Edwards, Waltz, Balluzzo are winners
Published 9:28 pm Wednesday, July 2, 2014
By Gary Daughtrey
Special to the News-Herald
Greg Edwards and Matt Waltz shared the spotlight at Langley Speedway on Saturday evening, splitting the twin-75s in the late model stock cars class, the featured events in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series racing program.
Edwards picked up his fifth win of the season in the opener, bouncing back from two trips to the rear of the field. Nick Smith was the pole-sitter, at 89.355 mph, and led laps one through eight before giving way to Waltz, who paced laps 9-59.
Meanwhile, Edwards clambered into contention and grabbed the lead on a restart at Lap 60. At the finish, Edwards eased away to win by five lengths over Smith. Waltz was third, followed by Brenden “Butterbean” Queen and Brandon Gdovic.
In the nightcap, Waltz turned the tables on Edwards, taking the lead on lap 22, just after a restart, and showing the way to his sixth win of the year.
Edwards was the runner-up, half a straightaway back, while Gdovic, Smith and Queen rounded out the top five.
So far, in 2014, the late models have run four twinbills, with Edwards and Waltz splitting three of them.
In the modifieds class, Shawn Balluzzo led all 60 circuits to sweep a pair of 30-lappers, notching his third and fourth wins of the season.
Matt Slye was the runner-up in the opener, six lengths behind, followed by Danny Harrell, Brandon Gdovic and Jimmy Humblet.
In the nightcap, Balluzzo survived a late restart and won by two lengths over Humblet. Gdovic was third, while Harrell and Slye completed the top five.