By Gary Daughtrey

HAMPTON, VA -September 27, 2008— Joe Scarbrough moved into the lead on lap 34 and showed the way to the finish to win the Plaid 19 “Race Against Autism” 75 for the Rolling Thunder Modified tour, the featured event of Saturday evening’s NASCAR Whelen All-American Series program at Langley Speedway.

Ronnie Davis set the fast time in qualifying for the race, lapping the .395-mile oval at 84.562 mph. The top six qualifiers were inverted for the start, though, bumping Davis back to the outside of Row 3. Hunter Slayton took over the pole position, sharing the front row with Mike Hanbury. Michael Leech and Doug Paasch made up Row 2, while Scarbrough and Davis launched from the third row.

As the race got under way, Slayton edged ahead, but gave way to Leech as the field came around to complete the opening circuit.

The first caution flag waved on lap 3 when Ernie Dettbarn spun at the start/finish line. Setting the running order, Leech was the leader, followed by Slayton, Scarbrough, Hanbury and Paasch.

Back under green, Leech quickly forged a two-length advantage, while Scarbrough slipped past Slayton for second. Hanbury swiped third from Slayton on lap 4 and he was followed by Davis, Aubrey Thurston and Paasch as Slayton dropped back in the field.

By lap 7, Leech had extended his lead to almost half a straightaway over Scarbrough. Behind them, Davis scooted around Hanbury to take over third place.

The second yellow flag flew on lap 11 when Larry Penny and Andy Kemp tangled in Turn 2, erasing Leech’s sizable margin.

As the race resumed, Leech opened a two-length lead over Scarbrough. Joined by Davis, however, Scarbrough quickly narrowed that gap. By lap 18, the lead trio had pulled away from fourth-place Hanbury by a full straightaway.

The leaders ran up on slower traffic for the first time on lap 27. Clinging to a slim lead, Leech went three-wide past Kemp and Slayton on the backstretch to give himself a little breathing room.

Scarbrough continued to follow in Leech’s tire tracks until lap 34 when he cut to the bottom of the track off Turn 2 and motored into the lead on the back straightaway. Two laps later, the third caution flag appeared as Hanbury spun to the infield along the backstretch.
On the restart, Scarbrough pulled away by two lengths over Leech.

Behind them, Davis swung to the high side to bypass Tony Ingram II’s lapped machine. Paasch, in fourth, sensed an opening and drove to Ingram’s inside. Paasch and Davis emerged door-to-door, but Davis quickly regained control of the third spot.

The fourth caution flag was unfurled on lap 50 when Penny ground to a halt at the end of the backstretch. Setting the lineup, Scarbrough, Leech, Davis, Paasch and Thurston made up the top five.

Back under green, Scarbrough opened a two-length gap, while Davis took a look to the inside of Leech at the entrance to Turn 1. Leech fought off the bid and resumed his pursuit of the leader.

On lap 59, Davis took another run at Leech. This time, he succeeded, driving underneath Leech in Turn 2 and completing the pass off the fourth corner. The exchange allowed Scarbrough to pad his advantage to five lengths.

The last of the race’s five yellow flags appeared on lap 64 when Leech and Davis locked horns in Turn 2 and Davis spun. Both drivers were relegated to the back of the pack for the ensuing restart.
The race went green for the final time at lap 70. As he had several times before, Scarbrough immediately manufactured a two-length lead and began to ease away.

At the finish, Scarbrough was the winner by 0.552-second — about three lengths — over Paasch. Thurston was third to the line, followed by Hanbury and Davis.

Dettbarn was sixth, while Leech suffered a flat right-front tire in the closing laps and ended up seventh, the final driver on the lead circuit. Ingram, Kemp and Slayton completed the top 10.

For Scarbrough, the victory was his sixth at Langley Speedway this season and his fourth in a Rolling Thunder Mod event. He’ll look to wrap the ‘08 championship in the track’s own B&C Seafood Modified class next Saturday night in the 50-lap season-ender.

In Victory Lane after the race, Scarbrough compared Saturday’s Rolling Thunder event to what he’ll be facing next week: “We’ve got one race left, man. I’ll tell ya’ what, I love coming out here tonight ‘cause we’re not racing for points. It was just relaxing. It was fun. It was no pressure. I’ve got fingernails left.

October 4th, I’ll chew ‘em to the knuckle.” In the evening’s other feature events:

It was a big night for the Wood family as the Bass Pro Shops Super Street division completed its 2008 points campaign with a 50-lap feature. Brother Jeramie Wood snatched the lead off the final corner to capture his first win and sister Jessica Wood outdueled Ryan Nester to claim the championship.

Randy Sample was the pole-sitter for the race, clocking in at 73.660 mph. Todd VanGuilder was second-fastest and lined up to the outside of Sample. Ritchie German and Jeramie Wood made up Row 2, while Jamie Sample qualified fifth. Jessica Wood and Nester were 12th and 13th, respectively, on the 21-car grid.

As the green flag waved, Randy Sample led the field into Turn 1. Before the first lap was in the books, however, he gave way to German. Sample settled into second place, followed by Jeramie Wood, VanGuilder and Jason Langley.

After tailing German for the first six circuits, Randy Sample tried to retake the lead on lap 7, driving to the high side in Turn 4. The two battled side-by-side until lap 9 when German regained the clear-cut edge. Caught on the outside, Sample tumbled back to sixth place before he could find a place to slip in line.

Deeper in the field, Jessica Wood had moved up to seventh place in the early going. Nester, meanwhile, wasn’t enjoying the same success. At lap 13, he was only up to 10th. Nester entered the race with a two-point lead in the standings and needed to finish in front of or, since the tiebreaker favored him, immediately behind Wood to bag the crown.

At the halfway mark, Jeramie Wood was on German’s rear bumper, hounding him for the lead. Behind them, Jessica Wood and Nester maintained the seventh and 10th spots.

The only caution flag flew on lap 37 when Allen Everett rolled to a stop in Turn 3. Setting the lineup, German and Jeramie Wood ran 1-2. A lapped car separated them from third-place Randy Sample and fourth-place VanGuilder. Jeff Shannon was fifth, followed by Sean Calway, Jessica Wood and Dale Parro. Nester slipped by Doug Woodyard on lap 34 and held ninth.

Back under green, Nester made his way around Parro to take over eighth place, right behind Jessica Wood and in position for the title.
On lap 39, however, Jessica Wood scooted by Calway for sixth. Needing to match her, Nester tried to follow on lap 40. Instead, he spun to the infield in Turn 2.

He righted his machine and returned to the track as the yellow flag remained hidden, falling to 14th place in the process.

Back at the front, German continued to hold Jeramie Wood at bay in their battle for the lead. Wood gathered himself for one final effort, however, and it came on the white-flag lap.

In Turns 3 and 4 for the last time, Jeramie Wood moved up on German’s rear bumper and tipped him sideways as the two prepared to exit the fourth corner. Sawing furiously on the wheel, German came back down the track and clipped the rear of Wood’s car, sending both of them into a wild spin.

At the end, Jeramie Wood was the winner, sliding sideways across the start/finish line to take the checkers. German was second, followed by Randy Sample, VanGuilder and Jessica Wood, who swiped fifth from Shannon on lap 49.

In the final points tally, Jessica Wood ended up with 562 to win the season title.

Randy Sample’s third-place run was just enough to vault him ahead of Nester in the standings. Sample was second with 550, while Nester, who was 13th in Saturday’s race, wound up with 548.

In the 25-lap EZ Auto of Newport News UCAR points finale, rookie racer Adam Florian took the lead on the 22nd circuit and motored on to his first victory.

Meanwhile, Renno Marchetti IV turned in a steady, seventh-place effort and sealed the ‘08 championship.
Allen Dail was the fastest qualifier, at 70.599 mph, and started on the pole.

Chris Hildebrand, Mike Joyner, Florian and Robbie Salas rounded out the top five on the grid. Marchetti, who needed to finish 11th or better to clinch the title, started 10th.

As the event got going, Dail grabbed the lead, pulling ahead of Hildebrand on the backstretch on lap 1. Joyner moved up to second place, while Hildebrand dropped to third. Salas emerged from the shuffle in fourth, followed by Matt Hockaday, Marchetti’s closest competition in the standings.

On lap 4, Hildebrand overtook Joyner and regained the runner-up spot. A lap later, Hockaday swiped fourth from Salas, bringing Florian and Dusty Connor along with him. At the front, Dail was up by half a straightaway.

The first caution flag appeared on lap 10 as Jason Aukland spun in Turn 3.

Back under green, Hockaday and Florian double-teamed Joyner, moving up to third and fourth, respectively. Two laps later, Florian got the better of Hockaday and took over third.

Caution flag #2 was displayed on lap 15 when Thomas Nance rolled to a stop in Turn 3.

