By Gary Daughtrey

HAMPTON, Va. -July 19, 2008— Rusty Wood motored into the lead on the 18th circuit and held on for his second win of the season in the Larry King, Professional Legal Services 50 for the B&C Seafood Modifieds, the featured event of Saturday evening’s NASCAR Whelen All-American Series program at Langley Speedway.

Joe Scarbrough was quickest in afternoon time trials, lapping the .395-mile oval at 83.627 mph. Since he’d won the previous two races, though, track rules dictated that Scarbrough could start no better than eighth. Shawn Balluzzo assumed the pole position, while Wood lined up on his flank.

As the race got under way, Balluzzo inched ahead of Wood, who remained to his outside. Balluzzo finally found enough bite in the low groove to clear Wood as they exited Turn 4 on lap 3. Wood settled into second place, followed by Buster Horne Jr., Ronnie Davis and Chris Johnson.

On lap 6, Davis slipped under Horne in Turn 4. The two went side-by-side for most of a lap with Davis taking over third place in Turn 3 on lap 7. Two laps later, Scarbrough made his way into the top five, bypassing Johnson through Turns 3 and 4.

Horne reclaimed third from Davis on lap 15. Meanwhile, at the front, Balluzzo maintained a slim edge of a little more than a car-length over Wood.

After chasing Balluzzo for the first 16 laps, Wood launched his bid for the top spot on lap 17, powering to the outside of Balluzzo as they rolled into Turn 1.

Wood cleared Balluzzo off Turn 2 on the following circuit to grab the lead.

The first caution flag appeared just a lap shy of the halfway mark when Davis spun off Turn 4 while tussling with Scarbrough for fourth. As Davis retreated to the rear of the field, Cameron Patrick claimed a spot in the top five.

Only one more lap was completed before the second yellow flag flew as Tim Layne spun at the start/finish line. As the field gathered for a restart, Wood, Balluzzo, Horne, Scarbrough and Patrick made up the front five.

As the race resumed, Wood forged a one-length margin over Balluzzo, stretching it to a little more than two lengths as they hit the back straightaway. Behind them, Scarbrough hounded Horne for third, taking the spot on lap 27.

At lap 32, Wood enjoyed a three-length edge over Balluzzo, who was five lengths ahead of Scarbrough. Five more car-lengths separated Scarbrough from fourth-place Horne. Meanwhile, Johnson moved up to challenge Patrick for fifth, overtaking him on lap 34.

The third caution flag flew on lap 40 when Patrick spun in Turn 1.
Back under green, Wood bolted to a five-length advantage as Scarbrough took a quick look to the inside of Balluzzo.
Caution #4 was displayed on lap 43 when Andy Kemp spun at the flagstand.

When the green flag reappeared this time, Balluzzo latched onto Wood’s rear bumper and began searching for an opening. He took a peek to the inside in Turn 4 on lap 45, then dropped back in line.
Continuing to attack, Balluzzo was rewarded on lap 47 when Wood drifted wide in Turn 3, clearing the bottom lane for Balluzzo to pull alongside. Before Balluzzo had a chance to capitalize on the preferred lane, however, the fifth, and final, caution flag waved as Kemp and Layne spun between Turns 1 and 2.

On the last restart, Wood and Balluzzo broke away in nose-to-tail formation.

Despite Balluzzo’s best efforts to rattle him, Wood was solid in the race-ending sprint and won by 0.186-second — about a car-length.
Scarbrough tailed the lead duo to the line, in third, while Horne and Johnson completed the top five. Davis was sixth in the finishing order, followed by Danny Baker, Donnie Medlin, Patrick and Steve McGuire. The top 10 drivers all came home on the lead lap.

In Victory Lane after the race, Wood noted the toasty temps: “It was only a 50-lapper, but it was a hot 50-lapper. Cautions, stopped every now and then, cautions. But, we kept on digging.” Asked about his prospects to hold off Balluzzo without the benefit of the last yellow flag, Wood commented, “I think, if the caution before that one hadn’t come out, we’d have been all right. But, we had a little skip on the restarts, the motor had a little skip in it. Sometimes, it’d skip a little worse than others.

The lap before a restart, everything was good and clean — we went on and got out by a couple car-lengths. That last restart, she stumbled a little bit and he was right there with us. But, he drives us clean and we drive him clean, so it was a good night.” In the evening’s other feature events:

Jammie Goode started on the pole, at 78.020 mph, and led all the way for his fourth victory of the year, and second in a row, in the 40-lap Super 8 Motels/B&B Engines Grand Stock race.

Goode grabbed the lead on the opening lap, pulling ahead of front-row colleague Robbie Parker in Turns 1 and 2. Parker fell in line on Goode’s bumper, followed by Tommy Sweeney, Brandon Hinson and Paul Lubno.

The yellow flag made an early appearance, flying on lap 2 for Danny Harrell’s spin on the backstretch. Jason Leftwich joined Harrell at the back of the pack for the restart.

Back under green, Goode pulled away from Parker by a couple car-lengths, while a similar gap separated Parker from Sweeney, Hinson and Lubno.

On lap 5, Sweeney tracked down Parker and ducked underneath him in Turn 4. Sweeney pulled ahead on lap 6 and left the door open for Hinson and Lubno, who both scooted past Parker on lap 7. The shuffle allowed Goode to extend his margin to half a straightaway.

The second yellow flag waved on lap 11 for Billy Fisher’s spin off Turn 4.

As the race resumed, Goode drove off by three lengths, while Hinson closed in on Sweeney for the runner-up spot. On lap 12, Parker slid wide in Turn 4 and gave up the fifth position to Rodney Boyd.
Lubno began to rumble on lap 17, driving under Hinson off Turn 4. He pulled ahead in Turn 2 on lap 18 and moved up to third on the leaderboard. At the front, Goode enjoyed a six-length advantage as he saw the crossed flags.

On lap 24, Lubno slipped past Sweeney for second. Facing a half-straightaway deficit to the leader, Lubno began to chip away at Goode’s margin.

The last of the race’s three caution flags was displayed on lap 38 when Leftwich smacked the backstretch wall. Lining up for a three-lap dash to the checkers, Lubno was separated from Goode by Kyle Waltz’s lapped machine.

On the final restart, Goode shot out to a five-length lead as Lubno struggled to bypass Waltz. By the time, Lubno freed himself, Goode was long gone.

At the stripe, Goode was the winner by half a straightaway over Lubno. Hinson was third, swiping the spot from Sweeney on the last lap. Boyd was fifth at the end, but failed to clear the post-race inspection when officials found an unapproved distributor. Henry Barnes was credited with fifth in the official rundown.

Randy Sample was awarded his second win of the year in the 50-lap Bass Pro Shops Super Street feature after unapproved rear springs were discovered on the car of apparent winner Dale Parro.

Parro started on the pole, at 73.212 mph, and led all 50 circuits. Sample, meanwhile, started fourth, but slipped to fifth at the beginning of the event. He quickly righted the ship, however, regaining fourth on lap 4. He moved up one more spot, to third, on lap 10 when he scooted past Ryan Nester.

At the front, Parro and Jonathan Mullet ran 1-2, half a straightaway ahead of Sample. The complexion of the race changed on lap 31, however, as a puff of white smoke belched from Mullett’s car, chasing him to the pit area. The race’s only caution flag also appeared on that lap for debris.

On the restart, Parro and Sample pulled away, while third-place Nester dealt with a lapped machine. Once free of the slower car, Nester began to close in on the lead duo.

At the finish, Parro was three lengths ahead of Sample. His victory celebration was short-lived, though, as his entry didn’t make it through the post-race inspection.

In the amended rundown, Sample was the winner, followed by Nester, Randy Akers, Jeramie Wood and Todd VanGuilder.

Fresh off his victory in last week’s Hampton Heat 200 Late Model Stock Car race, Nick Smith continued his winning ways on Saturday, turning in a pole-to-checkers performance in the 25-lap Peninsula Hardwood Mulch INEX Legends feature. It was Smith’s second straight Legends win.

Smith was the fast qualifier, at 77.986 mph, and beat outside pole starter Don McLaughlin in a drag race to Turn 1 at the drop of the green flag. Caught to the outside, McLaughlin fell to fifth place before finding a place in line.

Rette Causey held down the runner-up spot for the first six circuits before giving way to Steve Keesee on lap 7. Jamie Price tagged along with Keesee, dropping Causey to third. Smith took advantage of the exchange, stretching his lead to five car-lengths.

Over the remainder of the caution-free event, Keesee was able to trim just a bit off of Smith’s lead. He never got close enough, though, to pose a major threat as Smith sailed to a four-length win. Keesee, Causey, McLaughlin and Brad Hancock tailed Smith to the finish.

Randy Bradsher started on the pole and held off a late charge by Jeff Sampson to score his first win of the year in a 25-lapper for the Wolf Contractors Wolf Trucks.

Sampson was fastest in afternoon time trials, laying down a lap of 87.384 mph to set a new division record. Since he’d won the previous two races, though, he was placed in seventh on the starting grid. Two-time winner Mark Claar was added to the lineup after qualifying and joined Sampson at the back of the pack.

As the race got under way, Bradsher grabbed the lead, pulling ahead of outside pole-sitter Troy Hutcheson as the field rumbled onto the backstretch for the first time.
Sampson, meanwhile, gained two spots in the opening shuffle, emerging in fifth. He took over fourth place on lap 2, moved up to third on lap 4 and grabbed the runner-up position from Hutcheson on lap 7. Claar matched Sampson nearly step for step and moved into third on lap 8.
While Sampson and Claar worked through the field, Bradsher built a half-straightaway cushion. That lead vanished, however, when Michael Farmer and Eric Schaffer spun in Turn 2 on lap 9 to bring out the first caution flag.
Back under green, Bradsher took care to protect the low groove, leading Sampson to look to the outside. As Sampson swung high, though, it opened the bottom lane for Claar.

The three-truck scuffle finally came to an end on lap 15 when Sampson spun at the end of the backstretch, collecting Claar and prompting the second yellow flag.

Sampson and Claar both retreated to the rear of the field, while Hutcheson reclaimed second place.

On the restart, Bradsher quickly fashioned a two-length edge over Hutcheson, while Claar and Sampson moved up to fourth and fifth, respectively. On lap 17, Claar and Sampson each picked up another position, taking over third and fourth, in that order.

At the front, Bradsher had opened a bit of breathing room between himself and Hutcheson. With a slip in Turn 2 on lap 19, though, he surrendered that ground and allowed Claar and Sampson to join the lead battle.

The third, and final, caution flag appeared on lap 21 when Claar looped his machine off Turn 2.

On the last restart, Bradsher bolted to a two-length lead, only to see Hutcheson narrow the gap on the backstretch as Sampson lurked just behind, in third.

On lap 24, Sampson drove underneath Hutcheson in Turn 1 and pulled ahead in Turn 3 to grab second. The swap allowed Bradsher to motor away by three lengths.

With the white flag in the air, Bradsher endured one more anxious moment as he slipped again in Turn 2 and saw his lead over Sampson shrink from three lengths to one.

Bradsher composed himself and held on, though, beating Sampson back to the checkers by one truck-length. Claar bypassed Hutcheson on the final lap to take third and George VanGuilder was fifth. The top five finishers were all Pro Division entries.

In the Semi-Pro ranks, Eric Schaffer bagged top honors for the fifth time this season, finishing ahead of Michael Johnson. Schaffer was sixth in the overall rundown.




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