By Gary Daughtrey

Special to the News-Herald 

Matt Waltz and Nick Smith scored a win apiece, splitting the twin-75s for the Late Model Stock Cars class, the featured events at Saturday’s NASCAR Whelen All-American Series program at Langley Speedway.

For Waltz, the win was his third of the year, while Smith notched his fifth.

Smith started the opener from the pole, at 90.539 mph, but gave way to Waltz on laps 1 and 2. On lap 3, Smith regained command and paced the field until lap 67, when C.E. Falk took control of the event.

On lap 73, Smith tried to root Falk aside in Turn 4, but only succeeded in spinning himself out. Under green for the last time, Falk eked out a slim edge over Waltz and Mark Wertz, who were dueling side-by-side for second.

On lap 74, Waltz poked a fender underneath Falk in Turn 2 and nosed ahead as they returned to the flagstand. At the checkers, Waltz was the winner by a car-length over Casey Wyatt, who swiped second from Falk on the white-flag circuit. Falk was third, followed by Wertz and Danny Edwards Jr., who was back in action for the first time since May 4.

In the nightcap, Smith moved from sixth to first in 32 laps, then survived a late restart to take the win.

By virtue of his victory in the first race, Waltz started on the pole, flanked by Wyatt. Waltz showed the way for the first eight circuits, before Falk moved out front on lap 9.

Meanwhile, Smith was quickly slicing through the pack. He took second from Waltz on lap 29 and set his sights on Falk, swiping the top spot three laps later.

After a caution flag on lap 35, the field settled in for an extended green-flag stretch, which lasted until lap 68. During that span, Smith widened his advantage to better than a straightaway. That big lead vanished on lap 68, when Waltz spun in Turn 4 to bring out the second, and final, yellow flag.

On the last restart, Smith surged ahead of Edwards to maintain the lead. Behind them, Falk grabbed third from Wertz and began to chase down Edwards, snagging second on lap 73.

At the finish, Smith was the winner by half a straightaway over Falk. Edwards was third, while Wes Falk nipped Wertz for fifth on the last circuit.