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NASCAR Goody's Dash Series Cook's Moving Service 100: Sockwell Wins Again

18 August 1997

                    SOCKWELL MAKES IT TWO IN A ROW


HAMPTON, VA - Brian Sockwell, of Brown Summit, N.C. fought off the hard 
charging B.J. Mackey from Rock Hill, S.C. in this week's Cook's Moving 
Service 100 for the NASCAR Goody's Dash Series at Langley Speedway in Hampton,
Va. to claim his fourth victory in the 1997 season and his second win in as
many races for the Cleaver Brooks/C&C Boiler Pontiac Sunfire. Sockwell, who
has a reputation for turning it on when the TV cameras are on did just that,
and thrilled the sold out grandstand crowd and the national TV audience with a
picture perfect performance.

Starting the 100-lap feature from the pole, his fourth this season, Sockwell
led 75 of the 104 total laps, relinquishing the lead only one time to Mackey
for 29 laps through the middle 1/3 of the race. "B.J. gave me all I wanted in
this one." said Sockwell. "It got real slick there towards the end. I don't
know if it was the track changing or if the car just got real loose, but I
could see the 71 car closing in. I was ready for this one to be over."

Mackey's last lap charge for the lead almost resulted in his unsponsored
Pontiac Sunfire spinning as the two leaders exited turn four and charged
towards the checkers. But the young driver was able to recover to hold on to
his second-place spot. "We're real pleased with the run." Mackey said, after
the race. We qualified second and finished second. All in all, it was a good
run for the team. We really needed to have a good showing here because we're
still running on a race-to-race budget. This will really help."

Behind Sockwell and Mackey, Will Hobgood, Charles Powell III and Ned Combs
rounded out the top five in the Cook's Moving Service 100. Hobgood, suffering
the effects of the heat and still recovering from some soreness resulting from
a hard crash one week earlier at Myrtle Beach, had to be assisted from his
Wynn's Pontiac following the event but was checked out and given the okay by
track safety personnel. "I'm just still real tender from the Myrtle Beach
incident with Monk (Gulledge)." said Hobgood. "We've been so busy at the shop,
I just haven't had time to take it easy and let things heal. We've got a week
off now before Summerville, so we'll be fine." 

Sockwell's win here at Langley ties him with Mike Swaim, Jr. in the wins column
with four victories each in 1997 and significantly closes the gap between
himself and Swaim in the race for this year's national championship points
battle. Swaim, who had been a serious challenger in the early portion of this
race broke the ratchet in the rear end of his No. 28 Cook's Moving Service
Pontiac near the half way point causing the bright red and silver Sunfire to
fade back through the field eventually finishing seventh. 

Two young drivers making big gains in this event were Jimmy Gross of Bowling
Green, Ky. and Matthew Barnes of Wesminster, Md. who was making his first ever
start in a NASCAR Goody's Dash Series cockpit. Gross worked his way from his
15th starting position to eventually finish ninth, but it was Barnes who
picked off the most positions during the race. Coming from his 22nd starting
spot, Barnes worked his way nicely through the traffic to finish just outside
the top ten, in 12th. 

Jon Redman of Fairfax Station, Va. was another driver who was having a good
run, before a bump and spin incident between himself and Robert Huffman of
Claremont, N.C. drew the attention of the NASCAR officials and resulted in
Redman sitting out two laps on pit road. Prior to the incident, Redman had
been moving up steadily from his 13th starting position and had been running
fifth when the incident occurred. The No. 45 Redman's Fleet Services Pontiac
eventually finished 11th, two laps off the leaders.

The NASCAR Goody's Dash Series teams will take a week off before heading to
Summerville Speedway in Summerville, S.C. for the re-scheduled Sky Fire
Weekend. This race was previously scheduled to be run July 5, 1997 but was
postponed to the Labor Day weekend date because of the weather. Promoter,
Charley Powell will provide the fire in the sky with his always, spectacular
fireworks display and the NASCAR Goody's Dash Series regulars will be
providing the hot track action.

By NASCAR Public Relations