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Wayne Grubb Wins Late Model Event at the Summer Fever 260

Story by Tom Ham

KENLY N.C. _ A Pikeville/Goldsboro-area trio led a parade of five drivers to Victory Lane in the Summer Fever 260 auto racing program at Southern National Speedway on Saturday night.

Mark Howell of Pikeville completed the procession by seizing the 75-lap Pro Trucks finale from the pole. Jamie Mozingo of Pikeville led off with his third 2001 Stock Look-Alike triumph, and John Whaley of Goldsboro raced to the Super Stock checkered flag.

Also triumphant were Wayne Grubb of Richmond, Va., in Late Model Stock and Mike Stodder of Raleigh in Four-Cylinder Stock.

Grubb, in a Monte Carlo, charged to the 100-lap Late Model Stock checkered flag after starting 13th. Grubb wound up second in his 2001 debut two weeks earlier. By the 52nd lap, the 24-year-old Grubb had zoomed to the fourth spot. At lap 63, he owned third. Then came a caution at lap 70 and, on lap 72, Grubb took over second.

Six laps later, the front-running Taurus of Four Oaks’ Jamey Caudill exited with a broken panhard bar. Caudill had raced out front since the green flag fell.

“It broke my heart,” Grubb said of Caudill’s fate. “It would have been a race to the finish. We were coming strong and were looking forward to racing him hard at the end.”

Grubb endured an early skirmish, bringing his racer to the pits and having his crew pull the fender off a tire.

“The car was really good,” Grubb said. “We knew we had a fast race car and just had to take our time.”

Lucas grinded to the runner-up finish and to the division points lead despite the hood of his Monte Carlo being crumpled in an early-race tangle.

“That wasn’t bad,” Lucas said of his effort. “As long as my radiator wasn’t leaking and I had four tires, I wasn’t coming in. I got in a little skirmish to start with, but that is to be expected. I didn’t have anything for anybody; I don’t know how we finished second.”

Lucas worked around the Monte Carlo of Raleigh’s Tony Grady late and held onto second. Grady settled for third after winning the previous race. Grady was also involved in the early-race incident.

He blamed his impatience after the wreck and said, “we gave the race away. We knocked the tow-in out. But, under the circumstances, third was pretty good.”

Completing the top five, respectively, were Steve Mendenhall of Clayton in a Grand Prix and Chad Watkins of Angier in a Monte Carlo.

While Whaley celebrated his first Southern National win since 1993, Mozingo appeared in Victory Lane _ without his car. His Camaro bordered with overheating and, after taking the checkered flag, Mozingo steered it directly to the garage.

Whaley was joined by Grubb as drivers that previously competed at higher NASCAR levels. Whaley raced in the Goody’s Dash Series and Grubb’s background includes Busch Grand National and Craftsman Trucks experience.

Grubb, Stodder and Howell were also first-time winners this season.

Saturday night’s outcomes also resulted in a couple of shifts in the points standings. With a runner-up finish, Wilson’s Billy Ray Lucas claimed the Late Model Stock lead, while Pikeville’s Linwood Mozingo, the father of Jamie Mozingo, grabbed the Pro Trucks top spot.

Jamie Mozingo, the Stock Look-Alike points leader, took over the lead on the 22nd of 25 laps and held off Goldsboro’s Scott Davis in a Camaro. Davis, who started on the outside pole, assumed the point on lap 10.

Mozingo suggested another five-plus laps would have been too many.

“The temperature got up to 255 degrees,” Mozingo said following his 42nd career win. “If it had gotten to 260, I needed to bring it in. These motors cost so much money. I would have probably come in with about eight laps left, but it was running so good.

“This (win) was a little tougher than most. We didn’t know what was going to happen. We just decided to get out there and do the best we could. It actually turned out to be pretty good.”

Davis didn’t mask his disappointment and frustration.

“My car didn’t work on the high side,” he said. “It was a little tight and I couldn’t get into the corners good. He (Mozingo) was quick enough he could get away from me.”

Of the battle for the lead, Davis said, “he bumped me once. I got into the loose stuff and couldn’t get back in a groove.”

Junior Mewborn of LaGrange finished third in a Monte Carlo, trailed, respectively, by Muriel Brock of Grantham in a Camaro and Andy Carter of Zebulon in a Camaro.

In the caution-marred Pro Trucks feature, Howell beat Goldsboro’s John Jones to the stripe in a dash of Fords to register his first top finish since 1999. Howell and Jones, who started on the outside pole, raced bumper-to-bumper early, during the race’s middle portion and in the last 10 laps.

“John and all those cautions gave me a fit,” Howell said. “But he ran me clean. We don’t usually have but two or three cautions. They (track workers) were taking their time. They tried to make it late.”

Howell was forced to race hard by the exhausted Jones.

“I tried everything I could do but touch him,” Jones said. “I didn’t want to touch him. I was better than him for about three laps, then he was better than me. We used up the tires, but when the we got the cautions, the tires cooled down. We are happy to bring it home second. Mark needed a win just as bad as we did.”

This is great _ we needed it,” Howell said. “We have worked hard and spent a lot of money. The truck was the best it has been all year. We were just being careful and got good take-offs on the restarts.”

Hearing-impaired driver Tony Cooper of Coats registered his second career third-place finish at SNS in a Ford, followed, respectively, by David Clark of Raleigh and Steve Tart of Garner in Chevrolets.

The 38-year-old Whaley prevailed in the same Grand Prix in which he last won in 1993. A racer since age 7, Whaley set the Super Stock pace from start to finish. His mindset was guarding against fading late. That occurrence cost him the win in his last SNS race.

“I changed my driving style about every five laps,” Whaley said. “After the tires got hot, a found a rhythm, found a line. We just fine-tuned it and the track came to us. I used the banking to help me get momentum. We were dead-on the last of the race. We finally got the total package.”

Wilson’s Gary Gardner strengthened his points lead with a solid second-place run after starting third in his Camaro.

“We didn’t tear anything up _ you know I’m satisfied,” Gardner said with a grin. “We want to win, but you’ve got to be consistent to win the points. You’ve got to be consistent. We’re going to be there at the end.”

Raleigh’s Mark McDaniels posted a season-best showing of third in the division’s only Camaro.

“The last couple of weeks, we have been doing pretty good,” McDaniels said. “We have spent a lot of money and we have been getting better and better. We are tickled to death.”

Gary Davis of Kinston salvaged fourth in a Grand Prix, followed by Stacey Pate of Pikeville in a Monte Carlo.

Stodder became SNS’s first Four-Cylinder winner other than Goldsboro’s Andy Smith after seven races. Smith wound up fourth.

Stodder, in a Mustang, seized the lead on the third lap and stayed third. He was being challenged by not only pole sitter Matt Fitzgerald of Selma, but also Smith and Roy Creech of Clayton when Smith’s Toyota tapped Creech’s Mustang on lap 12 and sent it spinning.

Both drivers were sent to the rear of the lead lap and, from 15th, Smith charged to fourth.

The 25-lapper marked the implementation of a rule requiring division cars to weigh a minimum of 2200 pounds. Thus, 100 pounds were added to the Toyotas.

As runner-up Fitzgerald participated in a postrace interview, Smith rushed onto the scene and shouted to Fitzgerald, “tell them (crowd) that they penalized me.”

“I wish they wouldn’t have done that,” Stodder said of the rule change. “It casts a shadow on what we did. We would have gotten him (Smith) either way. We have been so close all year and we kept trying and trying. We made two calls, and both worked out great.”

Fitzgerald notched his best SNS finish after celebrating his first pole.

“We are still working on it,” Fitzgerald said of his Mustang. “We have been at the track at least one day each of the last four weeks. We picked up a push toward the end and we had a fourth-place car until those two (Smith and Creech) in front of me got to doing their thing. But that’s racing.”

Mike Bridgers of Goldsboro wound up third in a Toyota, with John Smith of Raleigh fifth. Wilson’s Al Lane crossed the stripe third, but his Pinto was disqualified for the second straight race.

Racing resumes next Saturday night with Lee Motor Company Four-Cylinder, Foss Auto Salvage Stock Look-Alike, Super Stock, Late Model Stock and Late Model Sportsman features in the Summer Sizzler 285 program.