Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 29, 1995 TAG: 9506290027
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: M.J. DOUGHERTY
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
This should not come as a surprise. Auto racing is a staple of sports television. And commercials are required to pay the bills. So it is logical that the two would eventually meet.
The biggest TV advertisers for the past few years have been the TV stations themselves. This year has seen the usual Late Model parade on the region's commercial stations: Tony McGuire on WDBJ Channel 7, Tim McGuire on WSLS Channel 10, Stacy Compton on WSET Channel 13 and Johnny Rumley on WJPR/WFXR Channels 21 and 27.
But with Rumley moving to the Busch Grand National full-time, Fox 21/27 found another driver to carry their colors on a weekly basis: Pure Stock driver Tony Rogers of Cloverdale.
Rogers, an insurance agent, had contacts with the television station through his business. So he used the direct approach.
"I asked them if they would sponsor me and they said they would," said Rogers, who hopes to move up to Late Model or Limited next year.
The deal with the Fox stations has helped Rogers get other sponsorships as well, since those companies would get to have their names on the car for the TV spots.
Meanwhile, Kenny Prillaman got on television because of his sponsor's commercials. The Salem driver and his old car appear in the Photo USA commercials that are running as local drop-in ads on national cable networks.
Prillaman found the pace of making commercials to be somewhat slower than racing. It took all day to make the 30-second spots because each of the four segments had to be shot six or seven times.
"It was boring - we had to keep doing the same thing over and over," Prillaman said.
Next in line to be TV stars are Randy Ratliff of Oakwood and Dean Young of Radford. Or at least their cars.
The Late Model of Ratliff and the Pure Stock of Young were used as props in a commercial by Cox Cable for a Winston Cup fantasy trip to the Slick 50 500 in Phoenix this fall. Slam Duncan, the morning DJ for J-93 radio in Roanoke, drove Young's car for the commercial. The car he is passing in the commercial - and from where the scene was shot - is Ratliff's.
The commercial is scheduled to air as a local cut-in on TNN (The Nashville Network).
MID-ATLANTIC MADNESS: Entering the weekend, only one New River regular was in the top 50 in Mid-Atlantic Winston Racing Series points: Rick Sigmon.
Despite not having a top 10 finish, the Rocky Mount driver amassed extra points when racing at Ace Speedway in Altamahaw, N.C., earlier this season.
In the next few weeks, the NRVS drivers to watch out for in the regional rankings are Ray Young of Bassett and Jeff Agnew of Floyd. And Ace Speedway is the reason. Young is racing an taking his old car and driving it there on Friday nights. Agnew has taken over the Fulton Jones-owned ride that Sigmon drove at the track earlier the season and is using some of his old engines to power the car.
Bugs Hairfield, a regular at Southside Speedway in Richmond, leads the regional points standings.
BREAK ON THE WEATHER: Last Saturday, New River Valley Speedway was about the only spot in the region that didn't get rain. While it poured just about everywhere else - South Boston and Franklin County Speedway both called their races off early Saturday afternoon - only drizzle and light showers visited NRVS.
To beat the expected rain - and take advantage of the presence of several South Boston drivers including five-race winner Elliott Sadler - track officials ran the Late Model race first for the first time this season.
But the precaution was unnecessary as the skies cleared. The track didn't get any heavy rain until Sunday afternoon - during the Kool Country Music Showdown.
BRISTOL DASHING: Charlie Smith had his hopes of making the field for last Friday's Goody's Dash race at Bristol (Tenn.) International Raceway dashed. Once again, the problem was a lack of speed in his Toyota Celica.
"We didn't go there with high hopes because we went down with the same thing we had," said Smith. "But it was a chance for us to go down and play around and get some seat time."
Smith's qualifying speed of 100.624 mph was 11 mph slower than pole-sitter Will Hobgood (111.643 mph) and just under four miles per hour slower than what was needed to make the field (104.317 mph).
Mike Swaim Jr., --won the race.
THIS WEEK AT NRVS: There will be fireworks at New River Valley Speedway, and not just those generated by the drivers on the track at Saturday's Commonwealth Concrete 200.
In between the racing action, the track will hold its second annual fireworks display.
The feature - besides the fireworks - is the 100-lap Late Model Stock Car race. Also on the schedule are a 35-lap race for the Limited Sportsmans and 25-lappers for the Modified Minis, Mini Stocks and Pure Stocks.
Gates open at 1:30 p.m. Practice starts at 3:30. Qualifying gets underway around 6. And the first green flag drops at 8.
Tickets are $10 for adults and $1 for children 12 and under.
M.J. Dougherty covers racing and community sports for the Roanoke Times & World-News' New River Valley bureau.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB