THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 19, 1994 TAG: 9406190203
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY VINCE SHAW, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940619 LENGTH: HAMPTON
Roger Sawyer proved that Saturday night in winning the 100-lap Late-Model Stock feature at Langley Raceway.
{REST} With four laps to go, the cars of Buck Godsey and Tommy Gibbs spun in front of the front-running Sawyer and second-place Phil Warren. Sawyer didn't hit either car but did spin down into the infield, bringing out the caution. Warren made it through unscathed.
But instead of Warren taking over the lead, it remained Sawyer's. Under track rules, the running order reverts back to the previous lap, which meant Sawyer was still in front.
``I tried to not hit anything there and hurt the car,'' the Chesapeake driver said. ``We got lucky there.''
On the restart, Sawyer got a tremendous jump on Warren and wasn't threatened in the final four laps over the 0.395-mile circuit.
Greg Edwards started on the pole and dueled with Sawyer until Sawyer took the lead on lap 13. Halfway through, Sawyer had built up a six car-length lead before Warren made his charge.
Warren started second but fell back to fifth within the first few laps. He passed Edwards on lap 70 and pulled to within a length of Sawyer before falling back.
``The car was a little too tight at first and I fell back,'' Warren said. ``I used everything I had to get back, but I had nothing left.''
Warren was philosophical about the events at the end of the race.
``Some days (the rules) work for you, some days they don't.''
Warren held on to second. Rounding out the top five were Edwards, Danny Ray Baker and Bugs Hairfield.
It was a tough race for track points leader Buddy Malish. The Hampton driver, who had built a 20-point lead coming in without winning a race, qualified poorly and started 17th in the 21-car field. He introduced himself to the turn 4 wall on the ninth lap and then got into a scrape with Virginia Beach's Buddy Dozier in the backstretch on lap 22. He recovered to post a seventh-place finish.
In Saturday's other races:
The Goody's Dash Series made its only area appearance with a 125-lap event. Larry Caudill, after watching Mickey York and Will Hobgood get involved in crashes that knocked them out of the lead pack, cruised away to post his second straight series win and the 30th of his career.
Newport News' Gordon Weeks Jr. was the beneficiary of an early wreck in winning the 40-lap Grand Stock event. The win was Weeks' second straight and fourth overall. On lap 13, Phil Hedgepeth - about to be put a lap down - slowed coming into turn 1. Then leader Mike McVaugh and Jimmy Kenney, unsure which way Hedgepeth was going, both hit Hedgepeth. Weeks, running in second, avoided the mess and cruised to the win, three car lengths ahead of John Hicks.
Williamsburg's Brian Loving continued to dominate the Mini-Stock division, winning by a half-lap over Yorktown's Kevin Harrison. Loving started on the pole and lost the lead briefly on the first lap to Virginia Beach's Jim Adkins, who started on the outside pole. Loving overtook Adkins before the first lap was complete and was never headed in scoring his ninth win in 11 starts.
Kevin Adams of Newport News took the lead from pole-sitter Charlie Bryant Jr. of Portsmouth on the first lap of the 25-lap Limited Stock race and went on to gain his fourth victory of the year.
Vince Pope of Carrollton, Va., took advantage of misfortune to gain his second win of the season. Pope, running third, took the lead when leaders Chris Mull and Jerry Scott tangled on the final lap.
by CNB