Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 9, 1995 TAG: 9504100078
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: D8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: M.J. DOUGHERTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
Ronnie Thomas didn't have to wait long for his first win this year.
The Christiansburg driver started his Chrysler from the pole and led the entire Late Model Stock Car feature of the Eagle Country-PSK/Pizza Den 200 on Saturday night at New River Valley Speedway.
The race had to be extended to 107 laps because of a late race caution.
The victory meant that Thomas has won at least one race at the track since it opened in 1988. Last year, that streak was in jeopardy until Thomas won on the last weekend of August.
Michael Ritch of High Point, N.C., started on the outside pole in his Checrolet Camaro. He settled into second place and stayed there until Tony McGuire of Roanoke took away the second spot in another Camaro on the last lap.
Defending track champion Jeff Agnew of Floyd in a brand new Chevy Monte Carlo and Philip Morris of Ruckersville in a Camaro rounded out the top five.
The race was slowed by six caution flags. The last brought out a red flag and turned the finish into a two-lap sprint. But Thomas won the race-within-a-race as well.
Pole-sitter Junior Leagans of Max Meadows retook the lead on a restart after lap 2 and led the rest of the way in a caution-filled 35-lap Limited Sportsman race.
Hank Turman of Indian Valley was second, Melvin Wright Jr. of Madison Heights third and Bo Howell of Christiansburg fourth.
The race was slowed five times by cautions and only 11 of the 20 cars entered in the race finished.
Twice the race had to be stopped because of the wrecks, halting action for a total of 15 minutes.
On the first lap, Bruce Brown of Rocky Mount, who started third, spun on the backstretch and then was hit by Bland's Randy Linville. Melvin Smith of Newport damaged his car as he hit traffic stopped in front of him.
Then, on lap 12, rookie driver Brian Pate of Shady Springs, W.Va., lost control of his car on the backstretch. As Pate spun, he clipped Mark Akers of Narrows, who was running second. The collision sent Akers' car flying and it brushed the wall, doing heavy damage to the entire right side.
Barry Davis of Christiansburg passed Dean Young on lap 12 and held on to win the caution-free 25-lap Pure Stock race. Young of Radford finished second while Barry Williams of Pembroke was third.
A power outage early in the evening caused racing to be delayed approximately 30 minutes. Therefore, the Mini Stock and Modified Mini Stock races were not completed by press time. A transformer fuse blew at 8:15 p.m., cutting power to the frontstretch lights and the control tower.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB