ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, June 9, 1996 TAG: 9606100086
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-7 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: SOUTH BOSTON
SOURCE: Associated Press
Todd Bodine was in the right place at the right time Saturday and went on to win the Winston Motorsports 300 Busch Grand National stock car race at South Boston Speedway.
Bodine was running third, four seconds back, when leader Randy LaJoie and second-place Hermie Sadler collided and spun while battling for the lead on lap 264 of the 300-lap event. The two spun in turn 2, and Bodine drove past them to take the lead.
For the rest of the race, Bodine held off the challenges of Mike McLaughlin and scored a .32-second win.
``I got lucky,'' Bodine said after scoring his first win of the season and ninth of his career on the series. ``Hermie had the fastest car on long runs. I might have been able to get to second, but I couldn't have beaten Hermie if the race had stayed green.''
``I was just trying too hard,'' said Sadler, looking for his first win in more than two years. ``I got into the back of Randy, and we both spun out. If I had been more patient, I could have gotten him cleanly.''
Jeff Green finished third, with Larry Pearson fourth and LaJoie fifth, completing a Chevrolet sweep of the top five. Curtis Markham, Sadler, Chad Little, Kevin Lepage and Mike Dillon completed the top 10.
Series point leader David Green finished 20th after experiencing problems with a sticking throttle. LaJoie closed within 35 points of the series lead after 12 of 26 events.
LENGTH: Short : 37 lines KEYWORDS: AUTO RACINGby CNB