THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, October 14, 1996 TAG: 9610140121
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BRIAN J. FRENCH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CAPRON LENGTH: 62 lines
Speck Edwards once again was at the center of controversy at Southampton Speedway. And this time, Tony Edwards had nothing to do with it.
Speck Edwards had seemingly wrapped up the Late Model Stock race Sunday afternoon but inexplicably slowed on the backstretch of the final lap as Cy Nelms won his second straight East Coast Clash race.
Speck Edwards' complaint: He thought the caution flag had flown, meaning the track was blocked. After slowing down, he lost the lead without enough time to regain it.
``They threw the white flag, and then on turn 2, I saw them throw the caution flag,'' he said. ``They don't throw a caution on the final lap unless the track is blocked, so I slowed down and lost a thousand dollars (the difference between Nelms' $2,000 purse and the second-place $1,000 check).''
Track officials said the race was never under caution in the final lap.
Nelms was empathetic.
``The same thing happened to me last year at Caroline (Nelms' home track),'' he said, ``and I ended up losing the race. I wasn't sure whether I should pass Speck (on the final lap), but I figured I've gotta take the chance.''
The anticipated showdown betwen Speck and longtime rival Tony Edwards never quite materialized. Tony Edwards started the 50-lap event in the 13th position and worked his way to third by lap 16 but never mounted a serious challenge.
In Sunday's other races:
SUPER LATE MODEL: Booper Bare won the pole in Saturday's time trials, then led all 75 laps in winning the race and $5,000. Hank Edwards was second.
LIMITED SPORTSMAN: David Earl Pope held off a late challenge by Gene Story to win the 40-lap race and pick up a $1,000 purse.
4-CYLINDER MODIFIED: Keith Edwards dominated the 35-event, beating Henry Barnes by about 3.5 seconds to win the race and $1,000.
SUPER STOCK: John Bishop won $600 in the 30-lap event. Terri Williams finished second.
PURE STOCK: Tommy Pittman, who appeared headed for the win, spun out on turn 4 in the final lap as Jim Holmes took the checkered flag.
HILL WINS FORMULA ONE: Damon Hill needed only a sixth-place finish to clinch his first Formula One auto racing championship, so when he won the season-ending Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday to go with his 1996 driver's title, he had a double reason to celebrate.
``It's a tremendous relief to have finally won the championship,'' said Hill, whose father, Graham, won it twice.
All suspense ended on the 37th lap, when Jacques Villeneuve, the only driver with even a slim chance to overtake him for the championship, spun off the track. Hill already had overtaken pole-sitter Villeneuve in the first turn.
``Out there up front, I was telling myself, `This is all very well, Hill, but now you've got to stay calm and see it through to the finish,' '' he said. Sunday's victory gave Hill a final total of 97 to 78 for Villeneuve and 59 for defending champion Michael Schumacher.
SKINNER WINS TRUCK RACE: Mike Skinner matched his own record by winning his eighth NASCAR truck series race of the season despite leading only the final two laps of the Ford Dealers 300 in Bakersfield, Calif. But Ron Hornaday Jr. moved closer to the series championship by finishing second. Hornaday needs to an average finish of ninth in the last two events to win the title. by CNB