Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, October 12, 1994 TAG: 9410120043
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: M.J. Dougherty
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Long
"Some of the lessons I've learned you can't print," joked Snoddy as he sat in his office and prepared for the postseason Southwest Virginia Chevy Dealers Shootout on Oct. 22.
But for Snoddy, who has been around racing as an auto parts and tire dealer for many years, this year has been a new experience.
"It's a whole lot different, businesswise, being a promoter," he said. "There's a whole lot more to it. And you can't please everybody. All you can do is just try. You just have to go out there and do what you feel is right."
For Snoddy, this means trying different things, finding out which ones work and sticking with them.
One thing that has worked is the standard $10 ticket price for race admission. Snoddy is quick to point out that other NASCAR tracks in the region charge $10 for a regular night of racing and upward of $14 for in-season, longer races.
And Snoddy had higher gate receipts this year than last, an important consideration for someone who has to pay to operate the track and pay the mortgage.
"People don't have any idea how much it takes to operate this place," Snoddy said.
Weekly purses at New River are among the highest in the region: close to $15,000 for a regular night of racing. Snoddy also has to pay for insurance, publicity and 60 employees who do everything from inspecting cars to taking tickets to feeding the race fans.
Other successful features are fireworks, car shows, occasional televised races, Sunday afternoon races when Winston Cup runs on Saturday night and longer races for the divisions other than the Late Model Stocks.
Snoddy said the fireworks display was the reason this year's July Fourth weekend most likely was the track's best ever.
Two car shows are being planned for next year - one in the spring and one later in the racing season. Three races will be shown live on WDBJ (Channel 7), as long as the broadcasts don't adversely affect attendance.
Snoddy wants to standardize his schedule with the three Sunday dates - and get fans used to coming out the afternoon after Saturday night races in Charlotte, Bristol and Richmond.
And Snoddy hopes to have the longer races for the lower divisions on the schedule before the season starts.
Ironically, one thing Snoddy has learned is that longer Late Model races don't necessarily make better racing.
Snoddy plans just one special event for the Late Models each month. The 1994 schedule had nine such events - four 200-lap races and five twin races - during the 25-date regular season.
The season also will be shorter by a week or so. Only rain makeups will be scheduled after the end of the Winston Racing Series season in mid-September. This is to allow Late Model competitors to enter the postseason big-money shows at other tracks without having to worry about their standings at NRVS.
The season will begin about the same time as this year's - early April, one or two weeks before the Winston Racing Series campaign.
And there will be no back-to-back racing weekends next year.
The Enduros will be back. But in 1995, races in this division - where almost anything with a V-8 and a roll cage can enter - will be on Saturday nights as a finale to the regular racing program.
Snoddy plans to make this change to expose race fans to the action provided by the Enduros, whose 100-lap races are halted only when the track is blocked or drivers need to be removed from wrecked cars.
That program also will include the current five classes: Late Models, Limited Sportsman, Modified Mini Stock, Mini Stock and Pure Stock.
But the Mod Minis, which have suffered from small fields the past few seasons, will run only twice a month. Snoddy said the change was being made because many competitors could not afford to race weekly.
Finally, there will be a change in what is sold at the concessions. Like many race tracks and professional sports arenas, New River Valley Speedway will sell beer next season. The track already has an ABC license, and spectators have been permitted to bring their own beer this season.
"I don't feel like it will be a problem," Snoddy said. "I feel like we have the security here."
Snoddy also said that a nondrinking section will be established in the stands.
CAR COUNTS: While car counts have been a concern this year, the final numbers ended up about the same as the last two seasons'. The track had 64 Late Model drivers enter races, 46 Limited Sportsman, 21 Modified Mini, 35 Mini Stock and 41 Pure Stock.
Snoddy said he and NASCAR are looking for ways to increase the Late Model count - in other words, to bring the Fords and Chryslers back. Three NRVS regulars - Frankie Pennington, Bobby Radford and Rodney "Six Pack" Cundiff - raced at Franklin County Speedway because NASCAR's weight and carburetion rules put them at a disadvantage against the General Motors cars.
GM cars won 26 of 27 Late Model races at New River. Roanoke's Tink Reedy was the only driver who broke the General Motors sweep. Reedy drove a Chrysler to victory in a 200-lapper in May.
Reedy and Stacy Compton of Hurt, who drove a Ford, were the only two drivers who competed all year at NRVS in non-GM cars.
DRIVER MOVES: Rock Harris, an 11-time winner in Limited Sportsman and the second-place finisher in the points, plans to run Late Model. In just two seasons, the former dirt-track driver from Yadkinsville, N.C., has run 13 regular-season races at NRVS, the Limited Sportsman race as part of last year's Southwest Virginia Chevy Shootout and the postseason Limited races at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway.
Tony Howell will be looking for his third different track title in three years. The Christiansburg driver is moving to Limited Sportsman. He won the Modified Mini crown this year and the Mini Stock title in 1993.
Radford's Gene Duncan, this year's Mini Stock champ, could replace Howell as the man to beat in Modified Mini Stock. Duncan has sold his Mini Stock car - which he bought from Howell before this season - and is expected to be driving Howell's former Mod Mini car next year.
Jay McCray of Salem paid his fine and turned over the illegal intake for his Mini Stock car before the last Saturday night race at NRVS. He then drove his Mini Stock car one last time - with a "For Sale" sign on it - before getting into the Limited Sportsman car he will pilot next season.
Salem's Malcolm Fink is looking for one more season on the track in the Late Models. Fink, who made it back from a heart attack suffered during a race in 1993 and who spent the second half of this season as Kenny Prillaman's crew chief, is seeking sponsors for 1995.
M.J. Dougherty covers community sports and racing for the Roanoke Times & World-News' New River Valley bureau.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB