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GoRacing @ SMS Night

CAPRON, Va. (July 27) — Continuing his recent hot streak, Doug Godsey of Richmond, Va., rolled to his third straight win and seventh of the season in the GoRacing@SMS 100 for the RaceWorld.com Late Model Stock Cars, part of Friday’s NASCAR Weekly Racing Series program at Southampton Motor Speedway.

Godsey set the fast time for the event, at 95.579 mph, and started on the outside pole after a redraw among the top-six qualifiers. Andy Bell of Norfolk, Va., sixth-fastest in time trials, drew the pole.

As the race got under way, Godsey bolted into the lead. Phil Warren of Norfolk, who started fourth, cleared Bell on lap 2, while Brandon Butler, third on the grid, followed on the next circuit.

By the sixth lap, Godsey had opened a five-car-length advantage. Little by little, however, Warren chipped away at the margin. When the first caution flag flew, on lap 48, Warren had closed to within a single car-length.

The race resumed, but only for a lap as trouble broke out at the start/finish line. Bell, running sixth, spun and collected Emporia, Va.’s Mike Shearin, Chesapeake, Va.’s Bob Shreeves and Gloucester, Va.’s Mike Conner. The event was briefly red-flagged for cleanup.

Lining up for the restart, Godsey held the lead, followed by Warren, Butler, Jamey Caudill of Four Oaks, N.C., and Bud Kenny of Virginia Beach, Va. Eric Sartin of Kermit, W.Va., making his first SMS start of the year, pitted during the caution period, giving up the fifth spot.

The third yellow flag waved on lap 52 when sixth-place Jim Williams of Chesapeake spun in Turns 1 and 2.

Back under green, Godsey fashioned a narrow, one-car-length edge, gradually extending it to three lengths as Warren began to slip up the track off the corners.

The field was bunched when the fourth and final caution flag flew on lap 90.

On the last restart, Godsey, once again, grabbed a slim lead, then methodically pulled away. At the finish, he was the winner by 0.510-second — about 2-1/2 car-lengths.

Warren was second to the line, followed by Butler, Caudill and Sartin, who returned from his mid-race pitstop to make his way back into the top five.

For Godsey, who was disqualified after the May 18 event for refusing the post-race inspection and, subsequently, received a two-race suspension, the victory was his fourth in the six races since his return to action. He placed second in the other two events.

In Victory Lane following Friday’s race, Godsey commented on his race-long duel with Warren: “Phil was tough all night. That’s all we had. We were going as hard as we could go. Just lucky to stay up (in) front of Phil. He’s a great competitor, drives clean. Enjoyed racing with him.”

Looking over the top-five finishers, Godsey remarked, “That field, right there, could sit in the top-five at Martinsville.”

Beginning with Friday’s event, SMS’s redraw rule has been modified. For the rule to kick in now, a driver must win two in a row AND set the fast time for the next race. The change was of little concern to Godsey, though: “I really doesn’t matter. It’s nice sitting on the pole. It’s nice picking up the extra $100. But, I’d much rather be standing here (in Victory Lane).”

After working to get his car dialed in, Warren was pleased with his runner-up effort: “We had a lot of brake problems in practice and we finally got ‘em worked out. We were too loose and we probably tightened the car up a little too much for the race. We still had a good run. Second’s no bad. Congratulate Doug — he was killing ‘em tonight.”

Asked about his ability to close in on Godsey during the race, Warren indicated that he thought the leader was holding a little something in reserve: “I think he speeded up every time I got that close.”

Third-place Butler had a practice problem of his own: “I’ve got to thank this whole team. We had a little incident in practice — kinda got put in the fence. Kinda put us behind. Lucky we finished third. We’re gonna come back next week real strong, hopefully, (and) see if we can run with these guys straight up.”

In the division standings, Butler retained the lead with his third-place performance. Godsey, though, took over second place from Shearin and is only four points behind Butler (544-540). Shearin, who ended up 15th, has suffered two rough outings in a row after six straight top-five runs and has slipped 28 points behind Butler.

Race Results
Friday, July 27, 2001 - GoRacing Night

   LATE MODEL STOCK CARS - 100 laps

1.  Doug Godsey - Richmond, Va., 100
2.  Phil Warren - Norfolk, Va., 100
3.  Brandon Butler - Richmond, Va., 100
4.  Jamey Caudill - Four Oaks, N.C., 100
5.  Eric Sartin - Kermit, W.Va., 100
6.  Bud Kenny - Virginia Beach, Va., 100
7.  Terry Allison - South Mills, N.C., 100
8.  Bob Shreeves - Chesapeake, Va., 100
9.  Jim Williams - Chesapeake, Va., 100
10. Neil McClanan - Moyock, N.C., 98
11. W.T. Curd III - Chesterfield, Va., 98
12. Duane Shreeves - Chesapeake, Va., 88
13. Richard Jarvis - Ocean City, Md., 82
14. Andy Bell - Norfolk, Va., 47
15. Mike Shearin - Emporia, Va., 47
16. Mike Conner - Gloucester, Va., 46
17. Jimmy Adkins - Chesapeake, Va., 45
18. Max Smith - Roanoke Rapids, N.C., 45
19. Jammie Goode - Hampton, Va., 35
20. Buck Godsey - Richmond, Va., 2
• Pole: Bell - via redraw among the
   top-6 qualifiers.
• Fast Qualifier: D. Godsey - 95.579 mph.
• Hard Luck Award: Shearin.
• Hard Charger Award: McClanan.