Story by: Andy Marquis/Contributor to RACE22.com

Manassas, VA(July 30, 2011) — When the big money is on the line, Mike Darne knows how to get the job done. On Saturday Night, Darne dominated the Youth For Tomorrow 150 en route to victory for the second time in the second running of the race. David Polenz came home in second and Dustin Storm finished third. Several NASCAR superstars ran in Saturday’s race and one of the largest crowds of the season fought the oppressive heat all day and night to enjoy some throwback racing at Old Dominion.

After an inversion, Andy Lally started the race on the pole but fell victim quickly to Doug Liberman. Liberman led several laps but was overtaken by Darne on lap 41. Darne led every lap from there and won the race for the second straight year.

“We weren’t as good as we were last year,” Darne said. “We had enough to win it. Spotter on the radio kept me calm as much as he could because the car kept getting looser and looser. I’m just glad to be in victory lane again, this is an awesome race. I want to thank everyone for the hard work they’ve done.”

“We had a good enough car in the long run to get to him, but we just didn’t have enough to pass him,” Polenz said. “We got right there, he was hugging the bottom really well. He wasn’t blocking, I just couldn’t get around him. He gave me tons of room. There was not much I could’ve done to make the car better. I should’ve started ten or fifteen laps sooner so I could pressure him a little bit.”

Darne was the fastest qualifier but an inversion of the top six starters landed Andy Lally on the pole. Lally was retired from the race after an early wreck with Brandon Brown and a couple of other drivers. Defending track champion and championship contender Adam Brenner fell out early due to mechanical problems. By virtue of his second place run, David Polenz grabbed the points lead by 29 points over Brenner.

The race was run by Joe Gibbs’ “Youth For Tomorrow” charities, with proceeds benefiting the charity. Darne’s win was officially his fifth win of the season.

Due to the extreme heat, there was a halfway period at lap 75 for the drivers to cool off and make minor adjustments to their cars. The heat was the big story throughout the day as record temperatures baked Manassas. The high reached 102 degrees and the heat index was well above 115 degrees. The excessive heat actually caused many people to stay home from the race that sold out last year.

Results:
1 – Mike Darne
2 – David Polenz
3 – Dustin Storm
4 – Doug Liberman
5 – Willard Lawrence
6 – Dave Daniels
7 – Mike Skinner
8 – Billy Ingle
9 – Mike Southard
10 – Johnny Benson
11 – Ron Hornaday
12 – Jason Schulz
13 – Davey Callihan
14 – Brandon Brown
15 – Jason Smith
16 – C.J. Faison
17 – Mike Watson
18 – Max Papis
19 – Curtis Markham
20 – Andy Lally
21 – Adam Brenner
22 – Les Miranda
23 – Sterling Marlin
24 – Rusty Poland
25 – John Mosby
26 – Max Smith