NASCAR Whelen All-American Series
at Langley Speedway – Hampton, VA
Poquoson Night
Race Report By: Gary Daughtrey
Saturday, October 2, 2010
HAMPTON, Va. (Oct. 2) — Robbie Babb moved out front on lap 57 and motored on to a very popular victory in the Poquoson 75 for the Rolling Thunder Modified Tour, the featured event of Saturday evening’s NASCAR Whelen All-American Series program at Langley Speedway. It was the first win at the track for Babb, who has competed in various divisions for over 20 years.
Series points leader Joe Scarbrough set the pace in afternoon time trials, lapping the .395-mile oval at 85.947 mph. Trevor Edwards was second-fastest and lined up alongside Scarbrough on Row 1. A.J. Winstead and Babb occupied Row 2, while Chris Hoylman and Jimmy Humblet launched from Row 3.
As the race got under way, Scarbrough led the charge as the inside line bolted ahead. Winstead, seeking his fourth straight series win, emerged in second, followed by Hoylman, Michael Leech and Hunter Slayton. Babb and Humblet slipped to sixth and seventh, respectively, and Edwards dropped all the way to eighth.
In the early going, Scarbrough maintained a slim edge over Winstead. As the laps clicked off, though, he began to ease away. For much of the first green-flag run, which lasted until lap 38, Scarbrough enjoyed a four- or five-length advantage.
Behind the leaders, Babb was on the move. After falling to sixth on the start, he quickly tracked down the top five. He grabbed fifth from Slayton on lap 9, nosed ahead of Leech for fourth on lap 17 and overtook Hoylman for third on lap 22. Within a couple more circuits, he had caught up to Winstead.
The first yellow flag waved on lap 38 when Leech spun in Turn 3. During the caution period, Edwards pulled into the pits, retiring to a 12th-place finish.
Back under green, Scarbrough fashioned a three-length lead, while Winstead and Babb renewed their tussle for second. Just a couple laps later, however, Winstead and Babb settled down and began to trim Scarbrough’s margin.
The second yellow flag flew on lap 42 when Greg Burgess Jr. spun in Turn 1.
When the race resumed, Scarbrough opened a two-length advantage, only to see Winstead gobble up the ground. Babb, meanwhile, rode three lengths behind Winstead, content to enjoy a front-row seat for the time being.
Scarbrough continued to hold Winstead at bay until lap 46 when he bobbled ever so slightly off Turn 2. Winstead spotted the slip and pounced, driving underneath the leader in Turns 3 and 4.
Winstead inched ahead to take his first lead on lap 47, while Scarbrough battled back on lap 49. On lap 50, Winstead moved back atop the leaderboard and he cleared Scarbrough on lap 52. Babb rushed to fill the void to the inside of Scarbrough and the two dueled for a lap before Scarbrough regained command of the runner-up spot.
The complexion of the event took a couple of wild swings on lap 57. First, Winstead, up by three lengths, was victimized by a terminal engine problem off Turn 4 and spun in his own oil, bringing out the third yellow flag and handing the lead back to Scarbrough. Then, as the field circulated under caution, Scarbrough suddenly made the hard left turn into the pits, felled by mechanical gremlins of his own.
As the field bunched for a restart, Babb found himself in the top spot, followed by Hoylman, Anthony Kincaid, Leech and Joed Bruce.
Back under way, Babb leaped out to a three-length lead over Hoylman, who had his hands full with Kincaid. The battle for second played in the leader’s favor as Babb was easily able to maintain his advantage.
Nearing the finish, Hoylman finally broke away from Kincaid. He could make little headway against Babb in the closing laps, though, as the leader sped on to the checkers.
At the finish, Babb’s margin of victory was 0.749-second — about four lengths — over Hoylman. Kincaid was third, followed Slayton and Leech. Bruce came home in sixth, while Chris Brown was seventh, the final driver on the lead lap. Scarbrough and Winstead were credited with eighth and ninth, in that order, and Burgess completed the top 10.
After the race, Babb reflected on the years of effort and toil that finally yielded a trip to Victory Lane: “It’s pretty unbelievable. I’ve been around this racetrack a long time. A lot of work, a lot of money, a lot of dedication on these other guys’ part. I’m kinda speechless right now. We got a late start on the year. We started out the first couple of races running our Late Model and realized we didn’t have the money and the resources to do that with the other guys, so we just had to back up and do something a little different and it’s worked out well. We worked our butt off to get it to this point and I’m glad it’s starting to pay off.”
In his post-race comments, runner-up Hoylman remarked on the advantages of seat time at the track: “I’ve been running some of these regular shows here (for the track’s own B&C Seafood Mods) and nothing beats laps around here. The more you run, the better you get. I’d like to congratulate Robbie on his first win in Modifieds. That’s pretty cool. I don’t know. Other than that one caution, they were all blowing up motors. I kept waiting for Robbie’s to go, but it didn’t go. But, it’s all good. I’ll take it.”
Third-place Kincaid, a veteran dirt-tracker, noted that he felt right at home when the cleanup crew spread copious amounts of “kitty litter” after Winstead’s engine problem: “Thought I was gonna be glad to see the dirt get on the track, ‘cause that’s where we come from, but it didn’t really help us that much. I’d just like to thank my dad. He stuck right by me. We’ve got this thing from a bare chassis to what it is now and, for its first day at the track today and to finish third, I’m just tickled to death with it.”
Following Saturday night’s race, the series will take a few weeks off before the 2010 season finale, slated for Saturday, Oct. 30, at the historic North Wilkesboro Speedway.
Results:
1. 44 Robert Babb
2. 37 Chris Hoylman
3. 77 Hunter Slayton
4. 5 Mike Leech
5. 77x Joed Bruce
6. 6 Chris Brown
7. 93 Joe Scarbrough
8. 99 AJ Winstead
9. 18 Greg Burgess Jr.
10. 0 Wayne Hartley
11. 32 Trevor Edwards
12. 11 Jimmy Humblet
13. 1 Anthony Kincaid
