THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 23, 1996 TAG: 9608230292
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C8 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BRIAN J. FRENCH, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 53 lines
Last year, the Langley Late Model Stock schedule was dotted with 200-lap events, Twin 75s and other extended races.
This year there has been one race, a 150-lapper July 20, that deviated from the usual ration of 100-lap features.
And according to track promoter Wayne Wyatt, Late Model drivers aren't interested in the longer races, which count the same in the points as 100-lap races.
``Our two smallest fields last season were for our two biggest races,'' said Wyatt. ``Everyone told us that the longer races create too much of a wear-and-tear on their cars.''
Neither field size nor wear and tear should be a problem for the 250-lap race on Sept. 8 - a day after the Winston Cup race in Richmond. With no other NASCAR-sponsored tracks in the area, the potential for out-of-town racers to make an appearance is good.
Bugs Hairfield and Mark McFarland, who finished 1-2 in last week's race, both said they would be here for the feature, which is also the last opportunity for drivers to accumulate points for the Atlantic Seaboard regional standings.
ATLANTIC SEABOARD UPDATE: Mike Buffkin, points leader in Langley's Late Model Stock division, is second in NASCAR's Atlantic Seaboard Region.
Buffkin, who has five series wins and 13 top-5 finishes, has a calculated percentage of .759, .25 behind Atlantic leader and South Boston Speedway driver B.A. Wilson. Southside Speedway's Eddie Johnson is third, followed by Donnie Apple (Caraway Speedway), Charles Powell III (Myrtle Beach), Grady Moss (Concord), Kenny Kagle (Old Dominion), Barry Beggarly (Ace), Robert Elliot (Summerville) and Jamey Lee (Florence)
Other Langley drivers in the Atlantic Seaboard top 50 include Greg Edwards (37th), Phil Warren (43rd) and Jody McCormick (44th). Bugs Hairfield, who won last week's Langley feature, is 19th in the regional standings.
Looking for a familiar name? In 12th place for the Atlantic Seaboard and third in Myrtle Beach Late Model standings is Dale Earnhardt Jr.
ENDURO RESULTS: Norfolk's Mark Calcugni won the 125-lap men's Mountain Dew Xtreme Enduro last Sunday at Langley. Dwayne Syndor of Chesapeake finished second, followed by Steve Dill of Newport News, Jimmy Overton of Chesapeake and Mark Schmuck of Virginia Beach.
In the women's 50-lap race, Melanie Syndor of Chesapeake won, followed by Norfolk's Dawn Bennington, Newport News' Connie Hall, Amelia's Lisa Dix and Virginia Beach's Slash White.
PURE SUCCESS: Smithfield's Jim Holmes, a driver in Southampton Speedway's Pure Stock division, can set a series mark for consecutive wins with a victory in Saturday night's 20-lap event. Holmes won the last three Pure Stock races. New winners in Southampton's Pure Stock series are hard to come by; Bubba Flexon strung together three wins before Holmes began his streak. The two drivers have combined to win 13 of 16 division events. by CNB