Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 23, 1995 TAG: 9504250045
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: M.J. DOUGHERTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
Ronnie Thomas turned the ``Big Five-Oh'' on Saturday night.
It wasn't the Christiansburg driver's birthday. That was in March. And Thomas is only 40.
What Thomas did was win his 50th Late Model Stock Car race at New River Valley Speedway in the 100-lap feature of the Ginger's Jewelry/Q99-WSLC Radio 200.
``The car was working good everywhere,'' said Thomas, who has two firsts and a second this season at NRVS in his Chrysler.
Thomas started on the outside of the front row and passed pole-sitter Jeff Agnew before they entered the first turn.
Thomas led the rest of the way. The toughest work he had to do was avoid two accidents in front of him during the last 45 laps. Thomas drove through the grass to avoid a six-car spin in turns 3 and 4 on lap 57. Then, he had to go high in turns 1 and 2 as two lapped cars tangled with nine laps remaining.
Each accident resulted in a red flag to clear the track.
``My heart stopped,'' Thomas said of seeing the wrecks in front of him. ``The adrenaline was definitely working after that.''
Floyd's Agnew wasn't as lucky. Running second, he got caught up in the wreck on lap 91. That removed from contention the only driver who had been able to cut into Thomas' lead.
Ray Young of Bassett inherited second after Agnew's wreck. But a strong restart gave Thomas an insurmountable lead, and Young settled for second in his Pontiac.
``Ronnie was sitting out there and just had too much,'' Young said.
Completing the top five were Kenny Prillaman of Salem (Chevrolet), Philip Morris of Ruckersivlle (Chevrolet) and Tim McGuire of Roanoke (Chevrolet).
Terry Lawson of Christiansburg slipped past pole-sitter Haven Lawson just after the start and led all 35 laps of the Limited Sportsman race. Christiansburg's Bo Howell finished second, Newport's Aaron Deplazes was third and Indian Valley's Turman finished fourth.
Randy Bell of Galax, the top qualifier, took the lead on the first lap and went on to win the 25-lap Mini Stock race, ending the two-race win streak of Ray Sowers of Floyd. Sowers finished second and Wayne Moore of Radford was third.
Grump Wills of Bozoo, W.Va., who has been the fastest qualifier for each of the first three 25-lap Pure Stock races, won for the first time this year. Christiansburg's Tommy Allie, making his first appearance at the track, finished second and Barry Davis of Christiansburg was third.
Charlie Smith of Dublin drew the top starting position when the track shook up the top six qualifiers in the Modified Mini Stock race. Then, Smith led all 25 laps en route to a victory. Christiansburg's Jimmy Hinkley was second and Radford's Gene Duncan third.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB