Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 24, 1994 TAG: 9408240029
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: M.J. Dougherty
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Long
However, Winslow did hog the lead for all 100 laps when NASCAR's four-cylinder touring circuit made its annual stop at New River Valley Speedway.
The victory also tightened the division's points battle with just three laps remaining and secured Winslow's spot as the top rookie on the circuit.
Points leader Edward Howell of Bradley Junction, Fla., held on to his points lead but just barely after the NRVS race. A late-race flat tire dropped him from the top five to 15th place.
Howell now has 2,177 points. But closing the gap fast is Larry Caudill of North Wilkesboro, N.C. The 1987 and 1988 series champion gained 52 points on Howell by finishing second to Winslow at NRVS. Caudill now is just four points back at 2,173.
Four other drivers still are within striking distance as well. Will Hobgood of Winnsboro, S.C., last season's top rookie, is third at 2,082. Series veteran and 1992 champ Mickey York of Asheboro, N.C., is fourth at 2,078. Winslow moved into fifth at 2,052 on the strength of his win at New River. And Gary Moore of Horse Shoe, S.C., is sixth at 2,014.
Further back in a battle of their own are Danny Bagwell of Birmingham, Ala., at 1,814 in seventh and Chris Brown of Charlotte, N.C., at 1,810 in eighth.
Rounding out the top 10 are a pair of high school juniors from South Carolina. Rock Hill's David Hutto is ninth at 1,766 while Batesburg's Lyndon Amick is 10th at 1,704.
A victory in the series is worth 175 points to the winner. Also, the leader of the most laps gets five bonus points. Points then fall off in a fashion similar to that employed on the Winston Cup circuit, decreasing first by five points per position, then by four and eventually by three. Thus the last place driver in the field of 28 at New River earned 79 points.
The remaining races in the Goody's Dash series are Sept. 10 at New Asheville (N.C.) Speedway; Sept. 17 at Hickory (N.C.) Motor Speedway; and Sept. 24 at Volusia County Speedway in Barberville, Fla.
The race scheduled for Tuesday night at 411 Speedway in Knoxville, Tenn., was cancelled due to ownership changes at the track and will not be made-up.
LOCAL REPORT: Charlie Smith and Wayne Lawson had different results in the Goody's Dash race.
Indian Valley's Lawson had a long day in his introduction to the series. In practice he was plagued by carburetor problems.
"Of all the nights for this to happen, it had to be this race," said Lawson. "We've waited a long time for this [the Dash race]."
Lawson borrowed a carburetor from the Howell brothers and was able to get his Dodge Daytona going.
But mechanical problems persisted for Lawson and he had the slowest qualifying time in the field.
Just seven laps into the race, Lawson already had lost a lap to the leaders. He eventually parked his car after 27 laps into the race with handling problems and finished 24th.
Meanwhile, Dublin's Smith ran his normal consistent race. And just like last year, Smith drove his Toyota Celica to a 10th-place finish, two laps down.
Smith stayed on the lead lap until Winslow passed by him on lap 65. About 20 laps later, Smith lost his other lap.
But Smith also had a chance to show his driving skill. Coming out of turn four on lap 88, his car started to slide. But he was able to save it without going into a spin.
HIGH SCHOOL REPORT: A trio of high school juniors was in the field of the Goody's Dash race: Amick, Hutto and B.J. Mackey.
Mackey and Hutto are classmates at Rock Hill (S.C.) High School. And they both had pretty good races. Mackey finished fifth on the strength of his pass of York on the next-to-last lap. Hutto was seventh, the last car on the lead lap.
Amick did not fare as well. he slipped coming out of turn two on lap 28 and his car went front-first into the wall. Fortunately, Amick was unhurt in the crash. He got out of the car quickly and immediately began to survey the damage.
DIFFERENT CAR, SAME LUCK: Kevin Simmons of Narrows was back at the track, one week after his Chevrolet Lumina was demolished when he got caught up in a multiple-car wreck on the front stretch.
"I was pretty sore the beginning of the week," said Simmons, whose car lifted in the air when he hit the end of the retaining wall during that accident. "I'm OK now."
Simmons was in the Pontiac owned by Rodney Lytton of Rocky Mount. It is the same car that Scott Hill drove last year and Paul Radford piloted a couple of seasons ago.
Bad luck continued to follow Simmons, although this time it was mechanical in nature. He qualified 18th and then did not start the race.
PURE PROBLEMS: The two fastest drivers in recent weeks in the Pure Stock division had different problems
When rain cancelled qualifying, the field was set by points. That put Grump Wills of Bozoo, W.Va., and his 1967 Chevelle equipped with a Minter Racing Engine in the 16th starting spot in the 25-lap race.
Wills worked his through the field and was challenging Davis "Ducky" Phillips of Plum Creek for the lead with a couple of laps remaining.
Then WIlls got loose when trying to make the pass. Something then appeared to go awry and he dropped out of the race, ending up ninth.
Ten-time winner Tommy Allie of Christiansburg was sixth when the field was set by points and drew the same starting spot when the field was shuffled. He tried to move up through the field in his 1979 Chevy Camaro but was less successful. And when he sideswiped into Sam Sayers on the front stretch and Sayers ended up hitting the inside retaining wall, Allie was black-flagged for rough driving.
Allie dropped out of the race shortly after that and finished 12th.
THIS WEEK AT THE TRACK: There will be no racing Saturday at New River Valley Speedway.
That's because the Miller Genuine Draft/J-93 250 is Sunday afternoon, and to avoid any potential conflict with the Goody's 500 at Bristol (Tenn.) International Raceway on Saturday.
The feature events are a pair of 75-lap Late Model races. Also on the schedule are the 35-lap Limited race and 25-lappers for the Modified Minis, the Mini Stocks and the Pure Stocks.
It will be the second and last Fan Appreciation Day of the season. Fans get a chance to meet, talk with and photograph their favorite drivers on the front stretch before the day's racing begins.
Gates open at 10 a.m. Practice begins at noon. Qualifying gets under way at 1:30 p.m. And the green flag drops at 3.
Admission is $10 for adults and $1 for children 12-and-under. Also, college students with a valid ID get $4 off admission this week - cutting the cost of a ticket to $6.
M.J. Dougherty covers racing and community sports for the Roanoke Times & World-News' New River Valley bureau.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB