By Gary Daughtrey

HAMPTON, Va. -April 26, 2008- Danny Edwards Jr. moved out front on lap 74 and cruised to his first victory of the season in the Bud Light 100 for the Crossroads Fuel Service Late Model Stock Cars, the headlining event of Saturday evening’s NASCAR Whelen All-American Series program at Langley Speedway.

Greg Edwards, Danny’s brother, set the pace in time trials, lapping the .395-mile oval at 89.025 mph to bag the pole position. Nick Smith was second-fastest and shared the front row with Greg Edwards. Danny Edwards Jr. and C.E. Falk made up Row 2, while Dean Shiflett and Anthony Warren occupied the third row.

As the race got going, Smith remained on Greg Edwards’ flank until the field reached Turn 2 for the first time. Heading onto the backstretch, Edwards gained the clear-cut advantage, while Smith settled into second place. Danny Edwards Jr. emerged from the shuffle in third, followed by Falk and Shiflett.

By the fifth circuit, Greg Edwards had fashioned a three-length lead over Smith, who had Danny Edwards Jr. and Falk on his bumper. Nearly half a straightaway separated the top four from fifth-place Shiflett.

On lap 8, Falk went after Danny Edwards Jr. for the third spot, grabbing the position at the end of the frontstretch. The exchange allowed Greg Edwards and Smith to pad their margin.

The first yellow flag waved on lap 26 when Warren looped his machine off Turn 4. He and Mark Wertz were directed to the rear of the field for the ensuing restart.

Back under green, Greg Edwards jumped out to a three-length advantage as Smith worked past a lapped car. Meanwhile, deeper in the field, the Shiflett brothers — Dean and Jeff — tussled over fifth place with Jeff taking the position on lap 29.

The second caution flag flew on lap 43 for a three-car skirmish in Turn 2. Setting the lineup, Greg Edwards was the leader, followed by Smith, Falk, Danny Edwards Jr. and Jeff Shiflett.

Only three more laps were in the books when caution #3 appeared for Smith and Falk’s get-together in Turn 1. Falk had poked a fender to the inside of Smith at the end of the front straightaway in a bid for second, but the move went awry as the two tangled. Smith visited the pits, then rejoined the rear of the field for the restart. Falk, on the other hand, was unable to continue and retired to an 18th-place finish.

The incident handed the runner-up position to Danny Edwards Jr. and, returning to green, he latched onto his brother’s rear bumper. Within a couple laps, the Edwardses had opened a four-length gap between themselves and third-place Jeff Shiflett.

The last of the race’s four caution flags was displayed on lap 68 for Mike Rudy’s spin in Turn 4. Greg and Danny Edwards continued to run 1-2, followed by Jeff and Dean Shiflett. Warren was fifth, while Smith had crept back into contention, in sixth.

As the race resumed, Smith shot past Warren to move back into the top five. He overtook Dean Shiflett on lap 72 to gain fourth place and nabbed third from Jeff Shiflett on lap 79. According to the track’s timing and scoring computer, Smith was the fastest car on the track, but he faced a half-straightaway deficit to the Edwards brothers.

Entering the final 10 circuits, Danny Edwards Jr. enjoyed a lead of almost half a straightaway over Greg Edwards. Lapped traffic, however, loomed ahead.

Instead of charging into the snarl of slower machines, Danny Edwards Jr. backed off a bit and played it conservatively near the finish. He surrendered a few car-lengths from his advantage, but still came home with a comfortable, three-length victory.

Greg Edwards tailed his brother to the stripe, in second, followed by Smith, Jeff Shiflett and Warren. Wertz was sixth to the line, while Dean Shiflett, Craig Eastep, K.C. Cunningham and Mark Claar rounded out the top 10, all on the lead lap.

In Victory Lane after the race, Danny Edwards Jr. commented on his strategy for the event: “We had a good car. I don’t know how we would’ve stacked up there. The two young guys (Smith and Falk) tangled up down in Turn 1. I think we could run with ‘em. I don’t know. We were trying to pace there to save a little bit for the end because we know what happened the first week — we got out there in front and ran pretty hard and ended up using our tires up, so we wanted to kinda reverse that tonight and be smart about it and we did that.”

The win represented a big rebound for Edwards, who was an early retiree from the previous event: “Last week, we had some unfortunate problems. Had an opportunity to win a race and had a mechanical issue, but we redeemed ourselves tonight. We took advantage of the other situation. I saw it coming; I started backing out on the frontstretch.”

During post-race inspections, the shocks on Smith’s #21 car came into question, prompting officials to hold up the results, pending further study and consultation. A decision is expected early next week.

In the evening’s other feature events:

In the 50-lap B&C Seafood Modified feature, Chris Johnson took over the lead on the 37th circuit and rolled to his second straight win.

