Thunder Road International Speedbowl, including a third-place finish in the Bond Auto Labor Day Classic.

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