Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 7, 1995 TAG: 9503070076
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-5 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: M.J. DOUGHERTY
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
That spin on lap 59 of the Goodwrench 200 at North Carolina Motor Speedway in Rockingham, N.C. - known as ``The Rock'' in racing circles - ended what had been a strong showing for the Narrows driver in his Busch Grand National debut.
``I thought it might take a few races for me to make the field,'' said Simmons, a regular in the Late Model Stock Car division at New River Valley Speedway. ``But I did it on the first try.''
Simmons' good fortune was a combination of driving skills and working with the right people. He drove the Barry Owens-owned Chevrolet Lumina that Mike Wallace piloted last season. The Wallace team switched to Fords for 1995. And Simmons has a quality crew chief in Randy Baker - as in Buck Baker's son and Buddy Baker's brother.
Thus, Simmons was able to qualify and be competitive in a V-6 powered car in a division that went to V-8s this season. Simmons drove one of only three cars in the field with the smaller, less powerful engine.
But in a race that saw a couple of veterans have to use provisional starting spots and several others leave without making the 42-car field, Simmons qualified 36th at 143.576 mph around the famed 1.017-mile high-banked oval.
But going into the race, Simmons knew the car was better than it had shown in qualifying.
``It was a little loose because we were rushed,'' said Simmons, who got in just 16 practice laps and then drew the ninth qualifying run. ``It ran a 25.5 [seconds for a lap]. We were turning better times in practice, so I wasn't worried about it falling off the pace. So I went out and tried to pick up some places.''
And that's exactly what Simmons did. In the first 58 laps of the 197-lap event, Simmons had gained 10 spots, passing such drivers as Bobby Hillin Jr., Jeff Fuller and Shawna Robinson. Hillin and Fuller both retired early with blown engines. Robinson, whom Simmons was outrunning by a comfortable margin early in the race, ended up 16th.
Then came the spin. After racing with Tim Fedewa and Kevin Lapage for several laps, Simmons found himself side-by-side with another car coming out of turn 2. And, as often happens at Rockingham, the car on the inside got loose and started spinning. This time that car was Simmons' Chevy.
Simmons had to retire from the race after the accident. The car was not badly damaged by the spin - the pictures on television made things look much worse than they were. But because the new team was hurriedly put together, spare parts were not in abundant supply. So they could not replace the bent tie rods and Simmons ended up finishing 37th.
What happens next depends on what the fledgling team can acquire.
``It all depends on sponsorship and Randy and I continue to look for it,'' Simmons said. ``We don't need the kind of money that some teams need to run. But we'd like to get a V-8 and they don't come cheap.''
Simmons' next Busch race could be the Mark III Vans 200 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway March 25.
As for Late Models, Simmons hopes to continue to run on at least a semi-regular basis at NRVS, depending upon his Busch schedule. And after working with Baker, Simmons also realizes a crew chief is a necessity to do well. However, much of that planning was put on hold over the winter as he worked to put together the Busch deal.
MARTINSVILLE PRACTICE for Late Models on Feb. 25 drew 98 cars. That's more than showed up to qualify at any of the three Late Model races at Martinsville Speedway in 1994.
Among the drivers who saw action at NRVS last year who were at Martinsville were Stacy Compton of Hurt, Tim and Tony McGuire of Roanoke, Ronnie Thomas of Christiansburg, Michael Ritch of High Point, N.C., Kelly Denton of Bristol, Frankie Pennington of Lexington, Randy Ratliff of Oakville, Ray Young of Bassett and Orvil Reedy of Troutville.
Also there, but without their cars, were Floyd's Jeff Agnew, the NRVS Late Model champ last season, and Roanoke's Tink Reedy.
``It's going to be tough,'' said Compton, who won the track championship at South Boston. ``It's going to bring out the best of the best from everywhere. This is the Daytona of Late Model Stock for us.''
Also taking practice laps were the champions from three other tracks in the region. Heading the contingent was Orange County (N.C.) Speedway and Winston Racing Series Mid-Atlantic Region champion Barry Beggarly, who won both fall Martinsville races last season. The others were Phil Warren of Langley Raceway in Hampton and Shayne Lockhart of Southside Speedway in Richmond.
Other recognizable drivers included the South Boston trio of Richard Landreth, Wayne Patterson and Elliott Sadler and longtime Modified driver Satch Worley of Rocky Mount.
The fastest laps in the practice were hand-timed at 21.3 seconds, just a couple of ticks off the track Late Model record of 20.069 held by Thomas.
RACING NEWS is the name of the radio show with co-host Morris Stephenson, the director of marketing and publicity at New River Valley Speedway.
Stephenson, Sonny Ray Hatcher and their guests talk about what has happened and what is going to happen in the racing world.
``It's going pretty good,'' Stephenson said. ``We're having a good time.''
``Racing News'' airs Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays from 8 to 8:30 a.m. on WGFC (1030 am) in Floyd.
SUNDAY IS FOR GO-CARTS this year at NRVS.
The schedule begins March 26 with an open practice.
Regular races are scheduled for April 2 and 23, June 4 and 18, July 23, Aug. 6 and 20.
A WKA Divisional Race will be held May 28. And a WKA National Race will be run Aug. 26 - a Saturday.
The track will sponsor a six-race series with the best five finishes counting toward points. Races will be held in 12 different age and engine divisions.
For information about go-cart racing, contact Ronnie Snoddy, the promoter and co-owner of NRVS, at 639-1700, or Bill Pearce at (703) 291-2121.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB