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

DATE: THURSDAY, July 7, 1994                   TAG: 9407070218
SECTION: NEIGHBORS                    PAGE: S-10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: M.J. DOUGHERTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

IT WAS A BANG-UP TIME AT THE NRV SPEEDWAY

But the drivers at New River Valley Speedway seemed to have other ideas Saturday night.

The five races were punctuated by 16 caution periods. Every race but the Late Models featured at least three yellow flags.

The Late Models had one - but it brought out the only red flag of the evening. As the field finished the fifth lap of the 100-lapper, Randy Ratliff got loose as he came out of turn four and started a chain reaction that took five cars out of the race.

The only three drivers who did not have to avoid Ratliff were Tony McGuire, Jeff Agnew and Michael Ritch - the eventual top three fin ishers. Once the wreckage was cleared from the track, that trio put on a driving exhibition during the last 88 laps as they swapped positions and raced side by side.

At Franklin County, wrecks were few and far between. The Late Model race didn't even have a caution period.

The biggest incident involved seven cars in the Street Stock division. But none of the cars was so banged up that it could not continue the race.

\ HANDLING WELL ENOUGH: Both McGuire and Agnew tried to improve the handling of their Chevrolet Luminas last week.

McGuire took his car to Richmond on Tuesday to have the rear end mechanisms inspected and repaired. Much to his surprise, nothing major was found to be wrong with the car.

Agnew, who has been fighting a loose race car for several weeks, tried a tighter set-up to make him more competitive during the closing stages of the race. However, by the end of the race, the car was loose going into and coming out of the turns and had developed a push in the corners.

Even with these problems, the drivers had the two quickest cars on the track.

\ THIS WEEK AT THE TRACKS: At New River Valley Speedway, it is the Q-99-WSLC/Tombstone Pizza 200. It features a regular night of racing action including a 100-lap Late Model race. Also, Busch Grand National 1993 Rookie of the Year Hermie Sadler will be on hand to sign autographs and will have his race car with him.

Gates open at 2 p.m. and racing begins at 8.

At Franklin County Speedway, it is a regular night of racing action with the Late Models taking center stage in the feature race. Youngsters will have the opportunity to take a lap with their favorite drivers.

Gates open at noon and racing begins at 8.

Keywords:
AUTO RACING