DATE: Sunday, September 28, 1997            TAG: 9709280215

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C2   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY BRIAN J. FRENCH, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: HAMPTON                           LENGTH:   43 lines

DANNY EDWARDS FINALLY GETS SECOND HALF VICTORY PHIL WARREN NEEDS TO FINISH 23RD OR BETTER NEXT WEEK TO CLINCH TITLE.

It's been a long time coming for Danny Edwards Jr.

Edwards, struggling most of the season's second half, finally got his car working, leading from the pole for his second Late Model win of the season Saturday night at Langley Speedway.

``I couldn't tell you exactly what we did to the car this past week,'' Edwards said. ``My crew has put this car through a lot of R&D and played with it a lot, and they never gave up.''

Brother Greg Edwards started and finished second, staying close but never passing Danny. Jody McCormick finished third, followed by points leader Phil Warren.

That means the Late Model points race is not over . . . yet.

Warren holds a 48-point lead on Greg Edwards with only next Saturday's race left. If Warren finishes 23rd or higher, he will clinch his second Langley points title in three years.

``We didn't have enough car out there tonight to win, so I was just trying to stay out of trouble,'' Warren said. ``Last week I got in trouble (when he spun on the last lap of the race) and I knew if that happened again, I'd be in trouble.''

In Saturday's other races:

Joe Lupton held off Denny Hamlin in the closing laps to record his 11th Mini Stock win. But by finishing second, Hamilin locks up the Mini Stock title. Lupton won the Mini Stock title in 1996.

Anthony Warren was the easy winner in the Mini Trucks race, but when brother Doug Warren finished third, he clinched the track's first trucks title, ending the season with a 2-point lead over Randy Ross and Bobby Montgomery, who entered the race with the points lead. Ross finished second and Montgomery finished 5th.

Robbie Paul won the 25-lap Pure Stock race to stay mathematically alive in the points race. Jimmy Adkins - who would have clinched the title by finishing eighth or higher, wrecked early to finish in last place. Adkins still holds a 38-point lead on Danny Harrell and a 40-point advantage over Paul.

Beau Broyles won the 40-lap Grand Stock race at the end of the night.

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