South Boston race notes 2005-03-12

Sellers scores 2nd straight season-opening Late Model Stock Car Division win at South Boston Speedway

SOUTH BOSTON, VA. -- Same racetrack, same division, same winner, different year. It was dejà vu all over again for Peyton Sellers Saturday afternoon at South Boston Speedway.

For the second year in a row, Sellers, who resides in Danville, Va., scored a victory in the season-opening race for the drivers in the Barkhouser Late Model Stock Car Division at South Boston Speedway.

Sellers scored his latest season-opening triumph Saturday when the four-tenths mile asphalt oval kicked off the 2005 NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series season with the running of the SoBo Spring Shootout Saturday afternoon.

Sellers, as he did in the season-opener last year, grabbed the pole position for the start of the race and led every circuit to take the checkered flag first. Sellers captured the pole spot for the 150-lap event with a qualifying run of 15.556 seconds.

Brandon Butler started fourth at the outset of the event, surged into the top three early on and then took the second-place position away outside pole starter Frank Deiny, Jr. of Mechanicsville, Va. on lap 47.

Despite a host of attempts by Deiny to regain the position, Butler was able to hold on the rest of the way to secure a runner-up finish, just ahead of Deiny in third place.

Drew Herring of Benson, N.C. competed well throughout and garnered a fourth-place finish in the 26-car field, while Scott Worley of Long Island, Va. rounded out the top five competitors.

Owen Miller of Emporia, Va. motored to a sixth-place finish for the day, while Ryan Rhodes of Sanford, N.C. made a last-lap bump and pass of Roxboro, N.C. driver Justin Johnson to place seventh. David Quackenbush finished eighth, while Johnson recovered from the last-lap spin to place ninth as the final driver on the lead lap.

Jason Dickerson of Ruckersville, Va. rounded out the top 10 drivers in the field and was one lap down at the end.

Five cautions slowed the field, however, the race ran under the green flag from lap 63 to the checkered flag.

The biggest pileup of the day came on lap seven when seven cars stacked up the frontstretch on a restart attempt following the event's yellow-flag session.

Snow leads flag-to-flag to score win in Limited Sportsman race

Justin Snow of Danville, Va. grabbed the pole position and led every circuit to secure a win in the season-opening 50-lap race for the Limited Sportsman Division.

The race was slowed by just one caution, which flew on lap 22 when the car of Wally Latta of Durham, N.C. went spinning in turn two.

Tommy Peregoy of Red Oak, Va. started third and wound up second in the 17-car field, while Billy Myers of Hurt, Va. grabbed a third-place finish.

Outside pole sitter Charles Barnes of Chase City, Va. wound up fourth in the event, while Andrew Perry of Hillsborough, N.C. rounded out the top five finishers.

Defending division champion Jonathan Bailey of Keysville, Va. placed sixth, while John Moore, Bill Moshenek of Providence, N.C., Brian Pembleton and Timmy Langford of Amelia, Va. collected the seventh through 10th spots, respectively.

Hodnett avoids early multi-car crash, grabs Pure Stock win

Reid Hodnett of Mebane, N.C. avoided a multi-car pileup on the first lap of the 30-lap race for the Pure Stock Division and wound up collecting a season-opening victory.

Later in the race, Hodnett was running in the second-place position when race leader Chuck Watkins of Stem, N.C. went spinning, while trying to pass the lapped car of Chris Seay of Ringgold, Va.

Hodnett took the lead at that point and held on the rest of the way to score the victory.

Rodney Pennington of Durham, N.C. was second in the 20-car field and was followed by Nick Igdalsky of South Boston, Va. in third place. Donald Glass of Halifax, Va. grabbed a fourth-place slot at the line, while Billy Goble of Ringgold, Va.. rounded out the top five competitors.

On the opening lap of the event, things got wild early on when 10 cars piled up coming out of turn four, including pole position winner Shawn Laws of Goldsboro.

Edwards swipes lead late, motors to Grand Sportsman win

Keith Edwards of Pendleton, N.C. inherited the lead with six laps remaining in the Grand Sportsman Division and led the rest of the way to secure a season-opening triumph.

The outcome of the race changed on the 24th lap when Jack Milam of Danville, Va. got loose coming out of turn four, struck the outside retaining wall in the frontstretch and then bounced down the track into Tony Hurley, Jr. of Durham, N.C. Hurley and Milam then slapped the wall in turn one, ending their days.

Brad Matthews of Stovall, N.C. placed second in the seven-car field, while Jeremy Ratliff of South Boston, Va. secured a third-place finish. The top five was rounded out by Ray Ellington of Madison Heights, Va. in fourth and Junior Hancock of Danville, Va. in the fifth slot.

For more information, visit the speedway's website at www.southbostonspeedway.com or phone the track at (434) 572-4947 or toll free at 1-877-440-1540.

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