Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, July 22, 1993                   TAG: 9307220431
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-7   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: BRIAN DeVIDO
DATELINE: RADFORD                                LENGTH: Medium

NECK-AND-NECK RACE IT WAS - AND THEN THINGS GOT INTERESTING

Side by side for the majority of the 200-lap feature, Ronnie Thomas and Johnny Rumley ran down to the wire.

In the end, Thomas won by the slimmest of margins.

And that's when things started getting interesting:

"He's got more carburetor power than we've got," a fuming Rumley said after the race.

"It helps him handle awful good on the straightaways. I'm upset that he's got more carburetor power. The track has got the option to take it away, and I wish they would."

There are different engine specifications and allowances for Ford and Chryslers than for General Motors products.

Thomas drives a Ford Thunderbird, Rumley a Chevrolet Lumina. Thomas' car handled much better on the straightaways in Saturday's race, while Rumley ran the corners better.

"Two years ago, Rumley was driving a Chrysler," Thomas said.

"Do you know how much carburetor power his car had? The same that mine does now. He had that car for five races. He should have stayed in it."

Thomas has now won six LMSC races this season.

Rumley has won four.

\ NEW KID ON THE BLOCK: When he's not competing on the Winston Cup circuit, Johnson City, Tenn., driver Brad Teague has done some local racing.

"The car I've got [a '91 Chevy Lumina] is from Marion," he said. "So I decided to race around here."

He raced six times at Lonesome Pine speedway in Coeburn earlier in the season.

He left because of a disagreement with racing officials.

Teague has been racing at the NRV Speedway lately. He posted a third-place finish in the LMSC 100-lap feature two weeks ago in the Wicker Basket Outlet 200.

He has been racing on the Winston-Cup circuit off and on since the 1982-83 season, finishing as high as 11th one year at Bristol.

He finished 21st at Bristol last year in a 32-car field. He also raced in the Pepsi 400 in Daytona Beach, Fla., last year.

"I like to drive here about as much as any short track there is," he said.

"It's a good race track and the competition is real good."

Teague said he plans to race in the Southern 500 in Darlington, S.C., Sept. 5, and possibly in the AC Delco 500 in Rockingham, N.C., Oct. 24.

\ SAME PROBLEM, DIFFERENT RESULT: Both Thomas and points leader Paul Radford had the same mission before Saturday's race: cure their car trouble.

Thomas was able to overcome oil-leak problems, which took him out of the race two weeks ago.

Radford had another bad night. In the past six races, he has qualified no higher than 10th.

"I'm just gonna have to ride it out," he said before the race.

"After the tires get hot, we're all right. The pressure kind of gets to me, though, in qualifying. When I don't do well, it takes my chances out of winning."

Thomas, on the other hand, said he had total confidence in his car prior to the race.

"I'm not going for qualifying, I'm going for the race," he said. "I'm going to run more conservatively."

Thomas qualified second, though, posting a time of 16.96 seconds. Radford qualified 13th, posting 17.16 seconds.

But Radford took his time and worked his way to the top of the field. He took second when he passed Rumley on the 126th lap, fell back to fourth briefly, and finished third.

\ LONG HAUL, SHORT RIDE: David Browning Jr. drove from Jacksonville, Fla., to compete in Saturday's LMSC feature.

But when he dropped a valve before the race started, his racing for the night was through.

He left the speedway before the races began, with a long night of driving in front of him.

\ CLASSY CLAY: Campbell, who will be less active in the day-to-day operations of the speedway starting this week:

"I have really enjoyed working up here. The support from the fans, the competitors, the media - everyone has been great and I appreciate it. I've enjoyed every bit of it."

\ FAREWELL: Before the singing of the National Anthem on Saturday night, a final tribute was made to Davey Allison, the Winston Cup star who died last week.

Speedway officials put the American flag at half-staff before the singing of the "Star-Spangled Banner."

\ SATURDAY'S RACE: The Coca-Cola 200 features a 100-lap Late Model race, a 35-lap Limited Sportsman race and 25-lap Pure Stock, Mini Stock and Modified Mini races.

Gates open at 2 p.m. and practice starts at 4. Qualifying begins at 6:15 and racing at 8.

Admission is $8 for adults, and $1 for children 12 and under.

Brian DeVido covers sports for the Roanoke Times & World-News' New River Valley bureau.

Keywords:
AUTO RACING