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Caudill Takes SMS Opener

CAPRON, Va. (April 6) — Jamey Caudill of Four Oaks, N.C., led the final 69 laps to capture his first Southampton Motor Speedway victory in the 100-lap RaceWorld.com Late Model Stock Car feature as the track kicked off its second season under the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series banner with True Value Night.

Philip Morris of Ruckersville, Va., set the pace in qualifying for the event, earning the pole with a 95.738-mph effort. Doug Godsey of Richmond, Va., was second-fastest, at 95.510 mph, and started alongside Morris.

As the race got under way, Morris powered ahead off Turn 2. Godsey shadowed the leader until lap 13 when he ducked to Morris’ inside in Turn 3, completing the pass for the lead in Turn 2 on the following circuit.

Caudill, who started third, dropped back to fourth in race-opening shuffle. He took third place from Winchester, Va.’s Mark McFarland on lap 7, bypassed Morris for second eight laps later and rapidly closed in on Godsey’s bumper.

The first caution flag appeared on lap 29 for a single-car incident in Turn 4. Lining up for the restart, Godsey was the leader, followed by Caudill, Morris, McFarland and Bugs Hairfield of Chesterfield, Va.

Back under green, Caudill tailed Godsey for a couple laps, then drove under the leader at the entrance to Turn 1 on the 31st circuit. Godsey maintained a slim edge at the line, but Caudill kept digging and moved ahead on the next lap. Within four laps, Caudill had opened a four-car-length lead.

After yellow flags on laps 38 and 49, the remainder of the event was caution-free.

Over the second half of the event, Caudill maintained a comfortable margin as Godsey struggled with reported brake problems and fought to hold off Hairfield, who picked off McFarland for fourth, then moved up to third when Morris pitted during the second caution period.

As the field stretched out around the 4/10-mile tri-oval, Caudill found himself boxed in by slower traffic on a couple occasions. He was able to extricate himself, though, before Godsey could cut into his lead significantly.

On lap 87, Hairfield slipped Godsey for second. The exchange worked in Caudill’s favor as he expanded his lead and won by 4.086 seconds. Hairfield was second, followed by Godsey, McFarland and Wayne Grubb of Richmond. Nineteen of the 27 starters were running at the end and 11 finished on the lead lap.

In Victory Lane, Caudill reflected on several near-misses in past SMS events: “This is the third year we’ve come and tried to win a race here. We’ve run good and seem to always look at Doug (Godsey) and Nick’s (2000 track champ Nick Woodward) back bumper and had a lot of second- and third-place finishes. It seems good to finally break the ice.”

Runner-up Hairfield used his post-race interview to put in a plug for his car builder: “Believe it or not, this car is a 1991. It’s got 68 wins on it and it just goes to show ya’ what quality cars they build down there at Stock Car Products and I think it’s got a couple more wins in it. It run really good tonight.”

Meanwhile, Godsey, the third-place runner, lamented the problems that cost him an even better finish: “We had a little bit of brake trouble about 20 laps into the race. Just couldn’t slow the car down getting in the corners, so I moved over and let these guys go. They were quicker than me tonight. Jamey had a super good car tonight. Hopefully, we can get our brakes fixed and give him a little better run next week.”

   LATE MODEL STOCK CARS - 100 laps

1.  Jamey Caudill - Four Oaks, N.C., 100
2.  Bugs Hairfield - Chesterfield, Va., 100
3.  Doug Godsey - Richmond, Va., 100
4.  Mark McFarland - Winchester, Va., 100
5.  Wayne Grubb - Richmond, Va., 100
6.  Chris Hopkins - Petersburg, Va., 100
7.  Neil McClanan - Moyock, N.C., 100
8.  Bubba Adams - Moyock, N.C., 100
9.  Philip Morris - Ruckersville, Va., 100
10. Tony Grady - Raleigh, N.C., 100
11. Mike Shearin - Emporia, Va., 100
12. Woody Howard - Chesapeake, Va., 99
13. Bud Kenny - Virginia Beach, Va., 99
14. Jeff Falk - Chesapeake, Va., 99
15. Jim Williams - Chesapeake, Va., 99
16. Andy Bell - Chesapeake, Va., 99
17. Mike Conner - Gloucester, Va., 99
18. Rodney Taylor - Petersburg, Va., 97
19. Clarke Simpson - 96
20. Jeff Sipe - Middletown, Pa., 95
21. Buck Godsey - Richmond, Va., 80
22. Terry Allison - South Mills, N.C., 69
23. Ryan Hackett - La Plata, Md., 66
24. Max Smith - Roanoke Rapids, N.C., 47
25. Ty Miller - Louisa, Va., 25
26. Brandon Butler - Chester, Va., 18
27. Danny Fair - Woodbridge, Va., 4
• Pole: Morris - 95.738 mph.
• Hard Luck Award: Sipe.
• Hard Charger Award: Taylor.