THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 31, 1994 TAG: 9407310234
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C11 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY VINCE SHAW, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HAMPTON LENGTH: Medium: 53 lines
Roger Sawyer brought some normalcy to Saturday night's 150-lap Late-Model Stock feature at Langley Raceway.
For a while it appeared that Shawn Balluzzo, then Terry Harris, would reach Victory Lane for the first time this season. But in the end it was Sawyer who captured his fourth win.
Sawyer started seventh and took it easy during the first half of the race.
``I had patience,'' said Sawyer, who won track championships in 1987 and 1991. ``We took it easy on the equipment and I just bided my time.
``We couldn't get a caution, so about lap 75 we started to push it a little bit.''
Balluzzo, the pole-sitter, dominated early, leading 99 of the first 107 laps. Twice the Norfolk driver opened up a lead of 10 car-lengths. But his car appeared to get a little loose, and Harris was able to get by on lap 108. Sawyer moved around Balluzzo one lap later.
Harris led 13 laps before Sawyer was able to get by in the low groove.
Taking the shortest route around appeared to be the key as Sawyer cruised to the checkered flag.
``We were a little tighter than everyone else tonight and we able to keep it down low,'' Sawyer said.
Harris finished second, followed by Eddie Johnson, Balluzzo and Buddy Malish.
In Saturday's other races:
Mike McVaugh survived a war of attrition to win his seventh Grand Stock event. McVaugh, who started fifth, watched as four cars that started ahead of him were knocked from the lead pack. The Yorktown driver assumed the lead for good on lap 32 and outdistanced Jimmy Kenney by four car-lengths. Roger Bress finished fourth and now has a 40-point lead over John Hicks in the series points race.
Jim Adkins won his second straight Mini-Stock race and third overall with a three-car-length win over Cathy Mosier. Adkins, who started second, took over the lead on lap 3 when leader Kevin Harrison suffered a flat tire on a restart following a caution. Adkins leads points runner-up Brian Loving, a no-show Saturday, by 36 points.
Kevin Adams took the lead on lap 7 and went on to capture his eighth victory in the Limited Stock series. Adams increased his points lead to 44 over second-place finisher Charlie Bryant Jr.
Chris Mull took the lead on lap 9 and cruised to his fifth Pure Stock victory. Points leader Jerry Scott finished second and increased his lead to 96 over fifth-place finisher Gene Smith. by CNB