Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 23, 1994 TAG: 9410250033
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: E-11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: M.J. DOUGHERTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
But at about lap 179 of the 250-lap Late Model Stock Car race, Beggarly probably knew he had made the right decision.
That's when the Pelham, N.C., driver moved into the lead. Beggarly stayed there the rest of the race without being challenged to win the race and its $10,000 first prize.
``With the banquet [for South Boston Speedway] and the race, it was a heck of a schedule,'' Beggarly said. ``I'm really glad I decided to come here for the race.''
The victory was the latest in a series of triumphs for Beggarly. In 1993, he won track championships at Orange County Speedway and Ace Speedway in North Carolina, and was the Mid-Atlantic Late Model champion and the national Winston Racing Series champion.
This season, Beggarly successfully defended his Orange County and Mid-Atlantic titles and finished fifth in the Winston Racing Series national standings. Then, he captured both Late Model races this fall at Martinsville Speedway.
Beggarly started eighth. And for most of the initial 125-lap segment, he ran in the pack and was fifth.
But as the first half of the race drew to a close, Beggarly and his Chevrolet started rolling toward the lead. On lap 108, he passed Emporia's Elliott Sadler and moved into fourth.
That's where Beggarly started the second half of the race after the mandatory 10-minute pit stop. But he didn't stay fourth for long.
Beggarly slipped past Roanoke's Tim McGuire and into third place on lap 131. He moved around Floyd's Jeff Agnew and into second on lap 139.
Then, Beggarly started chasing down race leader Johnny Rumley of Winston-Salem, N.C. On lap 150, the lead was three-tenths of a second. On lap 157, Beggarly was considering a pass. On lap 170, he started pulling down inside of Rumley. And on lap 179, Beggarly moved into the lead.
``I didn't feel like I had the fastest car out there yesterday [during practice] or today,'' Beggarly said. ``It was a pretty good car. We just raced out there and hoped to end up with a good finish. The car stayed about the same the whole race. Johnny [Rumley] and some of the others started getting a little loose. I was tighter and I was able to get around them.''
The positions behind Beggarly shuffled during the last 30 laps. Sadler moved into second on lap 221. But he never got closer than 11/2 seconds off the lead.
``I was easing up, lap by lap,'' he said. ``But I burnt the right rear up, so I was glad the race ended when it did. The last five laps I took it easy. The tires were spinning off of the turns. But I'll take second place to a national champion any time.''
Tony McGuire was the top finisher among New River Valley Speedway regulars. During the last 20 laps, the Roanoke driver moved from fifth, to fourth, to third.
McGuire had to overcome tire problems to post his finish. He had a tire going flat late in the first half of the race and fell back to eighth. Then, he had a mismatched set of tires that caused him handling problems on the last 125 laps.
``I don't know,'' McGuire said about his late-race charge. ``The lapped cars kept getting in my way. They raced me hard all race long. I could have won it if I had a few more laps.''
Rumley held on to fourth, and Christiansburg's Ronnie Thomas took fifth.
The beginning of the race was marred by a 14-car accident that put seven competitors out of action.
Starting from the pole, Rumley fishtailed coming out of the second turn heading down the backstretch. He eventually got the car straightened out - after doing some damage to the right side.
But cars farther back in the field were not as fortunate. The entire pack slowed, and then they started to knock into one another. When the wrecking stopped, it took 15 minutes to clear the cars from the track.
Grump Wills of Bozoo, W.Va., took the lead on the eighth lap and held on to win the 50-lap Pure Stock race. Wills collected $500 for his victory.
Christiansburg's Tommy Allie finished second. Allie had to start 18th in the 22-car field because he arrived after qualifying. Allie was in fourth by lap 12, third by lap 19 and second by lap 24.
Pole-sitter Aaron Deplazes was third.
The race was halted for 25 minutes with 14 laps remaining after Barry Davis hit the wall in turn 2. Davis had to be cut from his car and was taken to Radford Community Hospital with a possible back injury.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB