By Gary Daughtrey

Special to the News-Herald

Ben Rhodes of Louisville, Ky., took the lead on a restart at lap 14 and rolled to victory in the Visit Hampton VA 175 for NASCAR’s K&N Pro Series East, the headlining event of Saturday evening’s racing program at Langley Speedway.

Scott Heckert nabbed the pole position, at 89.836 miles per hour, as 20 of the 22 qualifiers smashed the old division record. Rhodes was the outside pole starter. Heckert paced the first 13 laps, seven of which were under the first caution flag.

On the double-file restart, Rhodes remained on Heckert’s outside flank and nosed ahead as they returned to the flagstand. He cleared Heckert off Turn 4 on lap 15. Rhodes and Heckert continued to hold down the top two spots until lap 85 when Kenzie Ruston bypassed Heckert for second on a restart.

After the third caution period, at lap 90, Cameron Hayley came to life, snagging third from Heckert and second from Ruston. Within a handful of laps, Hayley was filling Rhodes’ mirror. At that point, however, Hayley’s charge seemed to stall as Rhodes began to ease away from the pack. By lap 151, Rhodes had stretched his advantage to better than half a straightaway over Hayley and Ruston, who were duking it out for second.

Rhodes’ stroll to the checkers was interrupted when the last of the race’s four yellow flags flew on lap 165. Under green for the last time, Rhodes cleared Hayley in Turns 1 and 2 and set sail. At the finish, Rhodes was the winner by five lengths over Hayley. The victory was his fifth of the season and fourth in a row. Ruston was third to the stripe, while Heckert and Kaz Grala completed the top five.

Shawn Balluzzo led all the way from the pole for his second win in the Larry King Law Modified feature, which was extended from 50 to 52 laps by a pair of late caution flags. Nearing the finish, wisps of smoke began to puff from beneath the leader’s car. Keeping a close eye on the situation, officials determined that no fluid was leaking onto the track and allowed him to continue. Yellow flags on laps 50 and 51 pushed the event into overtime as the smoke intensified from Balluzzo’s machine. At the finish, Balluzzo was the winner by two lengths over Jimmy Humblet, who held down the runner-up spot throughout the contest. Late Model regular Mark Wertz was third, while Scott Lawrence and Chris Johnson came home in fourth and fifth, in that order.