Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, October 16, 1995 TAG: 9510160122
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BRUCE STANTON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MARTINSVILLE LENGTH: Long
That's the place McGuire figured he was going to be - long gone - after not making the field for the Late Model Stock race in either round of qualifying.
But after two disqualifications - one that let him in the race and another that gave him the win - the Roanoke resident was left holding the bag, which contained the hefty sum of $25,100.
So McGuire really didn't mind posing for pictures in the dark as the sun set on the speedway. With the luck he had on Sunday, the first-place money probably doubled overnight.
``This is the biggest thing that's ever happened to me,'' said McGuire, who drives a Chevrolet sponsored by WDBJ 7 and Berglund Chevrolet. ``I've been trying here for so long. Today, it didn't even look like we'd make the race, and we wound up winning.''
McGuire picked up the unexpected victory after Elliott Sadler of Emporia was disqualified for having cylinder heads that did not pass postrace inspection. Sadler led the final 28 laps and said the victory was the biggest of his racing career, before it was taken away.
``It's a shock to me,'' said the 20-year-old Sadler, who won 13 races this year in the Mid-Atlantic Region of the Winston Series' Late Model Stock division. ``We just buy the engines and put them in. We didn't know anything was wrong with it.
``It's sad, but we're not hanging our heads over it.''
Also disqualified was Greg Marlowe of Troutman, N.C., who finished fourth. Marlowe's intake manifold did not pass inspection. The disqualifications moved Jason Gullie of Durham, N.C., into second, Richard Landreth of Pine Hall, N.C., into third, Danny Willis of Cluster Spring into fourth and Ray Young of Bassett into fifth.
With a purse of more than $90,000, the Taco Bell 300 attracted the top Late Model drivers in the eastern U.S. But along with the top payoff in Late Model Stock racing came dealing with top inspectors.
``They run on these weekly tracks, and they don't inspect [the cars] that close,'' said Dick Thompson, the speedway's director of public relations. ``Here, we have the best inspectors in the business.''
The disqualification of a Late Model Stock winner at Martinsville is not unprecedented. Mike Buffkin was stripped of his victory in a 1993 race, which gave the victory to current SuperTruck star Mike Skinner.
At the start of the race, McGuire was just happy to be in the field. He had finished fourth in the first 25-lap qualifying race, and only the top three in each of four races made the field for the 200-lap feature. But Stuart Taylor of Cascade was disqualified because his hood did not pass inspection, and McGuire was in the field.
``I was pretty disgusted [at not qualifying],'' said McGuire, who raced with a cast on his left arm because of a broken thumb. ``I was just tickled to death to get a chance to start the race. We got in there and raced good and caught a couple of breaks, and lo and behold, we were right there.''
McGuire has enjoyed a good track record at Martinsville. In eight starts, he has finished fifth, fourth, and with the disqualification to Sadler, first.
Because of rainy weather on Saturday, qualifying for the 122-car field was postponed until Sunday morning. McGuire was the third driver to attempt to qualify, and Sadler went 13th, which was the reason for their poor qualifying efforts, Sadler said.
``We got a raw deal, and that just killed us,'' said Sadler, noting that qualifying times are slower on a cool track. ``But you give us 200 laps, and we'll work on it a bit.''
Bugs Hairfield won the first 100-lap session of the feature race and the accompanying $5,000 check. When the top seven positions were inverted for the restart after a 10-minute intermission for pit stops, Roanoke's Tink Reedy assumed the lead.
But Reedy's lead was short-lived, as he went behind the wall with timing chain problems. Reedy wasn't the only southwest Virginian who had a good run go bad.
Ronnie Thomas of Christiansburg won the pole with a lap of 87.327 mph - his fourth Late Model Stock pole at Martinsville. He led the first 42 laps and was running in second when he retired on lap 64 with brake failure.
Thomas said he forgot to change the brake fluid in his car, and as tough as Martinsville is on brakes, that meant an early end to what looked like a promising day.
``It's one of those days where something worth 10 cents cost us $25,000, philosophically speaking,'' Thomas said. ``At New River [his home track], it's not that hard on brakes, and I just didn't change the fluid. The fluid was boiling. I take the blame for it.''
It was the latest in a long line of Martinsville mishaps for Thomas, the Winston Cup rookie of the year in 1978. He has finished only two of 13 Late Model starts at the speedway.
Jeff Agnew of Floyd, who races against Thomas at New River Valley Speedway, started on the outside pole. But he, too, retired because of a broken left-front A-frame. Agnew said contact with Thomas' car on the first lap caused the damage.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB