Davin Scites credits some of his success at Motor Mile Speedway this season to a familiar yet unlikely source: Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Scites, who out-dueled heavyweight Philip Morris on Saturday to become the track's second repeat Late Model winner of the year, is a resident of Cleveland, N.C., where Earnhardt lives.

Last summer, Nextel Cup's most popular driver invited Scites to move his Late Model team into the shop in nearby Mooresville where Earnhardt's JR Motorsports housed its Busch, Late Model and Hooters Pro Cup programs.

"He said, 'Hey, use my shop' and helped my guys out and just took me in," Scites said.

When JR Motorsports relocated 15 minutes away to a new 66,000-square-foot complex this year, Scites stayed at the old facility. But he's remained connected to Earnhardt, who occasionally visits the former JR Motorsports building.

"You hear stories about Dale and the good things he does, but it's unbelievable," Scites said, noting that he received congratulations from Earnhardt for Saturday's win.

"Man, I just can't thank him enough," Scites added. "He's a true racer and really cares about the short track guys."

Unlike many Late Model drivers, Scites, 31, doesn't have a day job, which makes winning purses all the more important. Before moving into JR Motorsports, the Wayne, W.Va., native struggled at times to afford an apartment and a race shop.

"I just couldn't do it," he said.

In 2004, Scites was one of seven drivers featured on "The Drive," a Country Music Television series about local short track racers who take financial and personal risks in hopes of reaching the higher levels of NASCAR.

He later met Earnhardt, who learned of Scites through the CMT program. The two now speak regularly.

"It's great to have someone like that to ask questions," Scites said.

Although he doesn't compete for JR Motorsports, Scites called the possibility of driving for the company something "that I hear a lot."

In the meantime, he's flying the logo of Earnhardt's operation on his Late Model car.

"I just put it on there to say thanks to him," Scites said. "I wanted to put that on the back of the car and he was fine with that. It just shows people how much he gives back to racers and the good he's doing for the sport."

Wild finish

Derrick Lancaster appeared to be headed for his ninth triumph in 10 Limited Sportsman outings on Saturday at Motor Mile.

Then trouble erupted.

Leading during a second attempt at a green-white-checkered finish, the Christiansburg driver lost the top spot off turn 2 when his Chevrolet wiggled after a nudge from eventual winner Mike Looney. Before Lancaster could regain control, he spun from contact with Terry Lawson. Lancaster, a 2005 division champ, finished seventh.

"There's a lot of people at Motor Mile that I have a lot of respect for but there's two people at Motor Mile Speedway right now that I don't have a bit of respect for," Lancaster said, referring to Looney and Lawson.

"I'm not going to give them an inch of room."

With the win, Looney claimed a $700 bounty the speedway had offered to any driver who could beat Lancaster.

"He came up to me after the race and said he had to do what he had to do," Lancaster said.

"I hope that $700 is good for him because I'm going to race people the way they race me."

Back to form

After seeing his points lead become a sizeable deficit during a string of four straight finishes outside the top five, Tink Reedy placed fourth in Saturday's Late Model race at Motor Mile.

The veteran driver is optimistic about the final month of the season.

"We've been doing this for so long," Reedy said. "The only way to get yourself out of a slump is to keep digging and work that much harder."

Reedy now is second behind points leader Morris.

Those were the only spots in the top 10 in the Late Model points standings at Motor Mile that did not change Saturday.