Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 18, 1993 TAG: 9304180171
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: M.J. DOUGHERTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
RUMLEY WINS NRVS OPENER
Johnny Rumley got through the trouble in front of him Saturday night, then put the rest of the field behind him.The Winston-Salem, N.C., driver led the last 54 laps en route to a nine-second victory in the 100-lap Late Model Stock Car feature in the New River Valley Speedway's season opener.
Rumley inherited the lead on lap 46 of the FM-94 200 when the three drivers in front of him - Jeff Agnew, Tony McGuire and Ronnie Thomas - got tangled in the fourth turn.
"There were four or five of us at the beginning who were running close," Rumley said. "[The accident] was very unfortunate because it took some good cars out of the race."
Agnew got back in among the leaders and finished second, nine seconds behind Rumley.
"I got up under Tony [McGuire] and I guess he slipped some and started backing out a little," Agnew said. "I had to, too. I know Ronnie [Thomas] didn't have anywhere to go. . . . I hate that. Usually the guy at the back gets the worst of it. And Ronnie did. It was just a racing accident."
McGuire saw things differently.
"Ronnie ran into Agnew, then he [Agnew] hit me," McGuire said. "They black-flagged Ronnie and I'm glad about that. But I'm highly disappointed because our car was looking to be the strongest at the end."
Thomas was sent to the back of the pack after the accident. He still managed to work his way back up to a fifth-place finish.
"I'm sure everybody is mad at me," Thomas said. "And if I had been in their position, maybe I would have been, too. That's just racing. But what I hate is that it cost us the race."
Rumley started fourth and stayed there for the first 42 laps. He briefly fell to fifth for one lap, then moved back into fourth for the three laps before the accident. After the altercation, no one was left to challenge for the lead.
"We had fallen off a little bit but then we got it back," Rumley said. "We had been looking for the groove. And we found it."
Tink Reedy finished third and veteran Paul Radford was fourth.
In the other races, Kenny Montgomery passed Charles Miles on lap 22 and stayed ahead of him the rest of the way to capture the 35-lap Limited Sportsman feature.
In the 25-lap Modified Mini race, Dale Sutphin of Max Meadows took the lead on the eighth lap and held off Jimmy Hinkley.
In the 25-lap Pure Stock race, Pearisburg's Ronnie Vaught retook the lead on lap seven and cruised home. Davis Phillips finished second.
And in the 25-lap Mini Stock race, Randy Bell slipped past Tony Howell coming out of turn 4 on the final lap for the victory.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING