DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- It's July, which means it is time for the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour to return to action this Friday night for the Firecracker 150 at Caraway Speedway.

After having time off since late April, many of the teams have spent the off weekends racing at their local short track or testing to improve their cars for the second half of the season.

One of those drivers that has been working to get his car better is L.W. Miller. Miller drives the No. 88Taxslayer.com/Speedco Chevrolet and enters this weekend in second place in the standings, just six points behind leader George Brunnhoelzl III (171-165).

"We have spent this time off working hard to get our car better," Miller said. "We had a good start to the season but have got to get better if we expect to contend for the title."

Miller has enjoyed a consistent start to the season as he, Brunnhoelzl and Burt Myers are the only drivers to finish in the top 10 in all four races so far this season. While Miller is pleased with his performance through the first four races, the Dushore, Pa., native knows it's going to takes more than top-10s finishes to win his second championship.

"I think we have made our team and car better during the break, but we really don't know the results until we are in race conditions at the track," Miller added. "We have to perform better on the track if we are going to catch George [Brunnhoelzl]."

While Miller has his sights set on taking over the points lead from Brunnhoelzl, he adds that the competition is improved and stronger this year throughout the field.

"You can't just worry about one driver in our series," Miller said. "George is the one everyone is going after to catch in the points, but we have some great competition as usual in the field and our rookies, especially Danny Bohn and Kyle Ebersole, have shown that they know how to run up front. It ought to be a great second half season for the fans to watch how this all plays out."

Positions 3-5 in the standings are quite tight following the break. Bohn enters this week third with 145 while Jason Myers sits in fourth, just two points behind at 143. Burt Myers completes the top five with 142 points.