Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 24, 1993 TAG: 9304230302
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-10 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: M.J. DOUGHERTY
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
But if the qualifying speeds are any indication, the Late Model Stock division is going to be battle this season.
Hank Turman won the pole. He took 16.82 seconds to drive around the .416-mile oval. That's 89.04 mph.
Less than a quarter of a second behind him was Chris Diamond at 17.05 - 87.84 mph. Diamond started 16th in the 28-car field.
And the first 10 cars all took less than 17 seconds to circle the .416-mile oval on their qualifying lap.
\ RUMLEY RUNNING: Late Model winner Johnny Rumley has been a track regular the last few years.
But next month, the Winston-Salem, N.C., driver takes the next step in his career.
Rumley has a guarantee to run at least five Grand National races - more if things go well. The first two on his tentative schedule are May 1 at Orange County and May 8 at Martinsville.
\ OPENING NIGHT PROBLEMS: Turman sat on the pole but he didn't stay out front - or in the Late Model race - long. By the end of the first lap, he had slipped back to fifth.
Then on lap 30, Turman spun, hit the wall and destroyed his front end on the front stretch just before the start-finish line. Eventually the field had to be red flagged briefly on lap 33 to clean up the debris. Turman ended up 24th in the 28-car field.
Good fortune also deserted Frankie Pennington once he reached the front. For the first 40 laps, Tony McGuire held off Pennington's advances. Finally, Pennington succeeded in slipping around him in the first turn.
But after leading laps 41 and 42, Pennington fell to fourth on lap 43 and two laps later was out of the race. Something had broken in the car, possibly a rocker arm. Pennington finished 21st.
Other drivers had trouble figuring out their set-ups. Runner-up Jeff Agnew said his car was set up too tight. Still, Agnew was never lower than fourth.
Ronnie Thomas commented he took a "shot in the dark." It must have been close to the target though because Thomas charged from the end of the lead lap to fifth in the last 50 laps.
The award for the worst problem of opening night would have to go to Grump Wills in the Pure Stock division though. While leading the race on lap six, his right rear tire went flat.
A quick pit stop later, Wills was back on the track.
But on lap 16, Wills went one way and his tire went the other. Wills ended up in turn four; the tire crossed the track and tried to go down the front stretch before it was stopped.
\ RULES CHECK: A new speedway rule has the starting order for the six fastest qualifiers in Modified Minis, Mini Stock and Pure Stock to be determined by lot.
The rule is supposed to put more excitement into the 25-lap races. It worked as each featured early lead changes and three-wide racing.
Ironically, not one of the drivers who qualified fastest or drew the pole won. And the only quick qualifier who ever led a lap was Wills in Pure Stock.
\ SUPERSTITIOUS? Most drivers like low numbers. But the high-numbered cars had more than their share of luck last week.
Three of the five winners had high numbers: Rumley (#99) in Late Model, Raney Bell (#91) in Mini Stocks and Kenny Montgomery (#89) in Limited Sportsman. All were lucky and good.
Rumley inherited the lead after the three cars in front of him spun and opened up a nine second lead. Bell slipped past Tony Howell in the fourth turn of the last lap but also had led the first 18 laps. Montgomery moved in front of Charles Miles halfway through the race and held on for the win.
The other race winners had lower numbers: Dale Sutphin (#33) in Modified Minis and Donnie Vaught (#4) in Pure Stock.
\ RATINGS BATTLE PRE-EMPTED: Thomas (Channel 7) won the first battle of the TV-sponsored cars by default.
Stacy Compton (Channel 13) was racing at South Boston.
Tim McGuire (Channel 10) was at the track doing interviews. But his car was in the shop after blowing an engine April 3 at Franklin County.
Both Compton and McGuire are expected to be racing at New River Valley tonight.
\ TODAY'S RACE: The Winston 200. It will be the usual schedule of a 100-lap Late Model Stock feature, a 35-lap Limited Sportsman race, and 25-lap races in the Modified Mini, Mini Stock and Pure Stock divisions.
Qualifying for the Late Model race could be interesting. Last week, 31 cars came to the track but three never made it to the starting grid because of mechanical problems. If all those cars are back, the expected arrival of several more competitors could mean the field will reach the maximum size of 32.
M.J. Dougherty covers sports for the Roanoke Times & World-News' New River Valley bureau.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB