ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, March 17, 1996 TAG: 9603180061
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: MARTINSVILLE
SOURCE: JOHN A. MONTGOMERY STAFF WRITER
ROANOKE'S TONY MCGUIRE qualifies his Chevrolet third for today's Late Model Stock Car race in Martinsville.
The racing conditions for qualifying at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday afternoon were practically ideal for North Carolina's Todd Massey.
The temperature was hovering around 70 degrees. The skies were mostly sunny. The track was fast and dry.
Oh, and one more thing: New tires were a requirement for qualifying. Massey credited that most of all for giving him the pole for this afternoon's Miller 300 Late Model Stock Car race.
``In all the years I've been racing, I've always qualified on `sticker' tires,'' Massey said. ``That's my normal procedure, and I think it gave me a slight advantage today. More or less, I ran a perfect lap.''
Massey circled the Martinsville ``paper clip'' oval at 88.541 mph, fastest among 84 drivers, each of whom was credited with the fastest of two laps Saturday. The first 20 qualifiers earned automatic spots in this afternoon's 200-lap race. The other 12 positions will be filled from the top three finishers in four 25-lap heat races that begin this afternoon at 12:30.
Today's champion wins a $25,000 paycheck from a total purse of $90,720. The Miller 300 is the richest NASCAR Late Model Stock Car race in the nation.
For posting the fastest time Saturday, Massey, who drives a Pontiac, earned $1,000 from various sponsors.
Starting on the outside for the main race will be Richard Landreth, from Pine Hall, Va., who qualified in 88.503 mph. Roanoke's Tony McGuire, the ninth racer out of the blocks Saturday, held the pole position for more than an hour until his speed (88.391 mph) was eclipsed by Massey, and then Landreth.
By qualifying third in his Chevrolet, McGuire matched his previous career best starting position at Martinsville set last fall, when he went on to win the Taco Bell 300.
``I would have liked to try qualifying at the end of the line, when the track had cooled later in the afternoon,'' McGuire said. ``I was hoping my time would hold up, but once somebody got it, I was glad to get knocked off again, because I'd rather start on the inside [third] than on the outside [second].''
Landreth agreed. ``It's hard to break into line [during the race] when you start on the outside groove,'' he said. ``That isn't the fastest way to win at Martinsville.''
Two other local racers made the top 20 Saturday. Floyd's Jeff Agnew, New River Valley Speedway champion in 1995, will start 14th, and Roanoke's Ronnie Newman, who did not race in 1995, will start 20th.
Newman qualified 17th at Martinsville in a 1989 race, and Saturday's performance was his best effort since. ``We thought we'd qualifed 22nd,'' Newman said, adding that he was pleasantly surprised not to have to run in today's heats.
``I feel 100 pounds lighter,'' Newman said.
Several former Martinsville champions failed to qualify Saturday, including Barry Beggarly, Jay Fogleman, Joe Gaita, and pre-race favorite Shayne Lockhart.
Christiansburg's Ronnie Thomas, who set the all-time Late Model qualifying record at Martinsville in 1989 (89.876 mph), developed a problem in his vehicle's oil line during practice and was unable to attempt qualifying Saturday.
LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines KEYWORDS: AUTO RACINGby CNB