By Gary Daughtrey

HAMPTON, VA -June 28, 2008— With his potential challengers dropping like flies, Danny Edwards Jr. rolled to his fourth victory of the season in the Old Point National Bank 100 for the Crossroads Fuel Service Late Model Stock Cars, the featured event of Saturday evening’s NASCAR Whelen All-American Series program at Langley Speedway.

Edwards qualified on the pole for the race, lapping the .395-mile oval at 88.964 mph. He shared the front row with his brother, Greg Edwards. C.E. Falk and Gary Weeks made up Row 2, while K.C. Cunningham and Nick Smith occupied Row 3.

As the race got under way, Danny Edwards Jr. jumped out front and Falk rushed to fill the opening to the inside of Greg Edwards. They went door-to-door for a lap with Greg Edwards pulling ahead on lap 2. Falk dropped into third, followed by Cunningham and Weeks.
On lap 5, Weeks slipped past Cunningham to take fourth, leaving the door open for Smith and Mark Wertz. Three laps later, Falk was on the move, swiping the runner-up spot from Greg Edwards.

The first yellow flag flew on lap 13 as Wertz, Weeks and Cunningham piled up in Turn 3. Weeks was sidelined for the evening, while Wertz and Cunningham came back to log a few more circuits before retiring.
When the race resumed, Danny Edwards Jr. fashioned a slim margin over Falk. Within a few laps, the advantage had grown to two lengths. Falk enjoyed a similar lead over Greg Edwards.

Greg Edwards’ night ended on lap 19 as his machine began belching clouds of white smoke. Edwards, who held the points lead coming into the event, made his way to the pits and retired to an 18th-place finish. His exit left Danny Edwards Jr. and Falk with a half-straightaway lead over third-place Smith.

Falk’s evening came to an abrupt end on lap 31. Dude Gibbs and Matt Midgett tangled and spun in the middle of the backstretch, just ahead of the leaders, to bring out the second caution flag. Coming off Turn 2, Edwards slowed and drove to the inside of the track to miss the two cars. Falk, however, committed himself to the outside line off the corner and piled into Gibbs.

Setting the lineup for the restart, Edwards was the leader, followed by Smith and Paul DeBolt. Dean and Jeff Shiflett completed the top five.

Back under green, Edwards opened a one-length lead over Smith. Another car-length separated Smith and DeBolt, while Dean Shiflett dropped five lengths behind the third-place runner. On lap 33, Jeff Shiflett bypassed his brother for fourth and brought Shawn Balluzzo along with him.

Meanwhile, at the front, Smith had inched his way to within half a car-length of Edwards’ rear bumper. He took a look to the leader’s inside off Turn 4 on lap 42, but Edwards fought off the bid and pulled away by two lengths.

Caution #3 appeared on lap 46 when Duane Shreeves and Wertz scuffled at the end of the backstretch and Shreeves slid into the outside wall, adding two more cars to the growing attrition list.

Back under way, Edwards, Smith and DeBolt bolted from the pack, while Balluzzo went after Jeff Shiflett for fourth, taking the spot on lap 47 and leaving the door open for rookie Matt Waltz, who cracked the top five on lap 49.

Just past the halfway point, Edwards was managing a two-length lead over Smith.

DeBolt, meanwhile, was losing contact with the lead duo. By lap 62, he had fallen half a straightaway behind Smith.

Jeff Shiflett regained fifth place from Waltz on lap 68. Dean Shiflett followed his brother’s cue a lap later, dropping Waltz to seventh. On lap 71, Dean Shiflett and Waltz tangled and spun in Turn 4, prompting the fourth yellow flag.

On the restart, a lapped car separated Edwards and Smith. Edwards took full advantage of the buffer, speeding off to a five-length lead as Smith worked around the slower machine.

The final caution flag waved on lap 85 when fourth-place Balluzzo suffered a terminal engine problem at the entrance to Turn 1 and spun.
Under green for the last time, Edwards pulled away by almost three lengths over Smith, who suddenly had his hands full with a challenge from DeBolt.