As the race resumed, Dail fashioned a two-length advantage, while Florian went to work on Hildebrand for second. He grabbed the spot on lap 16 and brought Hockaday along with him, to third. Within a couple laps, Florian was on Dail’s bumper and looking for the lead.
On lap 19, Florian ducked under Dail on the backstretch and pulled into the lead through Turns 3 and 4. Before the lap was official, though, the third caution flag waved for Greg Pass’ spin off Turn 4 and the move was negated.

Back under way, Florian tailed Dail until the end of lap 21. Exiting Turn 4, he poked a fender alongside the leader and completed the pass off Turn 2 on lap 22.

On lap 24, Hockaday drew alongside Dail in a bid for second place. Coming off Turn 4, however, Dail ran out of room and slapped the outside wall at the flagstand, bringing out the fourth, and final, yellow flag. The incident also provided Marchetti with his most anxious moment as it occurred just ahead of him. He dodged Dail, though, and lined up seventh for the restart.

Under green for the final time, Florian eked out a slim margin over Hockaday, who had his hands full with Hildebrand and Salas. With Hockaday’s attention divided, Florian pulled away over the last two laps and won by 0.689-second — about three lengths.

Hockaday was the runner-up, followed by Hildebrand, Connor and Joyner. Salas slipped to sixth at the finish, while Marchetti was seventh.

In the final standings, Marchetti claimed the championship by 12 points over Hockaday, 626-614. Dail’s late-race misfortune dropped him from third to fifth.

Connor ended up third, while Randy Prillaman was fourth in the points tally.

Jeff Sampson wrapped up the 2008 championship in a 12-lap dash for the Wolf Contractors Wolf Trucks. He started on the pole, at 87.459 mph, and led all the way.

Flexing his muscle in the early going, Sampson was ahead by almost a full straightaway as the field received the crossed flags, signifying the halfway mark.

Over the second half of the race, Sampson enjoyed a leisurely cruise to Victory Lane, winning by 1.967 seconds — about half a straight away. Troy Hutcheson was second, holding off a race-long challenge from George VanGuilder, who came home in third. Eddie Britt was fourth. The top four finishers were all Pro Division entries.
Pete Johnson was the lone Semi-Pro entrant, taking best-in-class honors by default. He became the fourth different driver to post a Semi-Pro win in the #22 truck in 2008, joining Jill Brinson, Michael Johnson and Sean Calway.

In the final standings for the Pro Division, Sampson earned the championship with 638 points, 48 ahead of second-place Hutcheson. VanGuilder was third. In the Semi-Pro ranks, Eric Schaffer had already locked up the title prior to Saturday’s event.

Spencer Saunders scored his third straight victory in the 20-lap points finale for the Rhonnda Claiborne, Realtor HRKC Pro Winged Champ Karts, taking the lead off the last corner.

Chuck Weeks started on the pole, at 62.001 mph, and led the opening circuit. On lap 2, Ryan Hudgins nosed out front and brought Adam Chalkley and David Phelps along with him, kicking Weeks and his drafting partner, Ron Foxx, back to fourth and fifth.

On lap 8, Jeremy Grogg and Saunders overhauled Weeks and Foxx to move up in the running order. They faced a steep climb, though, as the lead trio was over half a straightaway ahead.

The field was bunched when the race’s only caution flag flew on lap 12. Setting the lineup, Hudgins, Chalkley, Phelps, Grogg and Saunders made up the top five.

Back under green, the front five maintained their draft for almost two more laps.

Coming around to complete lap 13, though, Chalkley broke out of line off Turn 4.

Phelps, Grogg and Saunders went with him, leaving Hudgins hung out to dry.

Nearing the finish, Chalkley, Phelps, Grogg and Saunders remained nose-to-tail. On lap 18, Grogg and Saunders motored to the outside of Chalkley and Phelps on the backstretch. Their advance was rebuffed, however, in Turn 1 on lap 19 and everyone settled back in line.

On the white-flag circuit, second-place Phelps took a look to the high side of Chalkley in Turn 4. Grogg pounced on the opening and went to the inside of Phelps.

There was contact off the corner and Chalkley was turned sideways for a moment.

From out of the jumble, Saunders drove low and grabbed the lead off the turn.

At the finish, Saunders was the winner by 0.168-second over Phelps. Chalkley was third, followed by Grogg and Hudgins.

Dannie Wyatt is the 2008 Champ Kart titlist. He had clinched the championship before Saturday’s event and sat out the season-ender. Chalkley was second, followed by Saunders.



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