Story by: Mason Dunn ~ mason@RACE22.com
Photos by Bruce Albin/PicYerPhoto

Hampton, VA(June 15, 2010) -- Former USAR Pro Cup standout Woody Howard utilized a late race pass over previous race winner C.E. Falk to return to victory lane at Langley Speedway for the first time since August of 2009 while driving for James Long in the famous red #21.

After qualifying all the talk was about the Edwards brothers as they made up the front row with Greg Edwards winning the pole with a time of 16.066 seconds besting his brother Danny Edwards by a mere 0.016 seconds for the pole. C.E. Falk, Brandon Gdovic and Paul Debolt rounded out the top five after qualifying.

In the opening circuits it was Danny Edwards who would begin to show the way until lap 13 when brother Greg would make a challenge to the inside to take the top spot away. C.E. Falk looked to follow Greg Edwards to the inside but his challenge was denied by Danny Edwards on the exit of turn 4.

The caution flag appeared for the first time of the day on lap 28 as the cars of Dude Gibbs and Duane Shreeves tangled in turns 3 and 4 resulting in Gibbs monster trucking over top the left front of Shreeves and catching a short amount of air time before returning to the pavement hard. Gibbs would be able to continue on but Shreeves would not.

Back under green, Greg Edwards retained the lead over his brother with C.E. Falk following him on the inside dropping Danny Edwards back into the third position. The caution flag would return on lap 30 as Mitch Sarvis spun on entry in turn three collecting Rick Gdovic as they both went sliding into the outside wall.

As the field went back green Falk made his bid for the lead and succeeded off turn 2 moving into the lead for the first time on the night. It quickly became apparent that there was something wrong with the machine of Greg Edwards as he began to fall through the field. As Edwards made his visit to pit road it became apparent that a flat tire was the cause of his woes. His crew would get the tire changed and get Greg back on the track but not before losing a few laps.

As they continued to run under green Falk continued to hold a very slim advantage over Danny Edwards with Paul DeBolt lurking in the shadows in third. But, engine troubles would creep up on DeBolt causing him to be sidelined from the race on lap 42 moving Casey Wyatt into the third spot. Mark Wertz started making his presence known on lap 48 by passing Wyatt for third before catching up to the leaders Falk and Edwards on lap 58.

On lap 61, Wertz began his challenge for second and gained the clear cut advantage over Edwards on lap 63. Lap 76 brought about the third caution flag as Shawn Balluzzo went for a spin off turn 2. The fourth caution wasn't far behind as on the ensuing restart Wertz and Edwards tangled in turn 3 resulting in Edwards making hard contact with the front end on the outside wall. Then on the restart after that the caution appeared for the last time as Wes Falk finally succumbed to a loose race car and went for a full 360 degree spin off turn 2.

On the last restart, C.E. Falk and Casey Wyatt ran first and second but Woody Howard quickly poked his nose into the race taking second away from Wyatt on the exit of turn 4. On lap 79 Howard made his challenge for the lead sticking his nose underneath Falk and running side-by-side for roughly two laps before making the pass on lap 81. From there on out Howard sailed to his first win of the season by just under half a second over Falk with Wertz, Wyatt and Brandon Gdovic rounding out the top five after 100 laps.

"We've been working hard and C.E.'s (Falk) been kicking our butt. I've probably been searching a little too hard. I finally had to get back to basics and keep it simple," said Howard in victory lane. "I appreciate him running me clean. I got into him a little bit, but I knew if I got there I needed to go quick."

With Howard and Falk finishing first and second while the Edwards brothers suffered some misfortune there was a bit of a shake up at the top of the track points standings. Falk moved into the points lead for the first time this season by four points over Greg Edwards. Howard was able to move past Danny Edwards and into third in points, 18 back of leader Falk.

The Crossroads Fuel Late Model Stock division at Langley Speedway will have this coming weekend off before returning on June 26 for another pair of twin 75 lap races.

Official Results
1. #82 Woody Howard
2. #40 C.E. Falk
3. #55 Mark Wertz
4. #29 Casey Wyatt
5. #46 Brandon Gdovic
6. #41 Wes Falk
7. #48 Shawn Balluzzo
8. #84 Joe Gaita
9. #21 Greg Edwards
10. #26 Danny Edwards
11. #06 Dean Shiflett
12. #7 Dude Gibbs
13. #34 Paul DeBolt
14. #88 Mitch Sarvis
15. #64 Rick Gdovic
16. #36 Duane Shreeves
17. #21B Robbie Babb
18. #45 Doug Warren

Top 5 In Points
1. #40 C.E. Falk 416
2. #21 Greg Edwards 412 -4
3. #82 Woody Howard 398 -18
4. #26 Danny Edwards 396 -20
5. #41 Wes Falk 372 -44