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Greensville Mem. Hospital Night

CAPRON, Va. (May 11) — Doug Godsey of Richmond, Va., picked up his third win of the season in the 100-lap RaceWorld.com Late Model Stock Car portion of Friday’s NASCAR Weekly Racing Series/Greensville Memorial Hospital Night program at Southampton Motor Speedway.

Godsey claimed the pole position with a 96.865-mph qualifying effort and took the lead on the opening circuit. Godsey’s front row mate, Richmond’s Brandon Butler, settled into second place, followed by Jamey Caudill of Four Oaks, N.C.

For the first 66 laps, the lead trio circled the track in nose-to-tail formation with Butler sneaking occasional peeks to Godsey’s inside.

On the 67th circuit, Butler made a strong bid for the top spot off of Turn 2. Godsey fended off the move, but Butler didn’t give up and the two made contact in Turn 4. Sensing an opportunity, Caudill pushed his car to the high side and drew even with Butler on the frontstretch.

Before the scenario could develop further, though, the race’s third caution flag waved as WWF wrestler Bob “Hardcore” Holly of Mobile, Ala., spun in Turn 2. Lining up for the restart, Godsey maintained the lead, followed by Butler and Caudill.

Back under green, Caudill shadowed Butler until lap 73 when he slipped under Butler off of Turn 4, completing the pass on the backstretch on the next circuit. Nick Woodward of High Point, N.C., the 2000 SMS Late Model champ, tagged along with Caudill to take over the third spot.

The exchange allowed Godsey to extend his lead to half a straightaway. Within 10 laps, however, Caudill had narrowed the gap to only three car-lengths as traffic loomed ahead.

On lap 94, Godsey was momentarily stymied by a slower car and Caudill erased the remainder of the deficit, pulling up on the leader’s rear bumper.

Exiting Turn 4 and looking for the white flag, Caudill scrubbed across Godsey’s bumper and swung to the outside as Godsey regained control. The scuffle was interrupted, though, as Mike Queen of Chesapeake, Va., spun in Turn 4 to bring out the last of the race’s four caution flags.

The event ended with a “green-white-checkered” sprint to the finish.

On the last restart, Godsey opened a slim, one-car-length margin, then held on as Caudill mounted one last charge in Turn 4 on the final lap.

At the end, Godsey was the winner by 0.481-second over Caudill. Woodward was third to the line, while Butler and Terry Allison of South Mills, N.C., completed the top five.

In Victory Lane after the race, Godsey commented on the rising level of competition at SMS: “It was a tough one. I tell ya’, these guys are really starting to run good. We had a pretty good car tonight. It probably wasn’t the best car we’ve had here all year, but it was good enough to win and that’s all that counts.”

Runner-up Caudill saw some positives in his second-place run: “We’ve struggled for the last three weeks. It’s a new car and we’ve been working hard, trying to get it dialed in. We came down yesterday and made some big improvements. It’s a tough place to race. There’s a lot of good race cars up here and Doug’s tough, but I think we had something there at the end for him if we’d have gone green.”

Third-place Woodward, a new college grad, was also upbeat after finishing third: “Third is not bad for the way we’ve run. The guys have done a heck of a job all year and had this Hills Bros. Coffee car get better and better each week. It’s hard, not running here each week and trying to come here and hit it, but Kowalsky provided us with a super powerplant tonight. We’ve got a new motor under the hood, changed motor programs, and I think that helped a lot.

Race Results
Friday, May 11, 2001 - Greensville Mem. Hospital Night

   LATE MODEL STOCK CARS - 100 laps

1.  Doug Godsey - Richmond, Va., 100
2.  Jamey Caudill - Four Oaks, N.C., 100
3.  Nick Woodward - High Point, N.C., 100
4.  Brandon Butler - Richmond, Va., 100
5.  Terry Allison - South Mills, N.C., 100
6.  Mike Shearin - Emporia, Va., 100
7.  Denny Hamlin - Chesterfield, Va., 100
8.  Andy Bell - Norfolk, Va., 100
9.  Bubba Johnston - Chesapeake, Va., 100
10. Jim Williams - Chesapeake, Va., 100
11. Andreas Kestermann - Woodbridge, Va., 100
12. Mike Conner - Gloucester, Va., 99
13. Bud Kenny - Virginia Beach, Va., 99
14. Bob “Hardcore” Holly - Mobile, Ala., 99
15. Mike Queen - Chesapeake, Va., 94
16. Max Smith - Roanoke Rapids, N.C., 94
17. Buck Godsey - Richmond, Va., 76
18. Chris Hopkins - Petersburg, Va., 19
• Pole: D. Godsey - 96.865 mph.
• Hard Luck Award: Kenny.
• Hard Charger Award: Johnston.