On lap 86, DeBolt flashed past Smith to take over second place. Immediately, Smith began to slow, eventually making the turn onto the pit lane at lap 88. He wound up ninth in the final rundown.
With Smith faltering, Edwards found himself with a hefty lead over the new second-place runner, DeBolt. He cruised on to the checkers, winning by five car-lengths. Jeff Shiflett tailed Edwards and DeBolt to the line, in third, followed by Dean Shiflett and Waltz. Mark Claar and Mike Rudy were sixth and seventh, the final drivers on the lead lap. Rick Gdovic was eighth, while Smith and Ross Clements rounded out the top 10.

In Victory Lane after the event, Danny Edwards Jr. commented on the tough contest: “I think we were in the right place. That was the key, being out front. Had a better view of the wreck back there on the backstretch. It was kinda smoky back there and I had to slow down and pick a line. I know it was kinda hard to see for anybody who was behind us. That was unfortunate for those guys that got wrecked up tonight. But, I tell ya’ what, the guys on this team worked awful hard to get this car back here in Victory Lane. We’ve been trying to figure out, after last race, we didn’t run so good and we worked on it and worked on it and found a few things wrong and we were able to get ‘em fixed and here we are.”

Asked about the challenge from Falk in the opening circuits, Edwards continued, “It’s hard to say. That was awful early in the race. We had position and I think we were holding our own, doing just exactly what we needed to do. Then, Nick got up there around the halfway point. Once we got settled in and got some laps on our tires and got some long runs, I was able to find a groove there to get pulled away and everything worked great from there.”

With the win, Danny Edwards Jr. has replaced his brother atop the division standings. He now holds an 18-point lead over Greg Edwards, 316-298, as the LMSC class gets ready for its biggest race of the season, the $15,000-to-win Hampton Heat 200 on July 12.

In the evening’s other feature events:

Nick Smith took the lead on lap 9 and motored to his first victory of the year in a special 40-lapper for the Peninsula Hardwood Mulch INEX Legends, which was presented by CBX Modular Homes, Cycle Specialists, Mike’s Place and Elizabeth River Lawn & Landscaping.

Don McLaughlin snagged the pole, at 78.110 mph, and picked up the $200 pole award which had been posted by the Freemans of Poquoson, Va. Brad Hancock started second, while Smith and Ronnie Bassett lined up in Row 2. Jamie Price and Scott Hensley made up Row 3.
On the start, McLaughlin powered ahead of Hancock as the field steamed through Turns 1 and 2 for the first time. Hancock settled into second, followed by Smith and Price.

On lap 6, Smith slipped underneath Hancock in Turn 2 in a bid for the runner-up spot. The pair went side-by-side for almost a lap with Smith taking the position on lap 7. The exchange allowed McLaughlin to pull away by three lengths.

The first caution flag flew on lap 9 when fifth-place Daniel Hemric spun in Turn 4.

Back under green, Smith wasted no time in going after the lead. Just after the restart, he ducked under McLaughlin on the backstretch and pulled ahead as they reached Turn 3. McLaughlin tried to change lanes and reverse the maneuver off Turn 4, but Smith held him off. By lap 15, Smith had fashioned a three-length advantage.

Deeper in the field, Jeremy Cook was on the move. He started 10th on the 25-car grid and grabbed a spot in the top five when Hemric had his problems on lap 9. He slipped past Price for fourth on lap 13. He tried to swipe third from Hancock on lap 17. Instead, Price passed them both off Turn 4.

The second caution flag waved for Erik Hall’s spin in Turn 1 on lap 20.

As the race resumed, Smith quickly opened a three-length margin on McLaughlin, while Cook renewed his bid for third and scooted around Price to take the spot.

The last of the race’s three caution flags was displayed on lap 25 as Kyle Beattie ground to a stop in Turn 4. With 15 laps remaining, Smith, McLaughlin, Cook, Price and Cameron Patrick made up the top five.

On the restart, Smith pulled away by three lengths, while Cook closed in on McLaughlin for second. On lap 27, Cook moved ahead of McLaughlin on the backstretch to gain the runner-up spot. The shuffle allowed Smith to pad his lead to five lengths.

