THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 2, 1995 TAG: 9504020184
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DENISE MICHAUX, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HAMPTON LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines
About the only thing more impressive than Phil Warren's car was the sellout crowd that saw him cruise to victory in the season opener at Langley Speedway on Saturday night.
More than 6,000 people were on hand for the ``Julie 100'' Late Model Stock feature to benefit Julie Silver, a Hampton woman who is battling leukemia.
First-year Langley president Wayne Wyatt said he had 6,000 tickets to sell, and when those ran out, he took money from about 100 more people who came to the gate wanting to to be a part of the opening-night festivities.
Warren didn't provide much entertainment as he began his quest for his second consecutive Late Model Stock points title and a share of the track's $25,000 points fund.
Danny Edwards Jr. was second, followed by Eddie Johnson, Mike Buffkin and Buddy Malish.
Warren started on the outside pole and raced door-to-door with pole-sitter Malish for one lap before taking control of the race.
``I don't know where it came from,'' Warren said. ``When we got on the front row, I said I don't know what we're doing up here. We came to practice Thursday and we were junk. We made a small change before the race and it worked.''
Edwards had the only car that could keep Warren in sight, and a late caution gave him the chance to make a charge during the final seven laps. But it was not to be.
Warren got the jump on the restart and rolled the rest of the way.
The real battle was for third, between Johnson, Buffkin and Malish.
Johnson got to the track late and didn't have time to scuff his tires before qualifying. He slipped coming out of turn 4 on his first qualifying lap and nearly tagged the wall. A more conservative second lap put him in the 12th starting spot.
In true Johnson style, he took advantage of the first 67 laps, which were caution-free, to work his way into sixth.
With Warren and Edwards running their own race, Johnson found himself hugging the rear bumper of fourth-place Malish with five laps to go. The duo raced side-by-side for two laps until Johnson completed the pass on lap 97 and set his sights on Buffkin.
Johnson and Buffkin locked door handles and battled for the final lap. Johnson beat Buffkin by a fender coming off turn 4.
``I didn't have any idea we would make it to the top three,'' Johnson said. ``The car was running good. We just had to start so far back, I figured we could get to the top five.''
In Saturday's other races:
Andy Anderson put the first crack in the track's new concrete wall when he and John Hicks tangled coming out of turn 2 in the Grand Stock race. Anderson hit the wall hard but was alert when the ambulance took him to a hospital for further care. Roger Bress led from the start to win the 40-lapper.
Jim Adkins assumed the lead on lap 4 when pole-sitter Glen Smith's car pulled up lame and never looked back en route to victory in the 25-lap Mini-Stock race. Adkins' was one of many teams to donate their winnings to the Julie Silver fund.
Tod Carson dominated the 25-lap Limited Stock race with a flag-to-flag triumph.
Corey Fogelman took the lead from pole-sitter Gene Smith on lap 7 of the 25-lap Pure Stock event and held on for the win. by CNB