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Butler Takes Third of Season

CAPRON, Va. (July 6) — Brandon Butler of Richmond, Va., drove to his third win of the season in the 100-lap RaceWorld.com Late Model Stock Car feature, part of Friday evening’s NASCAR Weekly Racing Series program, sponsored by Chesapeake Center, at Southampton Motor Speedway.

Mark McFarland of Winchester, Va., visiting from Old Dominion Speedway, recovered from an accident during afternoon practice rounds to nab the pole for the event, turning the 4/10-mile tri-oval at 95.840 mph. Richmond’s Doug Godsey shared the front row with McFarland, while Butler lined up third.

As the event got under way, McFarland jumped into the lead. The advantage was short-lived, however, as he gave way to Butler in Turn 2 on the second circuit. Godsey tagged along on Butler’s rear bumper, taking over the runner-up spot.

Ten laps into the race, Butler held a car-length-and-a-half lead over Godsey. With their potential challengers scrambling behind them, the lead duo sprinted away from the pack by nearly half a straightaway.

As the green-flag run continued, Butler began to ease away from Godsey. He was up by five car-lengths when the 35th lap clicked off on the scoreboard.

Trouble broke out in a big way on lap 36 as a host of cars piled up in Turn 2, prompting the first yellow flag. Suffolk, Va.’s Jason Rudd, in sixth place at the time of the accident, was the only driver sidelined in the melee.

The chief beneficiary of the incident turned out to be Bob Shreeves of Chesapeake, Va. When the lineup was sorted out, he advanced from ninth place to fourth.

Back under green, Butler fashioned a slim edge over Godsey, then began to inch away again, regaining his five-car-length advantage by the halfway mark. Buoyed by earlier good fortune, Shreeves slipped past Bubba Johnston of Chesapeake for third on lap 47.

The second caution flag flew on lap 54 when McFarland, who had drifted out of the top 10, tangled with Rick Ardis of Sandston, Va., in Turn 2. McFarland called it a night after the incident, joining Rudd in the pits.

Other caution flags appeared on laps 62, 81 and 84. On each restart, Butler was able to grab a narrow advantage over Godsey, then drive away.

At the finish, Butler was the winner by 1.124 seconds — about five car-lengths. Godsey was the runner-up, followed by Shreeves, points leader Mike Shearin of Emporia, Va., and Johnston.

In Victory Lane after the race, Butler expressed pride in the way his team had bounced back following a tough outing on June 29: “What an awesome night for this whole Bailey’s race team. We got lapped here last week. We were way off. Doug was awesome and these guys worked hard all week. We came out here today and made some adjustments for the race and, man, it was pretty good.”

For runner-up Godsey, the previous week’s winner, Butler’s strong showing wasn’t unexpected: “You knew Brandon Butler was gonna come back with a good race car. I think he was a little embarrassed about the way he ran (on June 29) and he came back and kicked our butts tonight. You gotta give the guy his credit.”

Continuing, Godsey revealed an early-race mishap which may have cost him a shot at the win: “We didn’t have anything for Brandon. We actually thought we might, later in the race, and hit the wall about 30 laps into the race and knocked the rear back in the car, though, and we were done after that. It was just a matter of riding behind him for the rest of the race.”

Shreeves was pleased with his first podium finish at SMS: “We were a little, teeny bit off tonight. I think we used the car up a little bit, getting from starting so bad at 10th position. We had run most of them cars down that we were about to get by when they spun up there (on lap 36), so we would’ve got by them. But, we had a good night. We’re tickled to death with this third-place finish — highest finish up here for us at Southampton County, so far.”

With his fourth straight top-five performance, Shearin retained the points lead. He holds a 22-point edge over Butler in the current division standings.

The race featured four of the top 10 drivers in NASCAR’s latest Atlantic Seaboard Region rankings. Butler, McFarland and Shearin were first, second and ninth, respectively, in the first tier, while Godsey was ranked first in the second tier.

   LATE MODEL STOCK CARS - 100 laps

1.  Brandon Butler - Richmond, Va., 100
2.  Doug Godsey - Richmond, Va., 100
3.  Bob Shreeves - Chesapeake, Va., 100
4.  Mike Shearin - Emporia, Va., 100
5.  Bubba Johnston - Chesapeake, Va., 100
6.  Terry Allison - South Mills, N.C., 100
7.  Jeff Sipe - Middletown, Pa., 100
8.  Jim Williams - Chesapeake, Va., 100
9.  Bud Kenny - Virginia Beach, Va., 100
10. Buck Godsey - Richmond, Va., 100
11. Max Smith - Roanoke Rapids, N.C., 100
12. Dwayne Shreeves - Chesapeake, Va., 99
13.  Rodney Taylor - Petersburg, Va., 97
14. Andy Bell - Norfolk, Va., 81
15. Mike Conner - Gloucester, Va., 78
16. Albert Falk - Chesapeake, Va., 61
17. Rick Ardis - Sandston, Va., 60
18. Mark McFarland - Winchester, Va., 53
19. Jason Rudd - Suffolk, Va., 35
• Pole: McFarland - 95.840 mph.
• Hard Luck Award: Bell.
• Hard Charger Award: Williams.


Current Point Standings
Last Race Date: Friday, July 6, 2001

LATE MODEL STOCK CARS (10 races)

     Driver, Hometown                           (Wins)  Points
1.  Mike Shearin, Emporia, Va.                          394
2.  Brandon Butler, Richmond, Va.               (3)     372
3.  Doug Godsey, Richmond, Va.                  (4)     342
4.  Terry Allison, South Mills, N.C.                    328
5.  Bud Kenny, Virginia Beach, Va.                      304
6.  Jamey Caudill, Four Oaks, N.C.              (1)     280
7.  Nick Woodward, High Point, N.C.                     256
8.  Mike Conner, Gloucester, Va.                        250
9.  Denny Hamlin, Chesterfield, Va.                     246
10. Frank Deiny Jr., Mechanicsville, Va.        (2)     240