Greg Edwards Gets to Start on the Pole at Langley Speedway
August 12, 2006 By: Karla Watkins, Edwards Motorsports Hampton, VA NASCAR Dodge Weekly Racing Series At many tracks around the nation, qualifying on the pole and starting on the pole are considered basically the same thing. But at Langley Speedway, the driver who qualifies on the pole rarely ever gets to start on the pole. Out of fifteen races, Greg Edwards has qualified on the pole seven times and only been allowed to start on the pole twice due to a non-redraw race night - once for the first race of the season and once due to a rain delay and the drivers started in the order of track points standings. Out of the five remaining races that Greg qualified on the pole; Greg was spun once to eighth, once to seventh, and the last three times to sixth. Tonight’s re-draw would change his luck. Greg qualified third for tonight’s 75 Lap Race and the re-draw inverted him to start on the pole for the first time this season. During time trials, Danny Edwards qualified 4th which was not effected by the wheel spin for the invert. Before the start, the Crossroads Fuels Late Models were lined up down pit road and the engines were cut for little Emma Fair and her friends to announce “gentleman, start your engines” in celebration of her 7th birthday. Emma is the daughter of Bruce and Denise Fair, owners of Tom’s Snacks Fair Distributing; an Edwards Motorsports sponsor. The engines roared and the late models made their way onto the track for the start. On the start, Greg shot out front to take the lead as Danny stayed on the outside for two laps. By the second lap, Danny found his way into the line and ducked into the fifth position as he made his way into turn 3 on the third lap. By lap 15, the 21 of Anthony Warren started to make his way under Greg and cleared him on the backstretch putting Greg in second. Four laps later and the 40 of Mark Wertz came knocking at the door of the 27 and Greg stayed door-to-door with Wertz until they made their way into the next lap and on the backstretch, Wertz shot out ahead. One more lap around and the 48 of Shawn Balluzzo came under the 26 of Danny Edwards for fifth. Two laps later the 01 of Jeff Shiflett made his way under the 26 putting Danny in seventh. Four laps later and 29 of Casey Wyatt made his way past the 27, two laps later and Balluzzo was under the 27 putting Greg to fifth. By this point, the Edwards brothers were both calling in to the crew. Greg’ s car was running hot temps and Danny’s car was spraying a trail of sparks as he made his way around the track. Danny’s 26 had a right front tire blow out and Greg’s 27 was running way too tight to get down in the corners. The caution flag was thrown as Danny brought the 26 into his crew for repairs. The 26 went to the pits for a quick tire change and went back out before the restart. The green flag flew and Danny started to make his way from the rear of the field. By lap 39, Greg was still running fifth and Danny had made his way to tenth. On lap 46, Shiflett gave the 27 a tap to the rear and the 27 pulled away, one lap later and Shiflett made another bump to the 27, yet another lap and Shiflett was tapping the 27 again. Greg pulled the 27 high to let Shiflett by but Shiflett couldn’t hold him off on the front-stretch. Greg shot ahead as he dove into turn 1 and Shiflett ducked behind. On lap 59, Danny made his way under the 01 of Shiflett in turn 2. Shiflett stayed beside the Danny for two laps but the 26 charged ahead as he made his way to sixth. Three laps later and Greg was making his way under the 48 of Balluzzo in turn 4. Balluzzo shot ahead as they made their way onto the front-stretch. Greg made one last attempt to pass the 48 as he dove down to the apron. The 48 was now separating the two brothers. Greg now running fourth and Danny in sixth. Five laps to go and Greg was making his way to take third from Wertz. The 27 came under the 40 and they ran side-by-side for three laps until the 40 shot ahead. One more lap and Greg made his way under the 40 once more. The two were battling it out for third as they came through the turns. Wertz pulled ahead just as they entered the finish line with Greg’s 27 nose at the door of the 40. The Edwards brothers finished with Greg 4th and Danny 6th however, post race inspections determined illegal parts on the 21 of Anthony Warren (finished 1st) and Shawn Balluzzo (finished 5th). With the first and fifth place cars disqualified, this moved up the Edwards Brothers to (Greg) third and (Danny) fourth. Consistently finishing in the top 5 continues to pay off for the Edwards brothers. Danny and Greg are still in 2nd and 3rd (respectively) for the official track’s point standings. There are fifteen races on the board and the last point’s race on October 7th; that leaves only seven races to go for the Track Championship. It is truly an honor for the Edwards Family to be a part of racing at Langley Speedway! We hope you will all join us for the exciting events planned for this upcoming weekend. For complete details on the upcoming event, please visit their “Welcome Page” and “Top News” at: www.langley-speedway.com. We thank the fans of “Saturday Night Racing” at Langley Speedway. Many thanks to the Edwards Motorsports Crew Members and a very special “thank you” to all of our Sponsors!