ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, January 24, 1996 TAG: 9601240022
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: Jack Bogaczyk
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
The midweek buffet:
Two of the three short tracks with races on the NASCAR Winston Cup series have been sold. The third won't.
``With what's happened, we get that question all of the time,'' said Martinsville Speedway president Clay Campbell. ``We haven't gotten any inquiries or offers, and maybe that's because people know we wouldn't consider selling.''
Bruton Smith, owner of the tracks in Charlotte and Atlanta, purchased Bristol International Raceway on Monday, after buying half-interest in North Wilkesboro Speedway. Bob Bahre, operator of New Hampshire International Speedway, grabbed the other half of the North Wilkesboro track. Smith also owns 25 percent of North Carolina Motor Speedway in Rockingham.
It figures that one or both Winston Cup races at North Wilkesboro will move, one to Smith's under-construction superspeedway in Roanoke, Texas. Smith said he's not going to move Bristol's two Winston Cup events. And the Goody's 500 and Hanes 500 at Martinsville won't be going anywhere except around the
It is believed that Smith paid more than $30 million for the Bristol track. Campbell said although a track can't legally sell NASCAR dates, any track with those rights certainly can up the ante.
``It would be difficult to say what our place would be worth,'' Campbell said. ``I'd say just the facility alone would be between $15-20 million. But it's not going to happen, so it doesn't matter.''
There's another reason Martinsville won't be sold. Besides the fact that Campbell's grandfather, Clay Earles, owns 50 percent of his hometown track, the other half belongs to the France family that owns the Daytona and Talladega tracks and founded and operates NASCAR.
So, why is Smith buying these tracks if he just doesn't want the dates? Maybe he would consider trying to start a rival racing circuit for stock cars, like the Indy Racing League's challenge to CART. Or, does he want the dates to have leverage in dealing with other new tracks sprouting across the country?
HOKIE HIGH: One of the toughest tests in Virginia Tech's basketball season comes Thursday at physical George Washington, and the Hokies really shouldn't get too giddy about their No.8 ranking in The Associated Press writers' poll. After all, Techsters are forever telling we scribes that we don't know what we're talking about, right?
Of more significance when the NCAA begins selecting and seeding its 64-team tournament field in mid-March are the Ratings Percentage Index, strength of schedule and victories against teams ranked in the RPI top 50 and 100.
This week, Tech is ranked 25th in the RPI, and the Hokies' strength of schedule ranks 162nd among 305 Division I teams. Against top 50 teams, Tech is 1-0, a neutral-floor win over UNC Charlotte (No. 34). Against top 100 clubs, Tech is 2-1, adding a win over No. 57 Virginia and a loss to No. 60 Georgia, also on neutral floors.
Tech has three remaining dates before the A-10 tourney with current top 100 teams - at home against Massachusetts (No.1), and at Temple (41) and Rhode Island (79), although fellow Atlantic 10 members Dayton (102), St.Joseph's (111) and even GW (123) could break into double digits before season's end.
BIG CHECK: The third annual Domino's Lewis-Gale basketball tournament at Roanoke College earlier this month raised $6,990 for cancer research, bringing the three-year benefit to $18,200 split by the Roanoke Valley Chapter of the American Cancer Society and the V Foundation.
This year's record figure is a credit to coaxing by Maroons coach Page Moir in lining up items for raffle and auction. The two-night attendance was only 1,200, but the good news for next year is that with a Jan.4-5 schedule, the Bast Center event will be moved farther away from the holidays and bowl games and into a weekend slot.
THE STING: The Charlotte Hornets rid themselves of two players they didn't want in dealing Kendall Gill and Khalid Reeves to New Jersey for Kenny Anderson. Yes, the Hornets needed a point guard and have used seven players at the point this season. However, Anderson is an NBA free agent at season's end, already has turned down a $40 million deal from the Nets and still can't answer Charlotte's real need.
He isn't a center.
LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines KEYWORDS: AUTO RACINGby CNB