Shawn Balluzzo started on the pole, at 84.946 mph, and showed the way for the first 36 laps. Johnson, meanwhile, qualified fifth and emerged from the race-opening shuffle in fourth place, behind Balluzzo, Rusty Wood and Cameron Patrick.

While Balluzzo enjoyed a four-length lead at the head of the field, Johnson moved up to third on lap 21, bypassing Patrick. Three laps later, the race was interrupted by the first caution flag.

Back under green, Balluzzo forged a two-length edge over Wood. Working his way past two lapped machines, Johnson fell almost half a straightaway behind the lead duo. Once in the clear, though, he quickly tracked them down.

On lap 34, Johnson grabbed second place from Wood, driving to the inside into Turn 1 and completing the pass off Turn 2. On lap 37, that same move paid off again as Johnson swiped the top spot from Balluzzo.

The only other yellow flag appeared on lap 40 for Kerry Gilbert’s spin in Turn 2.

As the race resumed, Johnson bolted to a three-length lead over Balluzzo. Within a handful of laps, that advantage had doubled and Johnson was on his way to Victory Lane.

At the finish, Johnson was the winner by six lengths over Balluzzo. Buster Horne Jr. was third, coming out on top of a late-race, side-by-side duel with Wood, who ended up fourth. Patrick, a former INEX Legends champ, was fifth in his Langley Mod debut.

Randy Akers started on the pole, at 75.458 mph, and stormed to his first victory of the season in a 50-lapper for the Bass Pro Shops Super Streets, leading all the way.

Akers grabbed the lead on the opening circuit, pulling ahead of his front-row colleague, opening night winner Randy Sample. Sample gave up the second spot to Ryan Nester on lap 2. By then, though, Akers was long gone, having driven off by over half a straightaway.

The first caution flag appeared on lap 14 when Dale Parro suffered apparent engine problems and spun into Turn 1. Lining up for the restart, a lapped car separated Akers and Nester.

Back under green, Akers took full advantage of the buffer, darting away by five lengths. Steadily, he continued to add to his lead. By lap 37, he was up by a full straightaway.

The second caution flag waved on lap 40. Again, Akers enjoyed the advantage of a slower car between himself and Nester and immediately bolted to a four-length lead when the event resumed.

Akers had to endure one more interruption on the way to Victory Lane as the third yellow flag flew on lap 48. This time, Nester was right on his bumper for the restart.

Under green for a quick dash to the finish, Akers gained a two-length edge over Nester, stretching it to three lengths as the leaders rumbled onto the backstretch.

At the checkers, Akers was the winner by three lengths over Nester. Sample was third to the line, followed by Jessica Wood and Larry Venable.

In the 25-lap Peninsula Hardwood Mulch INEX Legends race, Ryan Crites showed the way from the pole position and posted his first win of the young season.

Crites, who qualified at 78.239 mph to edge Steve Keesee by only three-thousandths of a second in time trials, gained the clear-cut advantage at the end of the backstretch on the opening lap of the event. Rette Causey moved up to second, followed by Don McLaughlin, while Keesee slipped to fourth.

On lap 5, McLaughlin scooted past Causey off Turn 4 for the runner-up spot. Keesee took McLaughlin’s cue and bypassed Causey on the next circuit. The shuffle allowed Crites to pull away by four lengths.

By the 10th lap, McLaughlin had closed in on Crites’ rear bumper. Before that battle could develop, however, the race’s only caution flag flew on lap 11. Setting the lineup, Crites, McLaughlin, Keesee, Causey and Jamie Price made up the top five.

On the restart, Crites bolted to a three-length lead. Meanwhile, Keesee was on McLaughlin’s bumper, looking for an opening. He didn’t find one, so he created one on lap 17, muscling McLaughlin up the track in Turn 2 and taking over second place. McLaughlin fell to fifth before finding a place in line.

With Keesee and McLaughlin scuffling behind him, Crites widened his lead to five lengths. Over the remaining laps, Keesee was able to cut into that margin, but he could get no closer than two car-lengths as Crites motored on to the victory.

Causey was third, tailing Crites and Keesee to the stripe. McLaughlin was fourth in the rundown, while Brad Hancock completed the top five.

Jeff Sampson took the lead for good on lap 13 and sailed to his second straight win in a 25-lap contest for the Wolf Contractors Wolf Trucks.
Sampson started on the pole, at 86.623 mph, and pulled ahead of Mark Claar off Turn 2 to take the lead on the opening lap. By lap 5, his advantage had swelled to almost half a straightaway.

On lap 8, Sampson got boxed in by a pair of slower trucks in Turns 3 and 4, opening the door for Claar to grab the top spot. Sampson quickly freed himself from his predicament and set off after the new leader.

Coming around to complete lap 12, Sampson ducked to the inside of Claar off the fourth corner. He completed the pass at the end of the frontstretch on lap 13.