By the finish, Smith’s advantage had swelled to almost half a straightaway as he won by 1.215 seconds and claimed the $2,000 top prize. Cook was second, followed by Price, who passed McLaughlin on lap 39. McLaughlin was fourth to the line and Hancock completed the top five.

Dusty Connor bagged his first win of the season in a caution-free 25-lap contest for the E-Z Auto of Newport News UCARs, taking the lead on the fifth circuit.

Renno Marchetti IV nabbed the pole position, at 70.084 mph, and shared the front row with Robert Rusinyak. Connor lined up third. The qualifying session was remarkably competitive with less than a second separating the top 21 cars. Points leader Matt Hockaday was about 1.3 seconds off Marchetti’s pace and started 22nd.

As the race got rolling, Rusinyak remained on Marchetti’s flank until they reached Turns 3 and 4. At that point, Marchetti gained the clear-cut edge. Connor tagged along on the leader’s bumper and picked up the second spot. Caught to the outside, Rusinyak eventually fell to sixth place.

On lap 5, Connor poked a fender under Marchetti in Turn 2. He drew even along the backstretch, nosed ahead at the line and cleared Marchetti in Turn 1 on lap 6.

Connor and Marchetti continued to run nose-to-tail until lap 15 when they encountered a pack of lapped cars. While Connor successfully steered clear of the slower machines on lap 18, Marchetti’s progress was stymied and he lost valuable ground to the leader as third-place Randy Prillaman grew larger in his mirror.

At the end, Connor was the winner by six lengths over Marchetti. Prillaman was third, followed by Greg Pass and Rusinyak. After starting near the back of the pack, Hockaday salvaged a sixth-place finish and earned the Hard Charger Award.

D.J. Watson assumed the lead on lap 25 and paced the field to his first victory of the season in the 30-lap Standard Welding Pro 6 feature.

Two-time winner Kevin Wagner started on the pole, at 80.920 mph, and led the first 24 circuits. Behind him, J.B. Sipe held down second place until lap 4 when he gave way to Casey Sipe. On lap 23, Watson slipped past Casey Sipe to take over the runner-up spot.

The first caution flag appeared on lap 25 when Lindsay Bryant spun just before the start/finish line. Lining up for a restart, Wagner, Watson, Casey Sipe, James Williams and Wesley Harris made up the top five.

Back under green, Wagner failed to come up to speed, pulling aside and handing the lead to Watson. Before another lap was in the books, the second caution flag waved as Wagner slowed to a crawl and stopped in the middle of Turns 3 and 4.

On the ensuing restart, Williams drove under Casey Sipe to swipe the second spot.

The move drew a black flag, though, since it’s against the rules to pass to the inside before the start/finish line on a restart. Williams didn’t heed the black flag and officials stopped scoring his car after lap 26.

Meanwhile, Watson was steaming along at the head of the field. At the finish, his winning margin stood at five lengths. Casey Sipe was second in the official rundown, followed by Harris, J.B. Sipe and Tim Layne. Williams ended up eighth.

Jason Adkins notched a dominating victory in a 25-lapper for the Virginia Mini Cup Racing Association. He started on the pole, at 69.597 mph, and led all the way.

Jason Moye looked to be Adkins’ primary competition in the early going. On lap 8, however, he spun in Turn 2. He righted his machine and continued, while the caution flag remained hidden. The miscue allowed Adkins to widen his lead to half a straightaway over second-place Matt Wade.

On lap 11, Travis Roach regained the runner-up spot from Wade. Roach had started on the outside of the front row, but dropped back in the opening circuits.

To have a chance to overtake Adkins, Roach and the rest of the field needed a timely caution flag. With the exception of an early yellow flag on lap 7, though, the event was “clean and green” as Adkins continued to extend his margin.

At the finish, Adkins was the winner by a full straightaway. Roach was second, followed by Wade, Amanda Forney and Tyler Roach, who started shotgun on the 13-car grid.



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