Howard makes history with USAR Hooters ProCup victory Saturday night at South Boston Speedway

SOUTH BOSTON, VA. — Woody Howard of Chesapeake, Va. stole the show Saturday night in the Lucas Oil 250 at South Boston Speedway and made a bit of history in the process.

Howard became the first rookie competitor in the USAR Hooters Pro-Cup Series to gain three victories in his initial campaign. And, he did so in impressive fashion.

Howard, who has won two consecutive USAR Hooters ProCup Series events, started from the pole position in the 32-car field with a qualifying lap of 16.063 seconds and 89.647 miles per hour. He then proceeded to lead 147 of the 256 laps run on the way to earning the victory.

"That's what we came here to do," Howard, who pocketed a total of $12,000 for the night, said. "The pit crew did a great job for me tonight. We went in first [during a pit stop] and they got us out first."

Due to a pair of late cautions and red-flag periods, the race was extended to 256 laps in order to have a green-flag finish. In all, the race was slowed by nine caution flag sessions.

Howard led the first 89 laps of the race before making a mandatory pit stop during a caution period. Despite pitting, Howard made it back out on the track in the third position after posting the quickest time among the cars that headed in for pit stops under the yellow flag.

Howard grabbed the second-place position on the track on lap 132 when Joe Gaita of Yorktown, Va. headed in for his pit stop, allowing Mardy Lindley of Greenville, S.C. to inherit the lead position.

Lindley held the first-place spot on the track until the 198^th circuit when Howard used the high side of the track to motor into the lead, a position he held for the final 58 circuits. Prior to getting around Lindley, Howard had tested the waters several times on the high side of the four-tenths mile asphalt oval.

"I had talked to some of my buddies that race down here and I had read some of the write-ups about the races here this season," Howard said. "I knew that some people had won some races this year by running that high line.

"I knew I didn't have any other choice," Howard added. "I wasn't going to get by Mardy any other way. The car wouldn’t turn on the bottom of the track when I was behind him. I found some grip up there on the high side and, I have to thank Mardy, he drove me clean."

Jay Fogleman of Durham, N.C. made a late surge to rally from a 13^th starting position in the 32-car field and finish in third place, while L.W. Miller of Mooresville, N.C. finished fourth and Lonnie Rush, Jr. of Mooresville, N.C., who started 18^th, rounded out the top five competitors.

Richard Landreth of Pine Hall, N.C. ran as high as third in the early stages of the races and posted a sixth-place finish, while Mart Nesbitt of Asheville, N.C. was seventh.

Rounding out the top 10 drivers in the event were Ohio driver Gary St. Amant in eighth place, A.J. Frank of Mooresville, N.C. in ninth and Johnny Rumley of Summerfield, N.C. in 10^th. St. Amant battled through the field from a 25^th starting position to gain his top 10 run.

Benny Gordon of DuBois, Pa., who started the race from the outside pole position, saw the comfortable 104-point advantage he owned in the Hooters ProCup Series standings at the start of the night dwindle when he had rear end problems and finished 24^th for the night. Lindley entered the night as the series' second-place driver in the standings.

Bad afternoon for Peyton Sellers turns into a great night with victory in Late Model Stock Car action

Peyton Sellers of Danville, Va. wasn't very happy after he turned in his qualifying run prior to the start of the Barkhouser Late Model Stock Car Division race.

A subpar effort in time trials left Sellers starting 11^th in the 25-car field. When the checkered flag flew 120 laps later, however, Sellers was sporting a huge smile as the driver of the lead machine on the track.

Sellers held off top qualifier Deac McCaskill of Raleigh, N.C. in a two-lap sprint to the finish that followed the last of five caution periods. The race was slated to go 110 laps, but was extended to 120 laps by two late caution sessions.

Sellers didn't surge to the front from the start, however, he had moved into fourth place by lap 75. When the green flag waved on lap 76, following the evening's second yellow-flag period, Sellers worked his way past third-place running Owen Miller of Emporia, Va. One circuit later, Sellers gained the second-place position by slipping past Jeramie Donley of Winston-Salem, N.C.

Sellers made his move to the lead of the pack when the green flag waved on lap 87 following the third caution period. After battling with McCaskill, who was riding the high line, for 15 laps, Sellers grabbed the lead on lap 103 when he made his Chevrolet stick on the low side long enough to get past McCaskill.

On both of the late restarts, Sellers surged out to comfortable leads, leaving McCaskill to settle for a runner-up finish. Donley finished third for the night, while Scott Worley of Long Island, Va. placed fourth.

Ryan Rhodes of Sanford, N.C. posted a fifth-place run and was followed by Miller in sixth place and David Quackenbush in the seventh slot.

Frank Deiny, Jr. of Mechanicsville, Va. finished eighth for the night, while Wayne Ramsey of Amherst, Va. placed ninth and Jonathan Bailey of Keysville, Va. rounded out the top 10 finishers.

The win was the eighth of the season at South Boston Speedway for Sellers, who has 12 total victories in the 2005 campaign. The win, coupled with a 19^th-place run by Drew Herring of Benson, N.C., who entered the night second to Sellers in the division title chase, enabled the Danville, Va. driver to pad his cushion in the standings. Herring had a flat tire early in the race and was forced to pit. He wound up finishing 12 laps down at the end.

Dodge presents Back to School Night is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 13 at SoBo

Racing action will return to South Boston Speedway on Saturday, Aug. 13, when America's Hometown Track will host the Dodge presents Back to School Night program.

The first race of the evening is scheduled to get the green flag at 7 p.m. All students with valid ID's will be admitted for $5 all evening.

Highlighting the NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series racing action on Aug. 13 will be action for the Barkhouser Late Model Stock Car Division. Also slated as part of the Dodge presents Back to School Night program will be competition for the Limited Sportsman Division and the Virginia Army National Guard Pure Stock Division. The touring INEX Legends Series as well as the Southern Vintage Modified competitors will also hit the four-tenths mile asphalt oval for competition.

Pit gates will open Aug. 13 at 1 p.m. and practice for all divisions will be held from 2:15 p.m. until 3:45 p.m. Grandstand gates will open at 5 p.m. and qualifying time trials will get the green flag at 5 p.m. as well.

Adult admission for the race will be $8 up to 6:30 p.m. and $10 after that. Youth, ages 10-15, will be admitted for $5 and children under the age of 10 will be admitted free with a paid adult.