Shelby Howard Wins Naturally Fresh 250

South Boston, Va.—It's good to be Shelby Howard these days. In the span of the two months, Howard has added a co-owner, sponsor and a key crew member to the already-stout Tony Stewart Racing team. And on Saturday night at South Boston Speedway, Howard added to his trophy case.

Howard fended off a late-race barrage by Jeff Agnew to win the Naturally Fresh 250 presented by Tri Star Racewear by .346 seconds. The win was Howard's second of the season and his first since partnering with Speedco, Odle Motorsports and new team member Chris Rice, a former crew chief at Kevin Harvick Inc. and Bill Davis Racing.

"We struggled a little bit in the first half of the season," said Howard, driver of the No. 20 Speedco Pontiac. "But in the second half, we've picked up Speedco and [Chris Rice], and Laughlin has been helping us with our chassis quite a bit. The whole team is working great right now, and that's what it takes to win one of these races."

Despite the jelling team, Howard had to sweat out a late-race charge from Jeff Agnew.

Agnew, who started seventh in the 32-car field, worked his No. 73 Mark IV Honda/Team 7 Pontiac into the lead on Lap 89. But as Agnew paced the field, most of the lead-lap cars, including Howard's, came to pit road under caution.

Agnew finally elected to pit on Lap 140, handing the lead to Howard. Agnew made a late-race scramble to pull into second with nine laps remaining, but Howard was able to pick Agnew on lapped traffic in the waning laps and hold the Floyd, Va., driver off at the finish.

"The cautions and lapped traffic hurt us at the end," said Agnew. "We were quicker than anybody, but we just ran out of time."

Jay Fogleman, driving the No. 4s Romeo Guest Construction Ford, nearly played the role of spoiler in the 250-lap event.

Fogleman, subbing for Richard Landreth, was putting pressure on Howard with 20 laps remaining. On several occasions, Fogleman pounded the rear bumper of Howard, but the Southern Division interloper couldn't budge Howard out of the top spot.

As the leaders battled, Agnew tracked down the leader duo and moved past Fogleman with nine laps remaining. Fogleman held on to finish third.
A.J. Frank, driver of the No. 11 Schaffer Oil Pontiac, picked up his second top-five finish in as many races by coming home fourth.

Gary St. Amant, driver of the No. 72 JEGS.com Chevrolet, rounded out the top five.

Benny Gordon clinched the Northern Division point title, but he didn't have the night he wanted. After sitting on the pole, Gordon's car became ill-handling. After several unscheduled stops, Gordon finished the night in 20th.

Philip Morris snaps five-race Late Model Stock Car win streak by Drew Herring, claims $1,500 in bounty cash 

SOUTH BOSTON, VA. — Drew Herring's Late Model Stock Car dominance at South Boston Speedway is over — for one night anyway.

Philip Morris of Ruckersville, Va. drove a familiar racecar to Victory Lane Saturday night at South Boston Speedway in the 110-lap Barkhouser Late Model Stock Car Division event.

The victory was worth an additional $1,500 in bounty money for Morris, who was piloting the #26 Clarence's Steakhouse Chevrolet that Peyton Sellers drove to the NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series national championship last season.

The NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series win by Morris snapped a five-race win streak by Herring, who resides in Benson, N.C.

"I can't thank H.C. Sellers and his guys enough," Morris said after the race. "I'm not that good of a driver, but they gave me an excellent car to drive tonight."

The win was the third of the season for Morris at America's Hometown Track. Morris, who is only running a partial season at South Boston Speedway, earned his second pole position of the campaign after reeling off a qualifying run of 15.858 seconds.

David Triplett, Jr. of Timberlake, N.C. started from the outside pole position, surged past Morris on the opening lap and led the first 27 circuits before Morris moved out front to stay on lap 28.

"David got off to a good start," Morris said. "I didn't know if I would be able to catch him and get around him or not, but the car was really good."

Triplett held on for a second-place finish in the 21-car field and was followed by Herring in the third-place position. The third-place finish enabled Herring, who rolled off at the start of the race in the eighth position, to maintain his lead in the division point standings.

In addition to winning five straight races at South Boston, Herring entered Saturday's event as the victor of seven of the past eight Late Model races.

Nick Smith of Hampton, Va. motored to his third straight top-finish when he slipped past Adam Barker of Hurt, Va. in the closing stages to secure a fourth-place run. Barker made it three top-five runs in a row as well with a fifth-place performance.

Owen Miller of Emporia, Va. finished in sixth place in the final rundown and remained third in the division point standings, while Devin Scites of Wayne, West Va. finished seventh in his first race of the season at the four-tenths mile oval.

Jonathan Cash of Oxford, N.C. roared from the back of the pack in a back-up car to finish eighth at the checkered flag. Cash, who is second in the division point standings, wrecked a car earlier in the day during practice prior to qualifying.

Eddie Johnson of Midlothian, Va. finished ninth in the field, while Rodney Cook of Reidsville, N.C. rounded out the top 10 performers.

The race was slowed by just one caution, which came out in the late stages when debris was reported in turn four.