Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, September 5, 1995 TAG: 9509070029
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRIS KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
In reality, it was the equivalent of a first-round knockout.
Ronnie Thomas led all 100 laps while capturing the crash-marred Late Model portion of the NRVS 200 Monday afternoon.
The race was expected to be one of the year's most competitive. In addition to the regular complement of drivers, Elliot Sadler, who is currently second in the Mid-Atlantic points standings, Johnny Rumley, who runs full-time on the Busch Grand National circuit, and Steve Grimes, who has won 10 races and leads the points standings at Caraway Speedway in North Carolina, were on hand.
On turn 4 of lap 1, it all came apart. A ten-car accident caused the race to be red-flagged for 40 minutes and eliminated several cars from contention. Rumley and Grimes had their cars damaged, as did Tony McGuire, Phillip Morris and Rodney Cundiff, among others. The race was red-flagged four times.
Accident or not, there was no mistaking the dominance of Thomas. The Christiansburg driver sat on the pole and was never seriously challenged, despite the fact Ray Young remained within striking distance.
It is doubtful that any of the drivers involved in the accident were going to pass Thomas. He has driven his 1992 Dodge to victory nine times this season, and has visited victory lane at the Speedway on 57 occasions.
"I told the crew before the race that we would probably win, if we didn't have any problems," Thomas said. "I don't want to sound like I am making excuses, but we have had problems that have cost us five races. I really feel like we should have won 13 or 14 races by now.''
Bassett's Young, who won Saturday's race, finished three car-lengths behind Thomas. In his last six races, Young has been the model of consistency, winning one race and finishing second five times.
"I felt like we were just as strong as Ronnie, but we couldn't get up there," Young said. "A win and a second place finish in three days isn't bad.''
Floyd's Jeff Agnew finished third, and saw his lead over Young in the battle for the track championship dwindle to 10 points.
In other races:
Rob Fain rolled to victory in the 35-lap Limited Sportsman race. The Blacksburg native started on the pole and led every lap for his second career victory.
Indian Valley's Hank Turman, the season points leader, finished second. Tam Topham, of Wytheville, ended the race in third place and Christiansburg's Bo Howell was fourth.
Pole-sitter Grump Wills, of Bozoo, W.Va., led every lap to capture the 25-lap Pure Stock race.
Madison's Randy Taylor finished second and extended his season points lead over Tony Rogers, who finished fourth. Roanoke's Sam Sayers started on the pole and finished third.
Radford's Wayne Moore continued to prove that he is the class of the Mini Stock field. Moore, who qualified on the pole, started sixth after the field was inverted but it made no difference.
Moore deftly worked his way through the field to capture the race, which was extended to 27 laps due to a late caution. Moore has now won the last nine races that he has entered and 11 on the season.
Kevin Kenley, of Radford, finished second and Galax's Randy Bell finished third. Christiansburg's Kevin Light was the fourth person to take the checkered flag.
Velvet Taylor captured the 20-lap women's Enduro. It was the first all-female race in the track's history.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB