Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 3, 1995 TAG: 9505030024
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-10 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: CHRIS KING
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Answer: Two and none.
That's right. One month into the season at New River Valley Speedway, only Ronnie Thomas and Tony McGuire have managed to lead so much as a circuit around the .416-mile oval. Furthermore, the leader after lap one has taken the checkered flag in every event.
Thomas and his 1992 Dodge have been the dominant force at the track, having led over 75 percent of the laps run to date (308 out 408). In the second race of the year, McGuire was able temporarily to break Thomas' stranglehold on the top spot and lead wire-to-wire.
While there is concern among some drivers about the dominance of Thomas' car in the early portion of the season, it isn't unprecedented. In the previous two seasons nearly a third of the races have been captured by a driver leading from start to finish.
In 1994 it occurred nine times but never more than three times in a row. Leading the contingent of drivers who never relinquished the lead was Jeff Agnew, who captured the track championship and performed the feat four times. McGuire did it three times, while Thomas and Tim McGuire each led all the way one time.
The dominance of one driver each week has not prevented the racing from being entertaining. This past week Thomas was never able to distance himself from the field by more than half a second. Agnew may have passed Thomas in the closing laps had the race stayed under green-flag conditions. Agnew's 1995 Monte Carlo clearly ran better after several laps under racing conditions and was bearing down on Thomas until a caution on lap 92. The caution brought the field together and effectively ended any chance Agnew had of making the season's first pass.
While nobody is panicking about the early season trend, there are some drivers who believe Thomas' Dodge has an unfair advantage in the horsepower department.
"You could give me a 1,000 cracks [at getting by Thomas], but until they [NASCAR officials] do something about the horsepower nobody is going to get by him,'' McGuire said after Saturday's race.
Thomas responds to these remarks by reminding everyone that they are free to race a Dodge as well, if they feel it would give them an advantage. The 1978 Winston Cup Rookie of the Year is also quick to point out that the Dodge doesn't handle as well in traffic as Chevy products do.
When asked about any perceived advantage Thomas may enjoy, Ray Young summed it up best.
``It doesn't matter how much horsepower your car has, you still have to be able to drive it through the corners,'' Young said. ``Ronnie is tough.''
Qualifying quick: Acquiring a decent starting position in the Late Model field is more difficult than ever because of the abundance of quality cars that appear at the speedway each week.
Of the 26 cars that qualified for Saturday's feature event (Boyd Sult opted not to race, so the official field consisted of only 25 cars), 22 posted a time of under 17 seconds. Thomas led the way, turning a lap in 16.36, the fastest lap at NRVS since 1992.
To put these times in better perspective, consider this: In September 1994, Agnew sat on the pole with a qualifying time of 16.70. If Agnew had turned an equivalent lap this past weekend he would have started 13th. Fortunately for the Agnew clan, he circled the oval in 16.44, good enough to sit on the outside of the front row Saturday.
Mid-Atlantic update: The Mid-Atlantic point standings were released for the first time last week, and Rick Sigmon is the top NRVS driver at 21st. Though Sigmon hasn't enjoyed a great deal of success at NRVS (his best finish this year is 11th), he has been able to collect valuable points by racing on Friday nights at other tracks throughout the region. Sigmon has ascended to 21st position without finishing in the top 10 in any of his four Mid-Atlantic races.
Thomas is second among NRVS drivers at 29th, but has raced only twice in events that award Mid-Atlantic points. Tim McGuire is next in the 56th position. The first race of the year at NRVS didn't count toward the Mid-Atlantic standings.
Victor Albert Memorial Trust Fund: A trust fund has been established to benefit the two children of Victor Albert, a four-time recipient of NASCAR's Gold Wrench, who died of an apparent heart attack April 17.
NRVS collected $2,223 on April 22 to start the fund. Anyone who would like to contribute may send checks to: Victor Albert Memorial Trust Fund, c/o NationsBank, 7305 Peppers Ferry Blvd., Radford, VA 24141.
Opening Early: To keep things moving in a timely fashion, track officials decided to make some changes. Gates will now open at 1:30 p.m. and practice will start at 3:30. Qualifying will begin at 6.
The changes will allow prerace events, such as qualifying, to move in a more orderly fashion and allow the races to begin at their scheduled starting time of 8, said Lynn Carroll, the track's chief steward.
RACING AIRWAVES: NRVS will once again be found all over the airwaves of the New River Valley.
Eagle Country WPSK (107.1 FM) has race day coverage from the track. The station airs ``Fast Lane '95'' at 5-7 p.m. each Saturday. And ``The Winner's Circle'' features post-race interviews after the night's racing ends, at 11 p.m.
Both of last year's weekly talk shows will be back with new hosts.
``New River Valley Race Weekly'' will have a new time slot - from 6 to 7 p.m. Monday on Kool Country (WBNK 100.7 FM and WNRV 990 AM) and Super 710 AM (WFNR). Levi Garrett, the track announcer, will serve as host for the show.
``The New River Valley Speedway Review'' will be back on CD Country WRIQ (101.7 FM) and WRAD (1460 AM). Dale McCloud will be host of the show, which airs Thursday at 5:45-6:15 p.m. The stations will also air ``Trackside'' interviews by McCloud on weekdays. They will be at 12:30 and 5:30 p.m. on CD Country and 10:35 a.m. and 2:35 p.m. on WRAD.
Finally, Late Model driver Tim McGuire once again is doing ``Race Reports'' for WSLS TV-10 every Monday on ``First News at 5.''
THIS WEEK AT THE TRACK: Saturday is the FM-94 Radio/Old Milwaukee 200. The feature is a 100-lap Late Model race. Also, there will be a 35-lapper for the Limiteds, and the Pure Stocks, Mini Stocks and Legends will run 25 laps each.
Admission is $10 for adults and $1 for children 12 and under.
Chris King covers sports for the New River Current.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
Memo: ***CORRECTION***