Triplett put his Pontiac on the pole and went on to blister the field Saturday night in the Durham Harley Davidson 260 at Orange County Speedway.

In one of the more convincing NASCAR Weekly Racing Series victories this season at OCS, Triplett built a nifty straightaway lead over Timothy Peters through 100 laps.

Though three cautions and several hot tempers came out in the final 25 laps, Triplett wasn’t threatened a bit as he drove away with his second win in three races.

"It’s like we’re back to where we were last year — the car was just flawless," said Triplett, who started on the pole for the sixth time this season. "It started good and stayed good.

"I know that’s not too much fun for the fans, but it’s nice to be up front the whole time."

Triplett’s hooked-up machine didn’t rob the race of all its fun.

After Bo Faust’s wreck brought out a 10-lap caution on the 100th circuit, Deac McCaskill and Ryan Gray didn’t make it a full lap before making contact with each other on the backstretch.

The two cars, who were running in the top five at the time, headed to pit row and collided again when Gray slammed his brakes and caused McCaskill to crash into his bumper.

Gray was black-flagged for the move, and McCaskill parked for the night while a member of his crew hurled a wrench at Gray’s car.

After the race, track officials had to step in to break up a ruckus that broke out near their trailers.

Peters, who pushed his points lead to 48, said the late wrecks and restarts made little difference as he wound up settling for second.

"David had a great car tonight," Peters said.

"Those cautions might have helped cool the tires, but we didn’t have enough for him."

At the end, Wayne Grubb, Ronald Hill and Jason Gullie were the only cars left on the lead lap.

Triplett was all smiles after wild Late Model race at OCS

By TIM CHANDLER C-T Sports Editor

ROUGEMONT – The tempers were about as hot as the humid summer air Saturday night at Orange County Speedway.

A trio of late-race caution periods, along with a pair of earlier incidents, fueled anger among some drivers and crew members in the pits. However, Durham’s David Triplett, Jr. was all smiles.

Triplett started from the pole and led every lap of the 125-lap NASCAR Weekly Racing Series Late Model Stock Car Division event, notching his second win in his past three attempts and his fourth overall for the season.

The race was the featured attraction of the Durham Harley-Davidson 260 presented by Reliable Communications.

Triplett’s late-season surge is reminiscent of a similar dominating feat he pulled off in the closing races at the three-eighths mile asphalt oval last year.

"It’s like we’re back to where we were last year," Triplett said. "The car was just flawless. It started good and stayed good."

Prior to the late-race caution periods, Triplett had opened up a lead of a straight-away over his closest challengers.

"I know that’s not too much fun for the fans," Triplett said. "But, it is nice to be up front the whole time."

Despite getting the aid of the late-race cautions, second-place finisher Timothy Peters of Providence could not track down Triplett’s Pontiac.

"Those cautions may have helped cool the tires down a little bit, but that’s about it," Peters said. "We didn’t have enough for him. David had a great car tonight."

Peters entered the night with a comfortable lead in the division’s season-long points chase and added to that cushion with his second-place finish. Peters’s second-place finish left him second in the Southeastern Region standings, despite a fourth-place finish by Jamey Caudill at Southern National Speedway in Kenly.

Caudill’s CPI rating this week is .8361, just ahead of Peters’ CPI mark of .8302.

Wayne Grubb of Mechanicsville, Va. finished third on the track, but was later disqualified when he refused to allow NASCAR officials to inspect his motor after the race. The officials had decided to inspect the top three finishing rides at the conclusion of the night.

According to NASCAR officials at the track, Grubb refused the inspection for financial reasons.

"He told us that it would cost him more to have his car torn down than he would make," Orange County Speedway Race Director David Painter said. "That was his decision."

Grubb’s decision left him with no points for the night. He remains in second place in the points standings, but is now 94 points behind Peters and just 24 ahead of third-place Triplett.

One of the late-race yellow flags came out on lap 110 when the cars of Deac McCaskill of Benson and Ryan Gray of Raleigh went spinning in the backstretch area when the race went back under the green flag.

After the spin, McCaskill, according to Gray, banged him in the rear of his Chevrolet between turns three and four.

As the two began to head down pit road, Gray locked up his brakes and McCaskill slammed into the back of Gray’s Sandy Stigall-owned ride. Once Gray got his car refired, he headed down pit road and was greeted by an air wrench hurled by McCaskill’s father and crew chief, Boyce.

According to Gray, the wrench just missed entering his car, striking and denting the top of the door area instead.

After investigating the incident, NASCAR officials have decided to levy a $250 fine on Boyce McCaskill for the wrench-throwing incident. An additional $250 will be issued by Orange County Speedway. Also, Boyce McCaskill will be suspended for three weeks from any NASCAR-sanctioned event.

"Through NASCAR, he has been suspended through the September 3, racing weekend," Painter said. "Deac can go and race anywhere he wants to, but Boyce just can’t be his crew chief."

For their parts in the incident, Gray and Deac McCaskill have each been placed on probation through the remainder of the season, according to Painter.

The disqualification of Grubb lifted Ronald Hill of Rougemont to a third-place finish and Jason Gullie of Durham into fourth place as the final driver on the lead lap.

McCaskill and Gray were each on the lead lap prior to their altercation. McCaskill’s ride was parked after the incident and he finished 15th, while Gray was penalized three laps for running a stop sign on pit road and the brake-checking move against McCaskill.

Maurice Hill of Rougemont, who was making his debut for the season at the track, finished fifth, while Chad Mason of Richmond, Va. was sixth. Hill and Mason were each one lap down at the end.

Tom Raley of North Beach, Md. finished seventh, two laps down, followed by Donnie Puryear of Raleigh, who was three laps down at the end, in eighth place.

Bentley Cecil of Efland, who finished in ninth place, was four laps down at the finish, as well as Gray, the 10th-place finisher in the 19-car field.