David Triplett sweeps pair of 75-lap races, Peters claims division crown

By TIM CHANDLER
C-T Sports Editor

ROUGEMONT – David Triplett, Jr. was unbeatable Saturday night, but Timothy Peters was uncatchable.

In a race against time with Mother Nature, Orange County Speedway officials managed to get in twin 75-lap races for the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series Late Model Stock Car Division before rain washed out the remainder of the program.

The two races for the featured attractions of the Home Headquarters and Morgan Dodge-Jeep with Gatorade Night.

Triplett, who resides in Durham, continued his late-season surge by earning the pole position for both events and claiming victories in each of the races.

Timothy Peters of Providence managed runner-up performances in each race to lock up the track championship.

The pair of second-place showings, however, left Peters just shy of winning the Southeastern Coastal Region crown, which was claimed by Southern National Speedway’s Jamey Caudill, according to a NASCAR.com report posted Tuesday night.

Peters amassed 820 points at OCS to easily defeat Triplett’s second-place tally of 706, however, he was edged for the regional crown by Caudill.

"I’m happy to win the championship here at Orange County," Peters, who could not be reached for comment Tuesday night, said Saturday. "No matter what happens, we’ve had a good season."

Triplett, who ended the points campaign with three straight victories, vaulted from third place in the final standings into the runner-up spot.

"I know that (Peters) is out here running for a regional championship, but we’re running for wins," Triplett pointed out. "I can’t say enough about this team, the way they worked to get a good car under me these last few races."

Ronald Hill of Rougemont finished third in both races and climbed to sixth place in the final standings, just 10 points behind fifth-place finishing Ryan Gray of Raleigh.

Veteran driver Maurice Hill, the father of Ronald, posted a pair of fourth-place finishes in the two 20-car fields to cap off his late-season return to action.

Deac McCaskill of Benson rounded out the top five drivers in the first race, while Efland’s Bentley Cecil claimed fifth place in the second race.

McCaskill finished third in the division’s final standings, 38 points behind Triplett and 38 ahead of fourth-place Wayne Grubb of Mechanicsville, Va.

In the opening race, Gray finished in the sixth position, followed by Chris Herndon of Durham in seventh place and fellow Durham driver Josh Baker in the eighth spot.

Chad Mason of Richmond, Va. grabbed ninth place, while Tom Raley of North Beach, Md. rounded out the top 10 performers.

Gray was also the sixth-place finisher in the second 75-lap race, followed by Mason in the seventh slot and Chuck Lawson of Providence in eighth place.

Baker was ninth in the nightcap, while Mike Frate of Durham rounded out the top 10 performers in the event.

Barry Beggarly of Pelham wound up seventh in the division’s final point standings, just four points ahead of Mason in the eighth spot. Beau Foust of Charlotte was ninth in the final division tally, while Frate grabbed the 10th spot.

Beggarly, who was involved in a first-lap incident in the first race, wound up 18th in that race. He followed that performance with a 14th-place place showing in the nightcap.