Herring Wins On Spaulding Equipment Night

SOUTH BOSTON, VA. - Drew Herring raced to his fourth win of the season here Saturday night in the 150-lap NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series Late Model Stock Car race, the feature race of the Spaulding Equipment Company presents Saturday Night Fever at South Boston Speedway.

Herring edged rookie Jonathan Cash of Oxford, N.C. by 1.417 second in a 58-lap sprint to the finish that followed the last of the race's four caution periods.

Cash fought his way back from the rear of the field in the Barkhouser Late Model Stock Car division race after a mishap that occurred on lap 65 when he and track points leader Peyton Sellers of Danville, Va. made contact and spun in turn two. The incident also involved Jason Dickerson of Ruckersville, Va., Scott Worley of Long Island, Va. and David Triplett Jr. of Durham, N.C., all of who were battling for spots in the top five.

David Quackenbush of Lorton, Va. finished third and collected his first top-five finish of the season. Sellers raced his way from the rear of the field with his battered car to finish fourth and Ryan Rhodes of Sanford, N.C. rounded out the top five finishers.

Eddie Johnson of Ashland, Va., Owen Miller of Emporia, Va., Justin Johnson of Roxboro, N.C., Jon Denning of Springfield, N.J. and Rodney Cook of Reidsville, N.C. rounded out the top ten finishers.

Herring, who narrowed the gap between himself and Sellers in the chase for the track championship from 30 points to 24 points, said he was worried about how rapidly Cash closed in on him after taking second place away from Quackenbush with 27 laps left in the race.

Cash narrowed the gap to a car length on two occasions in the closing laps before the rear end of the car broke traction coming off of the fourth turn with two laps to go, allowing Herring to pull away.

"Anytime somebody gets behind you like that you start getting a little worried," Herring said.

"I just kept my mind on what was in front of me and drove my race."

Early on, it was Sellers and Cash that were Herring's chief challengers. After the incident involving Cash and Sellers, Herring's job appeared as if it was going to be easier.

"It does make it easier," said Herring.

"But I don't like to see that happen. I want to beat the best at their best."

Herring averaged 64.325 mph in the race that took 56 minutes and 17 seconds to complete.

Bailey Evens The Tally In Limited Sportsman Action

Defending track champion Jonathan Bailey of Keysville, Va. took the lead with four laps to go and held off Justin Snow of Danville, Va. to win the 50-lap Limited Sportsman division race.

The win, Bailey's seventh of the season, tied him with Snow in the win column and put him on top in the division points standings by a slim two-point margin.

Snow started on the pole and led the first 46 circuits before Bailey dropped to the low side and took the lead from Snow on the 47th circuit.

The pair dominated the race, building up a lead of over a half a lap over their closest challenger before a caution period for a spin by Brian Pembleton on lap 36 closed up the field.

Charles Barnes of Chase City, Va. finished third and Tommy Peregoy of Red Oak, Va. finished fourth and Eddie DeClue of Butner, N.C. rounded out the top five finishers.

Throckmorton Wins Pure Stock Race

Joey Throckmorton of Scottsburg, Va. took the lead on the ninth lap and held off Brandon Baker of Durham, N.C. in a four-lap dash that followed the final caution period to win the 30-lap race for the Virginia Army National Guard Pure Stock Division.

The win, Throckmorton's fourth of the season vaulted him to the top of the division points standings. Throckmorton now has a four-point lead over Chuck Watkins of Stem, N.C. who finished 10th in the event.

Scott Philips of Roxboro, N.C. finished third with Nick Igdalsky of South Boston, Va. and Lee Anderson of Gladys, Va. rounding out the top five finishers.

There were two lead changes among three drivers with pole starter Courtney Crosby of Scottsburg, Va. leading the first three laps before Watkins took command on lap 4. Throckmorton took the lead on the ninth lap and held it the rest of the  way.

Other Action

In other action on Saturday night's five-race card, 14-year-old Trevor Bayne picked up his seventh win of the season in the 50-lap Allison Legacy Series race. Bayne, of Knoxville, Tenn., last year's Rookie of the Year, is the current series points leader.

Nicholas Pope of Taylorsville, N.C., another 14-year-old, finished second with Michael Cooper of Pittsboro, N.C. finishing third.

Rounding out the night's action was a 25-lap race for the INEX Legends Cars, a race won by 14-year-old Patrick Molesworth of Rapidsville, N.J.. The win was his second of the season and his second in as many nights after having won a race Friday night at Richmond, Va.'s Southside Speedway.

His brother, Duncan Molesworth, finished second and Kevin Yeatts of Powhatan, Va. rounded out the top three finishers.