Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, July 17, 1995 TAG: 9507180140
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: M.J. DOUGHERTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
The Christiansburg driver started from the pole and led all 200 laps of the longest non-stop Late Model Stock Car race of the season at the track, the feature of Saturday night's Basham Oil/F&L Oil/Pennzoil 300.
``If my mother was in that car, she would have won tonight - and she's never driven a race car,'' Thomas said of his small-carburetor Dodge Avenger. ``That was a race car driver's dream. I'll tell you, it was A-W-E-S-O-M-E.''
The victory was the fourth in a row for Thomas - tying his personal best. It was the eighth victory of the year and 56th of Thomas' career at NRVS.
Michael Ritch finished second in his Chevrolet Camaro. And while he ran second to Thomas for the last 177 laps, he never got closer than a car-length.
``Close but no cigar,'' said Ritch, of High Point, N.C. ``Nobody had anything for Ronnie tonight. He's really got everything together.''
Jeff Agnew of Floyd finished third in a Chevy Monte Carlo, and Tim McGuire of Roanoke was fourth in a Camaro.
Mike Porter of Princeton, W.Va., came in fifth after having to start at the rear of the 27-car field when his qualifying run was disallowed because his car was too light.
By virtue of his second-place finish, Ritch regained the points lead after having lost it for one week. Ritch leads Tony McGuire, who came into Saturday night leading in points but finished ninth, 678-670. Bassett's Ray Young (662), Agnew (660) and Thomas (650) complete the top five in the extremely close battle for the track championship.
Hank Turman of Indian Valley, the points leader, was awarded the victory in the 35-lap Limited Sportsman race when the apparent winner, Terry Lawson of Christiansburg, refused to tear down his car for inspection. The disqualification, the second of Lawson this season, moved Aaron Deplazes of Newport to second, Jay McCray of Salem to third and Bruce Brown of Rocky Mount to fourth.
Wayne Moore of Radford took the lead on lap 17 and went on to his division-leading sixth 25-lap Mini Stock victory of the season. Points leader Ray Sowers of Floyd was second and Marty Moore of Radford was third.
Sam Sayers of Roanoke made his way through a 12-car wreck that involved the top seven cars and went on to win his first 25-lap Pure Stock race of the season. Tommy Allie of Christiansburg, whose car triggered the crash when his steering wheel came off on the third lap, came back to finish second. Points leader Tony Rogers of Cloverdale was third.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB