Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, September 19, 1993 TAG: 9309190048
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: D13 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
For years, it was portable. The speedway pulled a truck trailer onto the frontstretch after the race.
Recent winners have been directed to the roof above the infield concession stand, but they couldn't get the car up there with the driver, and there was not enough room for everybody who wanted and needed to be there.
No longer is that a problem. One of the improvements spectators will notice at the 1993 Goody's 500 Winston Cup race Sept. 26 is a new victory lane.
It is not the most expensive of the changes at the ever-expanding speedway.
The new 1,200-seat addition to the Winston Tower in the first turn of the .526-mile track was a far bigger project. When tickets went on sale a few weeks ago, the seats sold out in 24 hours.
The new victory lane has been the pet project of the speedway's president, Clay Campbell, grandson of chairman and founder H. Clay Earles.
Campbell studied the victory lanes at Darlington and Bristol, and he looked at pictures from other tracks before bringing in the work crews.
Victory lane, which remained under construction last week, is located in the infield toward turns 1 and 2, facing the press box and the grandstands above the turns. It is close to the helicopter pad and the spot where the Winston Cup championship team parks its car hauler.
"The car will come off the track and drive right up into victory lane," Campbell said. "This will help out the sponsor a little bit, and everybody will know where to be when the race is over with. And once the driver gets out of his car, he's there. He doesn't have to get out and walk 50 yards to a platform.
"We've done things over the years trying to refine what we had for victory lane, but I think this is going to be finally what we want."
Other improvements at Martinsville will help improve traffic flow: two new traffic lanes on U.S. 220 near the track, an additional lane to the north entrance of the speedway and designated entrances and exits at the main parking areas.
Winston Cup fans can expect the usual bumping and banging from the Winston Cup cars. Drivers testing at the track last week were Geoff Bodine, driving the late Alan Kulwicki's Ford Thunderbird; Mark Martin; Jeff Purvis; Darrell Waltrip; Bobby Labonte; and Phil Parsons. Martin destroyed one of his cars Wednesday when his brakes failed and he plowed into the concrete wall in turns 3 and 4.
Pole-position qualifying is 3 p.m. Friday. The race starts at 12:30 p.m. Sept. 26, and will be shown live on ESPN.
On Saturday the speedway is the site of the Goody's 150, which comes close to being a Virginia state championship for Late Model Stock Car drivers. Competitors from across the state - and six other states, including California - have swelled the entry list to more than 90 cars.
Pole qualifying is 3 p.m. Thursday. Two 25-lap qualifying races to fill the 32-car field are scheduled for Friday, with the first race starting at 4 p.m. The 150-lap race starts at 2 p.m. Saturday.
Paul Radford, the 61-year-old Ferrum legend who recently won the New River Valley Speedway championship, has entered the Late Model Stock race, along with hard-charging Ronnie Thomas of Christiansburg, whom Radford nipped for the title. Both have won at Martinsville.
They will compete against a field that includes the 1993 NASCAR Winston Racing Series national champion, Barry Beggarly of Pelham, N.C., and the driver he beat for the national crown, Dennis Setzer of Newton, N.C. Also, Jay Fogleman, Johnny Rumley and Winston Cup competitor Brad Teague have entered.
All tickets for Saturday's race are general admission, and the price is $10. Children under 12 are admitted free with a paying adult.
Some reserved seats remain for the Sept. 26 Winston Cup race. They are priced at $35, $40 and $45. As usual, 10,000 unreserved backstretch seats will go on sale at the track for $30 each at 7:30 a.m. on race day, with a cost of $5 for children 6 to 12.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB