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

DATE: THURSDAY, August 19, 1993                   TAG: 9308190043
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-8   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: M.J. DOUGHERTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD                                LENGTH: Medium

PATH TO BIG-TIME STOCK TRACKS LEADS THROUGH NRVS THIS WEEK

The Goody's Dash Cars, NASCAR's four-cylinder racing circuit, makes its annual stop at the track with a 100-lapper as part of this week's Pontiac Excitement 250.

About 20 drivers are expected to take the green flag in their 2,600-pound machines with 165-cubic-inch engines.

For some of those drivers, this race is the latest step on the long climb toward stock-car racing's higher divisions. Their dream is the Winston Cup Series. They want to be the next Morgan Shepherd or Hut Strickland or Michael Waltrip or Phil Parsons, current Winston Cup regulars who have won races in the Dash series.

To get there, the drivers know they must gain experience, be successful and move up to the next class.

"We'd like to get a Busch [Grand National] ride, if something comes up," division points leader Will Hobgood said earlier this season. "That's what we're working on."

Hobgood, who lives in Winnsboro, S.C., is a veteran of dirt track racing who this year is racing regularly on asphalt for the first time. He won the first race of the year at Daytona, Fla., International Speedway during Speed Week in February.

He has also captured the last two races - July 24 at Bowman Hobgood Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, N.C., and Aug. 7 at Myrtle Beach, S.C., Speedway - to move into the points lead.

For other drivers, the Dash division is the "Big Time." It is a touring division, which means it has its own rules, officials, spotters, radio frequencies and the like. It has stable and committed sponsorship from Goody's, the makers of York the pain-relief powder.

This year's 16-race series begins in February and ends in September with events in Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. The tracks range from the 2.5-mile tri-oval of Daytona to the quarter-mile circle of Bowman Gray.

But mostly, it's short tracks, 100 to 125 laps on ovals which vary from 0.363-mile to 0.596-mile throughout the Southeast.

"We started with the series, and in the years we've been in it, we've found that racing is really like a family," Mickey York, the circuit's winningest active driver, said earlier in the year. "For some people, it is a way to move up. But others stay here and enjoy the circuit."

York, of Asheboro, N.C., has been racing on the circuit since 1976. Last year was his most successful season with six wins - including the race at New River Valley Speedway - and the series championship.

York's 23 victories tie him for third place all-time. He has won three times this year, in consecutive races early in the season - March 27 at Summerville, S.C., Speedway; April 10 at Volusia County Speedway in Barberville, Fla.; and April 24 at Martinsville Speedway.

Since then, mechanical problems have plagued York, which is in part why he is sixth in the points race.

But no matter what the long-term intentions of the drivers, the strategy to win at New River is similar: Run fast, and run smart.

"We'll need to get a good time in qualifying," said Hobgood, who will be making his first trip to the 0.416-mile oval at NRVS. "With that, we figure we'll be in the hunt and might be able to win."

York compared New River to Langley Raceway in Hampton. "Basically, you have to work the whole track. You have to take care of yourself. Then you let it hang out with anything you have left at the end of the race.

"In a race of that length [100 laps], if you have anything you have time to get things going. But you have to be real fast [at the end] and stay out of trouble [until then]."

\ DASH DASHINGS: The Dash cars will practice Friday afternoon from 4 until dark at the track. There is no charge for spectators for that session.

The Dash cars also will have their own practice from 2-4 p.m. Saturday before the race.

The series is expected to bring the return of Kerry Earnhardt to NRVS. Earnhardt ran in a Late Model race May 8 and finished 20th. Since then, he has run a partial schedule on the Dash circuit, where he is 13th in points overall and third in the rookie standings.

Also expected to compete in the race are some of New River's Modified Minis regulars. Some of the cars meet the Dash requirements, and that division does not race this week.

The top 10 in points with type of car and number is as follows:

\ 1. Hobgood (rookie), Chevrolet; No. 65; 1,982 points (3 wins).\ 2. Rodney Orr; Pontiac; No. 9; 1,970 (2).\ 3. Johnny Smith; Pontiac; No. 41; 1,962 (2).\ 4. George Crenshaw; Pontiac; No. 07; 1,893 (1).\ 5. Larry Caudill; Pontiac; No. 77; 1,745.

\ 6. York; Pontiac; No. 24, (3).\ 7. Sherry Blakley (rookie); Chevrolet, No. 99; 1,810.\ 8. Scott Weaver; Chevrolet; No. 2; 1,706.\ 9. Chris Brown; Pontiac; No. 78; 1,648.\ 10. Danny Bagwell; Ford; No. 10; 1,633.

Keywords:
ASUTO RACING