By Gary Daughtrey
Special to the News-Herald

HAMPTON — C.E. Falk showed the way from pole to checkers to claim his fifth win of the season in the fourth annual running of the Hampton Heat 200 for the Crossroads Fuel Service Late Model Stock Cars Saturday evening at Langley Speedway.

Falk was the Hampton Heat’s defending champion and started Saturday by winning the pole in afternoon qualifying at 87.675 mph.

On the start, Falk motored ahead of Casey Wyatt, taking the lead as the field reached Turn 1 for the first time.

C.E. Falk established a three-length lead over Wyatt, who enjoyed a similar advantage over Wes Falk, Paul Debolt and Greg Edwards.

The running order at the front remained unchanged until lap 26 when Debolt and Wes Falk tangled at the end of the frontstretch.

On a restart at lap 60, C.E. Falk faced a challenge from Edwards. The two went door-to-door for three-quarters of a circuit with Falk pulling ahead off the fourth corner. On lap 66, Debolt muscled his way past Greg Edwards in Turns 1 and 2 to reclaim the runner-up spot. The shuffle allowed Falk to extend his lead to half a straightaway.

Debolt saw his promising run come to a premature end when he suddenly fell off the pace on lap 91 and made the turn into the pits.

The race’s last green-flag segment began on lap 164 and, once more, Falk had to clear Greg Edwards to maintain the lead, doing so off Turn 2.

At the finish, Falk was the winner by 1.679 seconds — nearly half a straightaway — over Greg Edwards. Eddie Johnson was third to the line, followed by Danny Edwards Jr. and Brandon Butler.

“Man, what a great car. It was flawless for about 200 laps. Had a little smoke with 15 to go. I didn’t know what the heck that was. I just said, ‘Run it ‘til it blows. Whatever it takes.’ So, it feels great to be the first repeat winner,” Falk said.

In the evening’s other featured events:

• Randy Sample took the lead just before the halfway point and sailed to his second win of the year in the 50-lap Heritage Motor Co. Super Street race.
• Tommy Nixon overcame an early-race mishap and rolled to his fourth win of the season in the 30-lap Larry King Law Super Truck feature.
• After having his lengthy winning streak broken in the previous event, Landon Florian was determined to start another one in Saturday’s 25-lapper for the EZ Auto of Newport News UCARs. And, he did just that, overwhelming the field for his fifth victory of the season.
• In the 30-lap Standard Welding Pro Six race, Steve Williams grabbed the lead from fellow rookie contender Anthony Perez on lap 21 and sailed to his first win of the season.