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

DATE: THURSDAY, July 29, 1993                   TAG: 9307280122
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-9   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: M.J. DOUGHERTY
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

THEY WENT OVER THOMAS' CAR, AND IT WAS PERFECTLY LEGAL

What Carroll found was nothing out of the ordinary - or illegal.

Late Saturday night, after the last race of the Coca-Cola 200 had been run, track officials began to take a hard look at Ronnie Thomas' Ford Thunderbird.

"We were looking for anything offset that would improve the handling," Carroll explained.

Sometimes as many as a half-dozen red-shirted NASCAR officials were crawling around or under the black No. 12. For nearly an hour they used flashlights, gauges and strings to determine if there was anything improper about Thomas' chassis.

Nothing was.

And this came after Thomas, who won the Late Model race, along with runner-up Johnny Rumley and third-place finisher Stacy Compton, had had his fuel and carburetors checked.

Thomas hoped the inspection, which drew a crowd of more than 75 people to the speedway's back pit road, would put an end to some of the accusations about his success - seven wins in 14 races - this season.

"It's not something that they want to do it, but it's something that they have to do," Thomas said about the inspection. "When you've got people complaining the way they did, there's no choice but to check it out. It's a lot more work for us. It's a lot more work for the NASCAR officials. But the thing about it is that we've proved our point."

\ AFRAID OF THE DARK: If there is one driver at NRVS who hates to see nightfall, it is Frankie Pennington.

"The car goes away when the sun goes down," said Pennington. "We practiced well Thursday. We practiced well today. We qualified up front. Then came the race [later in the evening] and we had all sorts of handling problems."

Pennington started from the outside pole and actually led the first two laps of the race. But Ronnie Thomas passed him and soon several others did. A run-in with Kenny Prillaman in the middle of the race damaged the front end of Pennington's car.

Pennington was in and out of the pits after that, trying different set-ups for night driving. He ended up next-to-last in the 18-car field.

\ NO MORE GRUMP: A familiar sight was missing from the Pure Stock race last week: Grump Wills' No. 02 Chevrolet Camaro.

The car has been sold by D&D Racing to a driver at Lonesome Pine in Coeburn.

Wills, who won the last 10 Pure Stock races he entered, was still at the track last weekend. He served as a consultant for Aaron Deplazes and Davis "Ducky" Phillips. Phillips finished third but Deplazes was disqualified for having an illegal carburetor. And both had their qualifying times disallowed for being too light.

Tommy Allie had a special weapon waiting for Wills - white "speed" dots on his tires. Allie finished fifth after he also had his qualifying run disallowed.

\ LUCKY LAWSON: Haven Lawson may have finished last in the Limited Sportsman race. But he may have been the luckiest man at the track last week.

Lawson's car flipped during a six-car pileup in the fourth turn. But the Blacksburg driver walked away from the melee.

It was only the third time in six years that a car has turned over at NRVS.

\ CHARITY BEGINS AT HOME: The Late Model drivers took up a collection for one of their own last week.

They collected $1,486.03 to help defray medical expenses for Roanoke driver Malcom Fink. Fink suffered a heart attack while driving in the LMSC race July 19. He later had a second heart attack and since has undergone surgery to relieve a blocked artery.

Cards or contributions can be sent directly to Malcom Fink, 5701 Cove Road, Roanoke 24019.

\ THIS WEEK: Twins come to the New River Valley Speedway Saturday night - as in twin 100-lap Late Model Stock Car races as part of the Hoechst Celanese 300.

It will be the first time in track history that two 100-lap LMSC races will take place on the same evening. Past twin races have been 50 laps.

The Late Model drivers will qualify for the first race. The starting grid for race No. 2 will be based on the finish of race No. 1.

Other racing action will include the 35-lap Limited Sportsman event and 25-lap races in the Modified Minis, Mini Stocks and Pure Stocks.

Gates open at 2 p.m. Practice begins at 4. Qualifying starts at 6:15. The green flag drops at 8.

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

Keywords:
AUTO RACING