Falk motors to win No. 6

Published 10:44 pm Tuesday, July 21, 2009

HAMPTON — C.E. Falk overcame a late afternoon engine change and picked up his sixth win of the season in the Med Express Urgent Care 100 for the Crossroads Fuel Service Late Model Stock Cars, the featured event Saturday evening at Langley Speedway.

Danny Edwards Jr. nabbed the pole position. As the race got under way, Danny Edwards Jr. leaped into the lead, beating Greg Edwards into Turn 1. Greg quickly slid in line on Danny’s bumper, followed by Falk, Woody Howard and Mark Wertz.

After gaining second place on lap 12, Falk closed in on the leader. At the halfway mark, the margin was two lengths and shrinking. By lap 53, the two were bumper-to-bumper.

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The second, and what would turn out to be the final, caution flag waved on lap 58. When the race resumed, Falk wasted no time in going after the lead, ducking to the inside of Danny Edwards Jr. into Turns 1 and 2. With Edwards maintaining a slim edge at the flagstand, the door-to-door duel lasted until lap 67 when Edwards pulled ahead by two lengths on the backstretch.

Falk took three laps to cool his tires and collect himself, then launched another bid on lap 70. He drove underneath Edwards in Turn 2 and grabbed the upper hand as they returned to the start/finish line. Just three laps later, Falk had fashioned a two-length lead.

Falk won by 0.863-second. Danny Edwards Jr. was second, followed by Greg Edwards and Wertz. Casey Wyatt, who started eighth, was fifth at the end.

“First off, I have to thank my crew. In the past, I don’t think it’s even been 24 hours, we’ve gone through three motors and these guys never quit,” said Falk.

In the division standings, Falk now enjoys a 28-point lead over Danny Edwards Jr., 482-454.

In the evening’s other feature races:

Mark Claar took the lead on lap 29 and sailed to his first win of the year in a 40-lapper for the Old Point National Bank Grand Stocks.

Jammie Goode, with five wins and a runner-up finish in six races, claimed the pole. Claar started fourth. Goode grabbed the lead on the start while Claar fell as far back as eighth.

Goode suddenly fell off the pace on lap 17, pulling to the inside of the track. Goode’s problems soon became apparent as a puff of white smoke belched from his exhaust pipe. With Goode sidelined, Ricky Derrick led the field to the restart, followed by Anthony Kincaid and Claar.

Claar tracked Derrick until lap 28 when he poked a fender alongside the leader off Turn 4. Claar gained the lead, by half a car-length, at the end of lap 29 and cleared Derrick in Turn 2 on lap 30.

Claar pulled away over the final laps and won by 0.656-second. By finishing second, Derrick moved past Goode to atop the Grand Stock standings by eight points, 332-324.

Chris Johnson moved from third to first on lap 1, then held off points leader Shawn Balluzzo down the stretch to capture his fifth win in the 50-lap B&C Seafood Modified feature.

Jimmy Humblet snagged the pole. As the green flag waved, Humblet spun his tires at the start/finish line. Spotting an opening to the inside, Johnson shot into the lead and brought Joe Scarbrough along with him.

The last of the race’s three caution flags appeared on lap 41. On the final restart, Johnson quickly gained a two-length edge, but, just as quickly, Balluzzo trimmed the deficit. Balluzzo couldn’t find a way to pass Johnson though, as Johnson held on to win by a car-length.

Tommy Nixon rallied from a spin, just past the midway point, and notched his fourth victory of the season in a 25-lap contest for the Med Express Urgent Care Super Trucks.

Nixon started on the pole, sharing the front row with Robbie Davis.

On lap 15, Davis tried to root his way to the inside of Nixon in Turns 1 and 2. Nixon looped his machine and the first caution flag appeared. Both drivers were sent to the rear of the field.

Coming around to complete lap 22, Nixon drove under Rick Potter off Turn 4 and completed the pass for the lead in Turn 1 on lap 23. Davis tried to follow Nixon’s cue, but, instead, he and Potter tangled in Turn 2 to bring out the second, and last, caution flag.

On the restart, Nixon forged a two-length advantage, while Brad Adams slipped by Troy Turnage for second. At the finish, Nixon was the winner by three lengths over Adams.