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Long's Luck Looking Up at Lanier with Pro Late Model Win

Braselton, GA (April 28, 2001) - Stacy Long finally found his way back to victory at Lanier National Speedway in the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series. But the real winner might be area race car fabricators looking for work. They won't have far to look after the dust settled at the bullring in Braselton Saturday night. 20

Tony Bennett turned the fastest lap for the Budweiser Pro Late Model 50 lapper then promptly rolled a six meaning he would start the feature on the outside of row three. His misfortune was the opportunity Long had been looking for all season. A driver accustomed to running up front, 2001 had turned into a series of poor finishes for Long as he gladly welcomed the opportunity to start on the pole Saturday night. 20

Saturday's first lap was eerily similar to last week's start as eight of the 17 cars in the starting grid crashed in turn one after the shifter broke on outside polesitter Mike Love's Chevrolet causing the line behind him to look like an accordion hitting the wrong note. Last Saturday 12 of 18 starters tangled on lap one.

Drivers involved in Saturday's first lap melee included Love, Bennett, Ronny Kittle, Joe Wallington, Doug Cantrell, Bill Nealis, Jonathan Davenport, and David Watters. Kittle, Wallington, and Nealis were unable to continue while the others saw mixed results as they returned to Saturday night's short track war.20

After a 35-minute delay to clear the track, Long set sail from his pole position start determined he would be the driver on the receiving end of the photo opportunities at night's end. Three other cautions kept the field bunched but Long would not be denied victory as he finished two seconds ahead of Bennett. Long credited veteran driver Debris Brown for helping him hit the right setup combination to tackle the .375 mile layout.

"We got here today and we weren't that good, but Debris Brown and I worked on this car. He and I were thinking about the same thing to do to the car and it paid off. I kind of had a feeling we were going to win tonight because the car just drove so good," Long said in victory lane.

Despite suffering front-end damage on the opening lap, Bennett's crew removed wrinkled sheet metal on his No. 42 Pontiac and was forced to remove the hood. They then watched in amazement as their driver blazed to a runner-up finish.

Bennett was somewhat mellow in post-race tech saying, "I think I got second only because everybody else had bad luck. It was a pretty good car and I believe we could have won the race if we had the hood on but it didn't have any downforce on the front to help it turn." 20

The fireworks continued as the checkers waved when fifth-place Shane Chastain and fourth-place Tom Hardy collided seconds after crossing the start-finish line while racing in a tight pack. Both cars suffered front end damage. Love managed to hold on for third after rallying from the shifter failure on the first lap. 20

The Simpson's Trucking & Grading Sportsman division competitors ran a rare 50 lap event and Kevin Stephens showed he can put his No. 52 Chevrolet in victory lane no matter the race distance. He put a "Debris Brown (his father-in-law) outside move" on Chris Wingo on lap 11 then waved goodbye to the field in the caution-free event. 20

Joey Love withstood two strong challenges from George Williams, Jr but his No. 25 Ford had just enough muscle to hold on for victory in the Akins of Winder Pro Truck 30 lap race.

Curt Britt's mastery of the Sunoco Ministock division continued Saturday night as he led Jason Bates, Thomas Ross, Brian Huff, and Chad Hoopaugh to the checkered flag in the 25-lapper.

Budweiser Pro Late Model 50 Laps

1.  Stacy Long
2.  Tony Bennett
3.  Mike Love
4.  Tom Hardy
5.  Shane Chastain
6.  Mark Mitchell
7.  Jamie Stephens, Jr
8.  Clay Dale
9.  Kevin Herbert
10. Todd Trinkle
11. Steve Rowe
12. David Waters
13. Doug Cantrell
14. Jonathan Davenport
15. Bill Nealis
16. Joe Wallington
17. Ronny Kittle