Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 23, 1992 TAG: 9203230116
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: MARTINSVILLE LENGTH: Medium
The 43-year-old Rocky Mount driver, a three-time victor at Martinsville in the 1970s, rediscovered his winning touch at the Henry County oval Sunday by winning the 200-lap Modified portion of the Miller 500 tripleheader.
"This is my home race track, so it's great to win one here," Worley said. "I've been coming here since 1970, but I've never been able to win of these 200-lappers. That makes this one particularly satisfying."
Worley inherited the lead when front-runner Tom Baldwin encountered problems on lap 140 and never surrendered en route to a victory in the Modified tour's season opener.
"What a way to start the year!" said Worley, who averaged 67.208 mph for the 105.2-mile trip.
"Everything went according to plan except for losing the power steering about 50 laps into the race," Worley said. "We've run good here over the years, but since I've been driving for Bob [Gabarino, his car owner] this has been our worst race track."
One never would have known it Sunday. After taking the lead, Worley pretty much had things his way.
"I could tell from the first practice [Thursday] that we had something different we hadn't had before here," Worley said. "I was beginning to wonder if I had lost touch with this place. I guess I haven't."
Worley's Chevrolet zipped to the finish line 1.5 seconds ahead of runner-up Wayne Anderson of Yaphank, N.Y. Northeners Rick Fuller, Doug Heveron and Baldwin rounded out the top five.
Like the estimated 7,500 spectators who braved a combination of snow, rain, sleet and cold, Worley said he left Rocky Mount on Sunday morning seeing white.
"It was snow everywhere," he said. "I didn't figure we'd run."
Hours later, he was seeing green. The victory was worth $12,100.
"It's a nice one to win," Worley said. "It's great, but as far as Modifieds go, I'll never win one bigger than last year's Race of Champions [at Pocono, Pa.]. It took me 19 years to win that one."
Sunday's race was slowed by 11 yellow flags covering 61 laps. The most serious crash came on lap 191, when Reggie Ruggiero slammed the wall between turns 3 and 4. The right-front tire off Ruggiero's car flew over the wall, but no one was injured.
\ In the Late Model Stock Car portion of the tripleheader, Dennis Setzer led a North Carolina sweep of the top five spots and won the 100-lap race.
Setzer, of Newton, N.C., took the lead on lap 82 when leaders Johnny Rumley and Mike Buffkin tangled, and he drove away to what he called his "biggest Late Model victory ever."
Setzer, a 32-year-old truck driver, won $4,125 for his first Martinsville win. He averaged 63.822 mph for the 52.6-mile race.
"I had a good a car as Johnny and Mike, but it would have been tough to win if they hadn't had the problem. It certainly improved my chances," Setzer said.
Five-time speedway winner and pole-sitter Curtis Markham finished sixth.
Ronnie Thomas of Christiansburg paced the area contingent with an 11th-place finish.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB