THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 28, 1995 TAG: 9507280568
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK VEHORN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines
Experienced stock car racing observers believe the best way to determine a young driver's potential is by how quickly he moves to the front of the field.
``He doesn't have to be great early, but he has to be good early,'' says Charlotte Motor Speedway president Humpy Wheeler.
If that is the best measuring stick, then Portsmouth's Charlie Bryant Jr. could be speeding toward future stardom.
Bryant kept his string of good starts intact last Saturday when he collected his first Late Model Stock victory at Langley in his first season of competition in the elite division.
Bryant, who will be 26 next month, has been good early ever since he began racing regularly at Langley in 1991. As a rookie, he won six races and the Thunderbold championship.
The next year he moved up to Limited Stock, where he had to learn the tricks of tire stagger and weight distribution. In 1993, he won eight races and finished fourth in the championship standings. Last year he won another eight races and the Limited Stock title.
Bryant bypassed the next level, Grand Stock, and went directly to the top of the competition this season.
``I really was looking just to be in the top five every now and then, and to be able to pay my expenses on a weekly basis,'' Bryant said. ``I thought if I did win a race, it would be mostly because of luck.''
There wasn't anything lucky about Bryant's victory last week in the second of a pair of 75-lap Late Model features. He outran the track's two best drivers, Phil Warren and Eddie Johnson, to win by a comfortable margin.
``I thought we were getting close to winning, and we were preparing for it,'' Bryant said. ``But, yeah, it really did come sooner than I expected.''
Bryant, of course, is no different than any driver - he has to have good equipment to be able to display his abilities.
He has had a good car most of the season, which he credits to his crew chief George Hartsell and mechanic Eddie Pardue.
In fact, some veteran drivers claimed Bryant had too much car for his experience and they got nervous when they saw him roaring through the field.
To Bryant's credit, he did not allow such talk to intimidate him, and he didn't back off after being involved in an accident with Johnson in the first 75-lapper last week.
``I know a lot of people thought the accident was my fault, because I was the young guy and Eddie was the veteran,'' Bryant said.
``I really don't know what happened. We went into the first turn side-by-side. He was driving hard, trying to make me make a mistake, and then I saw his car get loose. If we touched, I didn't feel it.''
No one could fault Bryant. He maintained control of his car, and stuck to the lower groove through the turn.
Being able to race in the lower groove was the winning advantage for him in the second race, too.
``Both Eddie and Phil might have been a little off,'' Bryant said. ``But that was the 20th race, and I had been watching and learning from them all season. When it came time to pass them, I had the car to do it.''
The victory pushed Bryant ahead of Buddy Dozier into second place in the Late Model championship standings.
Bryant's immediate goals are to hold on to second place in the standings and to continue being a factor at the front of the field.
A long-range goal is to advance to Grand National and Winston Cup racing, which he hopes one of his sponsors, Joe Falk, may help him to do. Falk is an associate sponsor for a Grand National team.
``Nobody loves racing more than I do,'' Bryant said. ``And I am committed 100 percent to making it all the way. If they told us next week we'd be racing for a barrel of apples and no money, I'd still be there. I just love the competition, love that urge.''
He's had that from day one, too. Back when he showed he was good early.
AT THE TRACKS: Langley regulars Ashton Lewis Jr. and Danny Edwards Jr. are among the drivers entered in the 300-lap Grand National race Saturday at South Boston Speedway. Gates open at 10 a.m., with practice scheduled for 11 a.m., qualifying at 2 p.m., and the race at 5 p.m. It will be televised live by The Nashville Network.
A 100-lap Late Model Stock feature tops the program at Langley Speedway in Hampton. Races also are scheduled in four other weekly divisions. Time trials at 5 p.m. and racing at 7.
Speck Edwards and Tony Edwards resume their battle for the Sportsman championship at Southampton Speedway in Capron. Speck is nursing a 16-point lead. Races are also scheduled in five other weekly divisions. Time trials at 5:50 p.m. and racing at 7. by CNB