THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 16, 1996 TAG: 9608160743
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BRIAN J. FRENCH, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 64 lines
RACING NOTES
Generally, races involving cars with four-cylinder engines are not the main event at a short track. But for one Saturday at Langley Speedway, the small cars are taking center stage.
The Goody's Dash Series - the only four-cylinder touring division sanctioned by NASCAR - will be making its first Langley appearance since 1994 with the Hampton 100. It is part of a doubleheader with Richmond's Southside Speedway, which hosts the series Friday night.
Among the expected participants: series leader Lyndon Amick. The 18-year-old driver has four wins and eight top-5 finishes this season, and leads Robert Huffman by 42 points. Amick leads the division in poles (4), laps led (396), and laps completed percentage (96.5 percent).
But Huffman will also be there, trying to regain the series lead he held in July; ironically, it too was a 42-point margin over Amick.
``I try not to worry about the points race that much,'' said Huffman, who won Dash series events in Myrtle Beach and Florence, S.C. ``I just try to win the race each night I go out there. That's why I go to the track, to win.''
Most of the drivers who ran in the 1994 event will be returning, including Amik, Will Hobsgood (third in the points race), Danny Bagwell (fourth), B.J. Mackey (fifth) and Mickey York, who won a Goody's Dash race at Langley in 1991. 1994 winner Larry Caudill is a maybe.
The Goody's Dash Series was formed in 1975 as the Baby Grand National Racing Association, undergoing several name changes before taking its current moniker. The Dash series runs through short tracks in the Southeast as well as Daytona International Speedway.
Dash series veterans to run in the Winston Cup include the late Davey Allison, Michael Waltrip, Morgan Shepard, Hut Striklin, Phil Parson and Larry Pearson. Waltrip won the series crown in 1983, while Striklin took home the 1986 title.
Twenty-six starting positions for the Hampton 100 will be determined through qualifying runs at 5:30 p.m. on the day of the race. Two provisional starts are also available for drivers in the top-30 for points who failed to make the field. The race itself is expected to begin around 9 p.m.
SOUTHAMPTON SHUFFLING: With the suspension of former Southampton Speedway Late Model Stock points leader Tony Edwards, Chesapeake's R.B. Jones takes over at the top of the season standings.
Jones, who finished fourth in last Saturday's Late Model feature, holds a three-point cushion over Speck Edwards. Tony Edwards dropped to third overall after his 15th-place finish in last Saturday's race was erased, seven points behind Jones.
Jones moved to the top rung of the Late Model ladder despite not having won a race all season. He does have a division-leading 11 top-5 finishes to his credit.
KISS PIGGY: Southampton personnel will have their hands full with Saturday's program. And if enough people have their way, one of them will have his lips full, too.
Full of pig.
The Franklin/Southampton Country Fair is hosting a pig kissing contest. Sponsored by the Humane Society of Franklin and Southampton County, a ballot with the names of 12 local celebrities will be sold at the fair for one dollar apiece. The leading vote-getter as of Sunday afternoon wins the right to kiss Lulu Belle, a Vietnamese pot-bellied pig.
Track promoter Jim Randall, track announcer Neal Steele, Super Stock driver Rooster Charles and track chaplain Reverend Kenneth Williams are representing Southampton in the election.
Proceeds benefit the Humane Society's spaying and neutring program. by CNB