ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, December 8, 1995 TAG: 9512080049
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BRUCE STANTON STAFF WRITER
WHAT BETTER WAY to introduce Legacy Cars than with a bunch of Allisons behind the project?
Allison Legacy Cars are five-eighths the size of Winston Cup cars, but that's the only thing that's scaled down in the plans for the new touring racing series.
Kenny Allison, who designed and built the cars with brothers Ronald and Donald, said the series will debut in 1996 with 26 racing dates in the Southeast. Stops in Virginia will be made at Martinsville Speedway, New River Valley Speedway and probably Southside Speedway in Richmond.
The Allisons, sons of former Winston Cup driver Donnie Allison, have sold 28 of the cars, which are replicas of the Ford Thunderbirds and Chevrolet Monte Carlos raced on the Winston Cup series.
On Saturday at Martinsville Speedway, the Legacy Cars will make their competitive debut in a 30-lap exhibition race at 2 p.m. The race is free to the public and is a part of the speedway's annual Souvenir Days and toy drive. Several Winston Cup souvenir trucks will be on site to sell their wares to fans, and the speedway will exchange a T-shirt for a toy donation for needy children in Martinsville and Henry County.
Thirteen cars and drivers are expected to compete in the exhibition. Competing drivers include: Jim France, the executive vice-president of NASCAR; Clay Earles, the president of Martinsville Speedway; Jimmy Hensley, a Winston Cup and SuperTruck driver from Horsepasture; and Kevin Diomedi, a Roanoke resident and owner/driver in the series.
``The only thing I haven't seen yet is actual racing [with the Legacy Cars],'' Kenny Allison said. ``Ultimately, you'd like it to look like an IROC race, side-by-side and head-to-tail. I think we'll see a good show on Saturday.''
During a recent practice session at Martinsville Speedway, the Legacy Cars averaged about 80 mph on the .526-mile track. The cars are 121/2 feet long and five feet wide and are designed to run on half-mile tracks or smaller.
``I went down and tested at Martinsville, and we were accustomed to running the quarter-mile and three-eighths-mile tracks,'' said Diomedi, 33, who raced in the Legend Series two years ago. ``Martinsville was just about like a superspeedway in these cars. You could look down at your gauges and look back up and take a coffee break. We were close to 100 down the straights, I'd say. The speeds were real good, and the cars were real stable.''
Diomedi has painted his Thunderbird replica with the same color scheme used by Winston Cup star Mark Martin, who test-drove a Legacy Car at Road Atlanta last month. Martin ran a 1-minute, 46-second lap on the road course in the Legacy Car, compared to the 1:24 he turned in his Winston Cup car, Kenny Allison said.
``I claimed Mark Martin's number [No.6] as soon as I could,'' said Diomedi, who is seeking sponsorship for his car. ``He's been an idol of mine for a long time. We're hoping to emulate him in some small way and maybe win a race or two and be a good sport like he is.
``We don't expect to get rich. We do it for the love of the sport and racing. We're going to base it out of Roanoke and travel the whole series.''
Like many of the racers in the series, Diomedi was attracted to the Legacy Cars because of their similarity to the Winston Cup cars and their price tag - $13,900. Kenny Allison said the affordability of the cars will give weekend racers and go-cart racers a chance to step up to a competitive, traveling series without breaking the bank.
Allison hopes the Legacy Cars' likeness to Winston Cup cars will help make them a success with race fans. He's also hoping to find a series sponsor, a TV contract and enough interest to regionalize the series (in the form of geographical divisions) in future years. The inaugural schedule will be released in January, with races to be held in Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Virginia and possibly Tennessee.
``This car and series will be successful because of their resemblance to Winston Cup cars,'' said Allison, who operates out of his shop in Salisbury, N.C. ``If you were sitting in the grandstand and didn't have anything to compare it to, it would be hard to tell it's a little car. The car is a true race car.''
LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY. 1. The Allison brothers, (fromby CNBleft) Ronald, Kenny and Donald, build the Legacy Cars in their shop
in Salisbury, N.C. The sons of former Winston Cup driver Donnie
Allison hope to run a 26-race touring series next year. 2. The
Allison Legacy cars are five-eighths the size of Winston Cup cars
and feature a B2200 Mazda engine that produces 120 horsepower. KEYWORDS: AUTO RACING