NickHolt Posted May 11, 2004 Report Share Posted May 11, 2004 Premier Motorsports - San Antonio, Texas Release: May 9, 2004 From "Who's He?" to Hero in 16 Laps: Brandon Bendele Leads NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division "Leak Sealer 150" for 85 of 150 Laps; Finishes Third Houston, TX -- San Antonio's Brandon Bendele, driver of the # 8 Premier Minerals Chevrolet Monte Carlo, is well known in Texas racing circles. He's a two-time NASCAR Weekly Racing Series Sunbelt Region champion, was rookie of the year in 2002 in the ROMCO "Texas Tornado Tour," and won the ROMCO Tour title in 2003. But he was an unknown quantity in the NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division Southeast Series "Leak Sealer 150" at Houston Motorsports Park Saturday night until he qualified fifth and (after starting second due to officials inverting the top six qualifiers) took the lead on lap 16. Bendele led the next 85 laps, until he was passed first by current points leader Jason Hogan, on his way to a second win in two races; and then by the winningest active driver in the series, Jeff Fultz. "We got beat by two pretty good race drivers," a smiling Bendele said afterward. "I don't think we have anything to hang our heads about." Bendele and the Premier Motorsports team plan to defend their ROMCO Tornado Tour title and run selected NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division races as they prepare to race the entire Southeast Series in 2005. But this was their first-ever run in the Elite Division, and the 28-year-old got a lot of attention, not all of it from Texas fans who have seen him race here before. In fact, he clinched the 2003 ROMCO title with a win at Houston Motorsports Park. "It's fun to race a lot of green flag laps on a short track," Bendele said. The race was run in just under 52 minutes and had ten caution periods, but only for a total of 43 laps as the crews got the cars straightened out and line up quickly each time, and few of the incidents were serious. One of these minor incidents still hurt the effort of Bendele's fellow Texan, Chris Davidson, who qualified eighth but cut a tire down on some debris and had to come from the back of the pack to finish a strong fifth. Thanks to dominating performances in winning his two NASCAR Weekly Racing Series Sunbelt titles, Bendele has won fully 56 percent of the 90 feature races he has run. Fans will get to see him at Houston Motorsports Park again next weekend as the Texas Tornado Tour makes a visit to the track. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NSD082004 Posted May 13, 2004 Report Share Posted May 13, 2004 WOW!!! Way to go Bendele!!! I hope you go far in your career. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodneyRodriguez Posted May 14, 2004 Report Share Posted May 14, 2004 Brandon, I'm glad to say that i know you, you are are headed to the BIG TIME my man !!! Way to go, glad to see it happening for you .. Rodney Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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