Staff report

Timothy Peters had to fight off a multitude of late charges by Phil Warren to take home his first-ever Southampton Motor Speedway Late Model Stock Car victory Friday night, nosing out Warren by .127 seconds at the final.

Looking for his third consecutive win, Warren qualified first for the event with a speed of 95.968 mph. Travis Miller started out in front, but Morty Buckles overtook him on lap two. Mike Shearin pulled even with Miller and eventually got ahead of him, allowing Buckles to take a five car-length advantage.

Warren, Peters and Brian Carter followed Shearin past Miller on lap four, and the first caution flag appeared on lap 20. Back under green, Buckles headed to the pits on lap 28, turning the lead over to Carter. With the pit cycle completed, Shearin, Warren, Buckles, Cohen and Peters made up the top five. Peters took fourth from Cohen on lap 40 and quickly closed on Buckles.

Shearin blew a tire on lap 40, losing a lap to Warren, the new leader. Peters overtook Buckles and rode Warren’s bumper for the next 25 laps. On lap 66, he dropped low and pulled ahead, eventually moving up by two lengths. Warren came right back, pulling even on lap 104 and ahead on 106. Peters regained the lead on lap 107, and the race’s sixth caution flag gave him a five-length lead. Warren pulled back to nearly even on lap 125, and the two were side-by-side for the next 15 laps. But Peters maintained his lead, and charged through for the narrow victory.

&uot;I’m just glad to be in Victory Lane,&uot; said Peters. &uot;First off, thanks to Phil for running me clean. He had the better car on the low line and my car was working good, once I ran up high, so that’s just where we stayed the rest of the night and tried to hold him off. It was good racing.&uot;

1. TIMOTHY PETERS

2. PHIL WARREN

3. MIKE CONNER

4. BRIAN CARTER

5. BOB SHREEVES

Gary Weeks grabbed the lead on lap nine and roared to his second straight Limited Late Model victory. Anthony Warren started on the pole, but gave way to Ken Rountree on the opening lap. Weeks bypassed Warren for second on lap three and quickly closed on Rountree. On lap eight, Weeks slipped under Rountree at the end of the backstretch and completed the pass for the lead on the backstretch on the following circuit. Within five laps, he had pulled away by five lengths. By the finish, his winning margin had grown to better than half a straightaway. Rountree held the runner-up spot until lap 49 when Warren scooted past. Rountree held off Balluzzo by half a car-length at the line to finish third.

1. GARY WEEKS

2. ANTHONY WARREN

3. KEN ROUNTREE

4. SHAWN BALLUZZO

5. JEFF SAMPSON

Bill Wallace grabbed the lead for good on lap 24 of the U-Car race and drove on to the win, breaking Bill Mullis’ two-race winning streak. Mullis started on the pole and took the lead on lap one, but Wallace made his way into the runner-up spot on lap five. By then, however, Mullis was up by nearly half a straightaway. Ten laps were completed when the only caution flag waved, bunching the field. Back under green, Wallace went on the attack and edged ahead at the end of lap 12.

Two laps later, Mullis pushed his car back out front. Heading into the final five laps, Wallace was parked on Mullis’ rear bumper and searching for an opening. He found it on lap 23, driving under the leader and sweeping into the lead through lap 24. At the finish, Wallace was the winner by a single car-length.

1. BILL WALLACE

2. BILL MULLIS

3. EVAN VanLEEUWEN

4. GEORGE VanGUILDER

5. CRAIG FIRMAN

LANGLEY RESULTS FROM MAY 1:

Late Model Sportsman 75

1. Mark Wertz

2. Shawn Balluzzo

3. Doug Warren

4. Paul Lubno

5. Josh Gaito

Super Mini Truck

1. Hugo Belfiore

2. John Hollis

3. Craig Brown

4. Brian Phelps

5. RJ Davis

Legends

1. Nick Smith

2. Dale Lemonds

3. Jeremy Cook

4. Chris Lemonds

5. C.E. Falk

Super Street

1. Jason Moore

2. Geoff Wallace

3. Steve Dill

4. Scott Finch

5. Richie German