Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, October 12, 1994 TAG: 9410120044
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: From staff reports
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The speedway announced Tuesday that the NASCAR SuperTruck Series will make a stop in Martinsville in 1995.
Martinsville's SuperTruck event will be held in conjunction with the Goody's 500 in September. The SuperTruck race will be held Sept.23, and the Winston Cup race will be held Sept.24.
The SuperTruck race at Martinsville will be one of 20 held throughout the country in 1995 for the new NASCAR series, which will feature full-sized pickup trucks built for racing. The trucks will be built to specifications that closely resemble Winston Cup race cars, with 358 cubic-inch engines.
The race will have a minimum purse of $88,000 and will be televised live by ESPN.
In another announcement at the speedway, the Virginia Department of Tourism announced it will not sponsor Hermie Sadler's Busch Grand National team in 1995.
In other sports in the region:
The VMI men's basketball team, under first-year coach Bart Bellairs, has been picked to finish last in the newly-established Northern Division of the Southern Conference in polls by the league's coaches and sports information directors.
The conference is implementing a two-division format for the first time this season.
Davidson earned nine of 10 first-place votes to finish as the top pick in the Northern Division. East Tennessee State was second, followed by Marshall, Appalachian State and VMI, which was 5-23 overall last season under Joe Cantafio, now the head coach at Furman.
Tennessee-Chattanooga, which has won or shared the past four regular-season conference championships, received all 10 first-place votes in the Southern Division. Georgia Southern was second, followed by Western Carolina, Furman and The Citadel.
VMI will host its inaugural ``Midnight Madness'' Oct.14 to celebrate the opening of basketball practice for NCAA teams. Bellairs said festivities will begin at 11:45 p.m. and will include 3-point and slam dunk contests, followed by a 15-20 minute scrimmage. Admission is free.
The Keydets open the season with an exhibition game Nov.19 against the Finnish National Team in Lexington.
The Tazewell County school board will take no action against ex-Lexington and Patrick Henry football coach Dennis Vaught, now an assistant at Richlands, for a remark he allegedly directed at Graham football player Jacob Dews. Vaught has written a letter to the Tazewell County school board apologizing ``to anyone who was offended by this comment.''
According to an announcement from Tazewell County school superintendent Woodrow Mullin, ``An incident occurred during the Graham-Richlands football game that involved Dennis Vaught.
``After studying the facts established by an investigation, because no complaint or protest has been lodged by the student or his parents, after learning they wish to protect their privacy and put an end to this matter, and after receiving this apology from Mr.Vaught, I move we accept Mr.Vaught's apology and coduct no further hearings.
``But I want to make it clear that this board does not condone such behavior, will not allow it to go unanswered and will not tolerate a repetition.''
This is the third questionable incident involving Vaught as a coach. Earlier, he admitted to his team using illegal cleats in a Group AA Division 4 state playoff game against Salem and to making a remark aimed at a Marion football player during a regular season game.
The Danville Braves, Atlanta's Appalachian League affiliate, have named Carper Cole general manager. Cole, assistant general manager of the club since its inception in 1993, previously worked for the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers in their marketing and promotions department.
In Pembroke, David McCall was medalist with an 80 to lead Giles to the Three Rivers District golf title at Castle Rock.
Teammate Drew Wagner was the individual runner-up on the par-72 course. Giles finished with a team total of 334, which was 30 strokes better than runner-up Floyd County. Both teams advance to the Region C tournament Tuesday in Wytheville.
Drew Robinson's 85 was one of four Christiansburg scores of 89 or better as the Blue Demons edged Blacksburg by two strokes to win the New River District golf tournament at Blacksburg Country Club. Blacksburg's Wes Martin was the medalist with an 80 on the par-72 course.
Eighth-ranked William and Mary whipped Virginia Tech 5-0 in a women's soccer match at Blacksburg. The Hokies (7-5) were outshot by the Tribe (9-3) 27-7.
Guilford scored two goals in the final five minutes to beat Ferrum (6-6) in a non-conference women's soccer match at Greensboro, N.C. Lynn Barker and Becky Shotwell scored for the Quakers (5-8).
Virginia Tech men's golfer Sean Farrell of Harare, Zimbabwe, finished in 16th place out of the top 180 amateurs in the world at the 19th World Amateur Team Championship, which concluded Sunday in Versailles, France. Farrell shot a four-day total of 290 to lead Zimbabwe to a 14th-place finish out of 45 competing countries.
The Salvation Army Community Center is looking for experienced coaches, age 21 and older, who would like to volunteer and work with children ages 6-14. For more information, call Judy Flanagan at 345-4483.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB