Posted by Hickory Motor Speedway on October 15, 2007, 4:46 pm
Board Administrator

“LODEN STRIKES AGAIN IN HICKORY’S “FALL BRAWL” Newton, NC……Andy Loden, hot off of nailing down the 2007 Hickory Motor Speedway Track Championship, topped off his season by taking the trophy for the biggest and baddest Late Model Stocks race of the year: “The FALL BRAWL Presented by PEPSI”. The win secured him the three most-coveted trophies of the Hickory Motor Speedway racing season: the Track Championship, the Bobby Isaac Memorial, and The Fall Brawl. But to do it, he had to beat some of the finest Late Model drivers in the country, and three other previous Hickory Track Champions…. 2001 HMS Track Champion Mark Setzer lead the field to the green after setting fast time on Pole Day on Saturday, Oct 13th. Loden qualified 15th, and quickly moved into the top 10, but the veteran who is known to run a higher line at HMS waited until the time was right to challenge for the lead. Setzer, 2004 HMS Track Champion Matt McCall, and Coleman Pressley had been taking turns leading the 31-car strong field, but McCall held the lead at the Halfway Break. With the trio settling a blistering pace on the restart, Loden felt he had to move up a little quicker than originally planned, and used a pass on the outside to get by McCall on lap 233. Without a caution for the final 37 laps, Loden was able to stay out front for the win. An ecstatic Loden said in Victory Lane: “We had to race a little harder than we wanted to early in the race, but we won the FALL BRAWL! I can’t believe it!” “I am glad we went green at the end,” added Loden. “Matt had such a good car on restarts, he could have gotten by us if we had a late caution.” McCall came home second and said “We had a really good car, but I guess we just didn’t make enough adjustments at our break to help us late in the race.” Coleman Pressley brought his #59 in for a strong third place finish. Setzer battled mechanical problems all day, and eventually finished 17th. 1999 HMS Track Champion Shane Huffman was forced to park his car early due to mechanical problems as well.