Motoring to another crown
Published 7:44 pm Monday, August 22, 2011
By Gary Daughtrey
Special to the News-Herald
HAMPTON — Continuing his march toward a third straight championship, C.E. Falk picked up his 10th and 11th victories of the season in the Langley Federal Credit Union/Heritage Motor Co. Twin 50s for the Crossroads Fuel Service Late Model Stock Cars Saturday at Langley Speedway.
The wins were Falk’s seventh and eighth in a row at Langley. He hasn’t tasted defeat at the historic .395-mile speedplant since June 25.
Wes Falk outshined his older brother in qualifying, earning the pole position with a lap at 88.725 mph. C.E. Falk lined up to his brother’s outside on the front row.
As the opening 50-lapper got under way, Wes Falk gained the upper hand and Greg Edwards snagged the runner-up spot on lap 2.
C.E. Falk regained second on lap 9 and set off after his brother, who had fashioned a two-length advantage.
The first caution flag appeared on lap 11. Back under green, C.E. Falk inched ahead of Wes Falk and led lap 11 by a few feet. Wes Falk rallied on lap 12 and nosed back out front, while C.E. Falk took the lead for good on lap 13. The two continued to battle until lap 15 when C.E. Falk cleared his brother off Turn 4.
On lap 32, Wes Falk suddenly dropped off the pace in Turn 1 and slowly made his way back to the pits. The runner-up spot passed to Edwards, who was nearly a straightaway behind the leader.
At the finish, C.E. Falk was the winner by 0.902-second — about six lengths — over Edwards. Casey Wyatt was third, while Shayne Lockhart and Brandon Gdovic completed the top five.
The starting lineup for the nightcap was determined by the finishing order of the first event.
As the second race got going, C.E. Falk and Edwards raced hard into Turn 1 and banged together, skittering up the track and leaving the inside lane wide open for Wyatt, who took the lead.
Trouble broke out in a big way in Turn 2 on the second lap. By the time the smoke cleared, nearly two-thirds of the 15 starters had been swept up in the melee.
A couple laps after the restart, C.E. Falk ducked underneath Wyatt in Turn 2 and motored into the top spot as they came around to complete lap 4.
By the time the crossed flags were displayed, C.E. Falk had stretched his lead to almost a full straightaway over Brandon Gdovic.
At the checkers, Falk was the winner by better than half a straightaway over Gdovic. Wyatt was third, followed by Lockhart and Doug Godsey.
In the evening’s other featured events:
The KeesVacations.com Modifieds ran a pair of 30-lappers and points leader Shawn Balluzzo came away with his fourth and fifth wins of the season.
Ritchie German and Randy Sample split a pair of 25-lappers for the Heritage Motor Co. Super Streets. German’s win in the opener was his fifth of the season, while Sample picked up win No. 4 in the nightcap.
In the 25-lap Larry King Law Super Truck feature, Curtis Hughes assumed the lead on the 23rd circuit and paced the final three laps for his first victory.
Chris Hildebrand rolled to his second straight win, and third of the season, in the 25-lap EZ Auto of Newport News UCAR race.
Casey Sipe took the lead on lap 8 and held on for his third win of the year in the Standard Welding Pro Six feature, which ran one lap past the scheduled 30-lap distance, due to a late caution flag.