THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 17, 1994 TAG: 9407170224
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C9 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STAN CREEKMORE, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: SOUTH BOSTON, VA. LENGTH: Medium: 54 lines
Dennis Setzer etched his name into the record books of NASCAR's Busch Series, Grand National Division Saturday when he took the checkered flag in the Ford Credit 300 at South Boston Speedway.
Setzer, driver of the Alliance Training Chevrolet and a rookie on the series, joined an elite list of five other drivers who have won in their rookie years, including Saturday's second-place finisher Hermie Sadler of Emporia, Va.
In three of the last four years rookies have scored a win - David Green in 1991, Sadler and Johnny Rumley in 1993 and Setzer. Bobby Hamilton and Robert Pressley also scored wins in their rookie years.
The Newton, N.C. native, a short-track veteran, survived a caution-filled event to finish 1.39 seconds ahead of Sadler.
Johnny Benson, another of the eleven rookies competing on the circuit, finished third, followed by David Green and Chad Little. Pressley, Tracy Leslie, Nathan Buttke, Dave Rezendes and Jim Bown rounded out the top ten.
``Unbelievable,'' said a still amazed Setzer from the press box. ``I just don't know what to say. This is great.''
Setzer, who started 20th, said that after the race's first caution, he was confident he could run with and pass the leaders.
``I think the call to pit early for four tires was the key,'' Setzer said.
``It gave us good track position.'' Setzer took the lead on lap 231, exactly 100 after his early pit stop, and never looked back. The gap closed over the final laps, but that was just Setzer saving the car.
``I eased up the last ten laps to save the car in case a caution came out,'' he said.
A contingent of local drivers including 1993 Langley Raceway Late Model Stock champion Eddie Johnson of Ashland, Va., competed in the race. Johnson finished 27th, one spot in front of a Langley favorite from the past, Tommy Ellis.
Ellis dropped from the field on lap 224 with engine failure, running fifth at the time.
Nine laps later, Johnson parked his Oldsmobile due to handling problems.
Chesapeake driver Elton Sawyer fell back with two flat tires due to a faulty air pressure gauge that gave his crew too high a reading. A broken valve spring dropped the car back another lap, with Sawyer hanging on for a 17th place finish.
Ashton Lewis, Jr., son of auto dealer Ashton Lewis, missed qualifying for the field by four thousandths of a second. The Lewis team will head to Indianapolis Raceway Park next week to prepare for the Kroger 200 on the same weekend at the Brickyard 400 Winston Cup event at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. by CNB