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Sadler Auto Centers/Slip-In Food Marts Night

CAPRON, Va. (July 20) — Doug Godsey of Richmond, Va., scored his fifth and sixth victories of the season, sweeping both ends of the RaceWorld.com Late Model Stock Car Twin 50’s, part of Friday’s NASCAR Weekly Racing Series program presented by Sadler Auto Centers and Slip-In Food Marts, at Southampton Motor Speedway.

To set the starting grids for the races, the Late Models ran two qualifying laps. The first lap determined the order for the opener and the second lap set the lineup for the nightcap. Godsey took both poles with laps of 95.100 and 96.677 mph.

• Race #1: In the first event, Godsey grabbed the lead in Turn 2 on the opening circuit and led the way to the checkered flag.

Richmond’s Brandon Butler, who shared the front row with Godsey, was second to the line, 0.630-second behind the winner. Jamey Caudill of Four Oaks, N.C., returning to SMS for the first time since a hard crash on June 8, was third, followed by Jim Williams of Chesapeake, Va., and Mike Shearin of Emporia, Va.

As expected, the first race was largely incident-free as drivers tried to preserve their equipment for the second event. The opener was slowed by only one caution flag.

From Godsey’s standpoint, however, the race was anything but a leisurely cruise: “Brandon ran us pretty hard. We gave it about all we had. That’s about all the old car had in it. We’re just trying to save a little bit for the next race. We couldn’t save much. Brandon pushed us pretty hard that race. I think Brandon held back a little bit for the second race. He’ll be tough in the second one.”

• Race #2: In the nightcap, Godsey survived a tangle with Butler, then held off a furious charge by Suffolk, Va.’s Jason Rudd to notch his second victory of the evening.

As the event got under way, Butler hung tough in the high groove and nosed ahead of Godsey to lead lap 1.

Coming around to complete the second circuit, though, Godsey and Butler made contact in Turn 4 and Butler spun, collecting Shearin, the points leader coming into the night.

Lining up for the restart, Godsey was the leader, followed by Caudill, Bud Kenny of Virginia Beach, Va., Williams and Bubba Johnston of Chesapeake.

Back under green, though, the man on the move was Rudd. After starting seventh, he was in sixth on the restart and, by lap 13, had rolled into third place. Godsey and Caudill, however, had pulled away by half a straightaway. That deficit was erased by caution flags on laps 20 and 22.

As the event resumed, Rudd went to work on Caudill and grabbed the runner-up spot on lap 28. The exchange, though, allowed Godsey to stretch his advantage to half a straightaway with 20 laps to go.

Rudd, the previous week’s winner, gobbled up the ground, closing to within two car-lengths by lap 47. His bid came up just short, however, as Godsey held on to win by 0.252-second — little more than a car-length.

Caudill posted his second third-place effort of the night, while Williams and Bob Shreeves of Chesapeake were fourth and fifth to the stripe.

Relegated to the rear of the field after the incident on lap 2, Butler never really got going and ended up 10th. Shearin, meanwhile, lost 18 laps while making repairs in the pits and wound up 18th.

In the standings, Butler slipped past Shearin to take a four-point lead, 498-494. Godsey, though, was the big gainer, exiting the event only eight points out of the lead.

In Victory Lane after the second race, Godsey commented on his brush with Butler: “I sure am sorry me and Brandon got together if it was my fault and I slipped up into him. Brandon knows I didn’t mean to do that if it was my fault. I’ll have to look at the tape and see. We were greasy right at the start, for the first 10 or 15 laps, on these tires. Started the air pressure the same as we did the first race. It was just a little bit greasy on ‘em and, if it came around, it came around. There’s nothing I can do about now.”

On holding off Rudd in the closing laps, Godsey said, “They told me he (Rudd) was closing. We got super-loose at the end. It looked like he had a pretty good car at the end. Glad it was just 50 laps.”

Of his charge toward the front, runner-up Rudd, who was seventh in the first race, said, “Yeah, I tried. Kinda’ ran out of laps there at the end, but it was a good run. I think this is about the best-running car I’ve ever had out here. It’s actually doing pretty decent on short runs now, too, so we’ve stepped that little part up. The car just didn’t give up a whole lot tonight. It just stayed right under me. It was just a good horse all night.”

On his successful return to SMS, Caudill remarked, “I want to thank the crew for hard as they worked to get the car back together. Took us a couple of weeks to get it together. We didn’t want to come back, rush it and try to make it back too quick. We got the car back together and we can work on it and get a little bit better and we’re happy to come out with two third-place runs tonight.”

   LATE MODEL STOCK CARS - Twin 50’s

      Race #1:

1.  Doug Godsey - Richmond, Va., 50
2.  Brandon Butler - Richmond, Va., 50
3.  Jamey Caudill - Four Oaks, N.C., 50
4.  Jim Williams - Chesapeake, Va., 50
5.  Mike Shearin - Emporia, Va., 50
6.  Nick Woodward - High Point, N.C., 50
7.  Jason Rudd - Suffolk, Va., 50
8.  Bud Kenny - Virginia Beach, Va., 50
9.  Bubba Johnston - Chesapeake, Va., 50
10. Chris Hopkins - Petersburg, Va., 50
11. Andy Bell - Norfolk, Va., 50
12. Duane Shreeves - Chesapeake, Va., 50
13. Max Smith - Roanoke Rapids, N.C., 50
14. Mike Conner - Gloucester, Va., 49
15. Robbie Babb - Chesapeake, Va., 47
16. Lee Cox - Richmond, Va., 26
17. Bob Shreeves - Chesapeake, Va., 25
18. Buck Godsey - Richmond, Va., 25
19. Terry Allison - South Mills, N.C., 17
• Pole: D. Godsey - 95.100 mph.
• Hard Luck Award: Cox.
• Hard Charger Award: Rudd.

      Race #2:

1.  Doug Godsey - 50
2.  Jason Rudd - 50
3.  Jamey Caudill - 50
4.  Jim Williams - 50
5.  Bob Shreeves - 50
6.  Nick Woodward - 50
7.  Terry Allison - 50
8.  Chris Hopkins - 50
9.  Bud Kenny - 50
10. Brandon Butler - 50
11. Lee Cox - 50
12. Buck Godsey - 50
13. Mike Conner - 50
14. Duane Shreeves - 50
15. Max Smith - 49
16. Robbie Babb - 49
17. Andy Bell - 44
18. Mike Shearin - 32
19. Bubba Johnston - 19
• Pole: D. Godsey - 96.677 mph.
• Hard Luck Award: Shearin.
• Hard Charger Award: Rudd.