THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 

              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.



DATE: Sunday, July 9, 1995                   TAG: 9507090074

SECTION: SPORTS                   PAGE: C4   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY FRANK VEHORN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE:    BUGS HAIRFIELD PICKED THE WRONG EVENING TO LOSE HIS TEMPER AND LENG



                 AS FOES FUME, FALTER, EDWARDS ROLLS TO WIN 



   Edwards steered his Pontiac around Warren with five laps remaining to win 

the 100-lap Late Model Stock race.

   Warren, seeking his 13th victory of the season, managed to hold on to 

second place after leading the first 95 laps. Eddie Johnson, who had been the 

only driver to beat Warren at Langley, advanced from an eighth-place starting 
position to finish third.

   Hairfield withdrew his entry after a dispute with NASCAR officials during 

prerace qualifying. He was told to make corrections after his car measured 

about a half-inch too low in inspection. He was sent back to the pits to raise

the car and was informed he would be allowed only one qualifying lap instead 

of two because of the delay.

   Hairfield argued that he should be given two qualifying laps. When his 

demand was not met, he put his car on the hauler and left.

   ``We couldn't bend the rules for him and not for everyone else,'' Langley 

promoter Wayne Wyatt said.

   With Hairfield gone and Johnson experiencing a rare handling problem with 

his Ford, it seemed during the first half of the race that Warren would have 

an easy drive to victory.

   That changed, though, when Edwards, who started third, began battling 

Warren just past the halfway mark.

   He finally drove inside of Warren on the 92nd lap and pulled away on lap 96

when Warren's car slid almost sideways and tagged Edwards' car off the second 

turn.

   Warren said he felt his car beginning to get loose about 20 laps into the 

race, and the problem continued to get worse.

   ``When he got around me, my car got so loose that I probably would have 

spun out and wrecked if the nose of my car hadn't hit his car,'' Warren said.

   Edwards said he felt the lick, which left an ugly black stripe on the right

side of his car but did not get his car out of shape.

   ``I knew he was having a handling problem because his car was moving up the

track,'' Edwards said. ``I had planned on  challenging him a few laps earlier,

but one of the slow cars got in my way and I had to wait.''

   The victory was the first for Edwards in more than a year at Langley, but 

he has won at other tracks this season.

   ``I enjoyed winning at those other tracks, but it feels better to win at my

home track, before my hometown fans,'' said Edwards, who lives about 5 miles 

from Langley.

   Johnson, a three-time winner this season at Langley, blamed his 

non-competitive run on chassis problems.

   ``We just missed the setup, that's all,'' he said.

   Ashton Lewis Jr., whose team won the pit competition before the race, 

finished fourth.

   In other divisions:

   Tod Carson swept a pair of 25-lap Limited Stock features for his 10th and 

11th victories of the season. Carson, who led all the way in the opener, was 

given a sixth-place starting position for the second race. It took him nine 

laps to get to the front. Carson lost the lead briefly to his brother Kelly 

before leading the final seven laps.

   Grand Stock points leader Roger Bress became the first 13-race winner of 

the season at Langley by winning a 40-lap feature.

   Kevin Harrison broke away at the green flag and led all the way to win a 

caution-free 25-lap Mini-Stock race. 

   Kevin Wagner started on the pole and led all 25 laps for his sixth Pure 

Stock victory of the season.