The only caution flag appeared on lap 16 when Eric Schaffer, the lone Semi-Pro entrant in the field, slowed to a crawl along the back straightaway.
Back under green, Sampson opened a two-length lead over Claar. That margin steadily grew over the remaining circuits.

At the finish, Sampson was the winner by six lengths over Claar. Troy Hutcheson was third, followed by Randy Bradsher and Michael Randall. The top five finishers, plus sixth-place George VanGuilder, were all Pro division entrants. Schaffer was credited with the Semi-Pro win — his second of the year.

RESULTS

NASCAR Whelen All-American Series
at Langley Speedway - Hampton, VA
Bud Light Night
Race Results
Saturday, April 26, 2008

CROSSROADS FUEL SERVICE
LATE MODEL STOCK CARS - 100 laps
**UNOFFICIAL**
Fin. Pos. (Car #) Driver; Laps Compl.
1. (26) Danny Edwards Jr.; 100
2. (27) Greg Edwards; 100
3. (21) Nick Smith; 100
4. (01) Jeff Shiflett; 100
5. (34) Anthony Warren; 100
6. (55) Mark Wertz; 100
7. (06) Dean Shiflett; 100
8. (2) Craig Eastep; 100
9. (61) K.C. Cunningham; 100
10. (7) Mark Claar; 100
11. (4) Matt Waltz; 99
12. (9) Mike Rudy; 98
13. (12) Ross Clements; 98
14. (64) Rick Gdovic; 97
15. (96) Bruce Livingston; 94
16. (48) Shawn Balluzzo; 66
17. (41) Wesley Falk; 57
18. (40) C.E. Falk; 45
19. (97) Matt Midgett; 10
20. (6) Aaron Adams; 0
Pole: G. Edwards - 89.025 mph.

B&C SEAFOOD MODIFIEDS - 50 laps
Fin. Pos. (Car #) Driver; Laps Compl.
1. (36) Chris Johnson; 50
2. (57) Shawn Balluzzo; 50
3. (9) Buster Horne Jr.; 50
4. (69) Rusty Wood; 50
5. (20) Cameron Patrick; 50
6. (93) Joe Scarbrough; 50
7. (21) Danny Baker; 50
8. (39) Toby Davis; 50
9. (5) Michael Leech; 50
10. (19) Dwayne VanTassel; 50
11. (65) Jimmy Kibler; 49
12. (33) Rob Wells; 49
13. (88) Kerry Gilbert; 39
14. (10) Ritchie German; 34
15. (68) Curt Curtis; 21
Pole: Balluzzo - 84.946 mph.

BASS PRO SHOPS SUPER STREETS - 50 laps
Fin. Pos. (Car #) Driver; Laps Compl.
1. (21) Randy Akers; 50
2. (51) Ryan Nester; 50
3. (24) Randy Sample; 50
4. (3) Jessica Wood; 50
5. (14) Larry Venable; 50
6. (39) Garrett Willcox; 50
7. (81) Jeff Shannon; 50
8. (58) Doug Woodyard; 50
9. (02) Jeramie Wood; 50
10. (09) Todd VanGuilder; 49
11. (12) Sean Calway; 49
12. (2) Rod Busitzky; 49
13. (8) Dennis Nagle; 49
14. (28) Jamie Sample; 49
15. (5) Gene Gruebel; 42
16. (54) Jason Langley; 39
17. (03) Jerry LaMontagne; 36
18. (95) Jonathan Mullett; 25
19. (15) Dale Parro; 13
Pole: Akers - 75.458 mph.

PENINSULA HARDWOOD MULCH
INEX LEGENDS - 25 laps
Fin. Pos. (Car #) Driver; Laps Compl.
1. (00) Ryan Crites; 25
2. (0) Steve Keesee; 25
3. (33) Rette Causey; 25
4. (21) Don McLaughlin; 25
5. (17) Brad Hancock; 25
6. (08) Jamie Price; 25
7. (26) Jeremy Cook; 25
8. (98) Scott Prillaman; 25
9. (30) Joe Hendricks; 25
10. (31) Erik Hall; 24
11. (9) Steve Causey; 24
12. (22) Cameron Patrick; 10
13. (16) Chris Peterson; 10
Pole: Crites - 78.239 mph.

WOLF CONTRACTORS WOLF TRUCKS - 25 laps
Fin. Pos. (Truck #) Driver; Laps Compl.
1. (8) Jeff Sampson (P); 25
2. (7) Mark Claar (P); 25
3. (53) Troy Hutcheson (P); 25
4. (33) Randy Bradsher (P); 25
5. (03) Michael Randall (P); 23
6. (12) George VanGuilder (P); 21
7. (3) Eric Schaffer (S); 12
Pole: Sampson - 86.623 mph.
(P) - Pro Division
(S) - Semi-Pro Division



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