ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, April 20, 1996 TAG: 9604230045
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
COLUMN: Racing
DATELINE: DUBLIN
SOURCE: CHAD WILLIS
The New River Valley Speedway finally began its new season with the FM 94/Ginger's Jewelry 200 at 10 p.m. April 13 - one week and two hours behind schedule - because of rain. The previous week's event, the Eagle Country PSK/Pizza Den 100 was washed out, the 12th time in the last two seasons that's happened.
For the fans who outlasted the weather, last week's racing was a competitive show with three of the five classes coming down to the final few laps.
A pair of defending champions, Floyd's Jeff Agnew (Late Model Stock) and Indian Valley's Hank Turman (Limited Sportsman), picked up right where they left off by winning the first race of the season in their respective classes. Ray Sowers (Floyd) won the 25-lap Mini Stock race in the final five laps, as did Pure Stock victor, Tommy Allie (Christiansburg). Allie outdueled defending class champion Randy Taylor (Madison).
Speedway fans also will be interested to know the Modified-Mini division is no longer being run. According to track owner Ronnie Sunday, the change comes because of a lack of participation. However, this year's Enduro class will be competing for points and a champion will be recognized at the year-end banquet.
Sibling rivalry: Roanoke brothers Tim and Tony McGuire started alongside one another on Row 1 in Saturday's LMS race after each turned qualifying laps of 16.46 seconds (91.10 mph). Tony McGuire, driving the WDBJ-7 No. 07 car, led the opening two laps before Tim, in the WSLS-10 No. 10 car, overtook him in lap three. Tim McGuire led the next 87 laps before yielding to eventual winner Agnew.
"It was a lot of fun getting to run beside Tony for a few laps," Tim McGuire said. "I'm just glad I came out on the better end of it."
Tim went on to finish second while Tony placed fourth.
Ones to watch: Clay Highberger (Salem) made a successful return to the NRV Speedway in the Emory Collins-owned No. 27 Monte Carlo, finishing fifth in the LMS race and fourth in qualifying with a time of 16.51. Highberger, who worked the latter half of last season on Chad Harris' (Stuarts Draft) crew, was racing for the first time in two years.
"It felt good to be back," Highberger said. "The car did pretty well and we survived a near accident with [Joe Lucas on lap 53]. He came down on me and, at that point, I had no choice but to keep going."
Highberger is probably best known to NRV Speedway fans as the driver with the longest rooftop skid in track history, occurring on a wreck in the backstretch in a 1990 race.
Another LMS driver of note was Clay Campbell, the pilot of the No. 21 racecar. Campbell is the owner of the Martinsville Speedway and will be appearing weekly to compete at NRV Speedway. Campbell finished 17th in the 21-car field.
Enduro class update: Frank Kelly captured the first of five Enduro class races slated to be held this season. Kelly dominated the crash-marred 100-lap event, finishing as the only car on the lead lap.
The Enduro format is different from the weekly classes, with each race lasting 100 laps or one hour, whichever occurs first. Start positions are determined by a random draw and not by qualifying. There are no caution flags and the race is only stopped if a driver is in danger of being injured or a wreck is obstructing the normal flow of traffic.
Roanoke's Shelby Cundiff, the only female driver in the field, had a rough go of it Saturday. She drew the 15th starting position out of 16, then spun out four times during the race, finishing six laps off the pace.
Elk Creek Dragway: Fans of the Elk Creek Dragway will notice a few changes around the track in today's season opener. Owner Dave Dabay has added a new timing tower, a "bleach box" area and new lighting around the staging areas. A new timing system also has been purchased from Comp-U-Link and should be installed by early May.
"Racers and fans will be surprised at the changes," Dabay said. "Our racers are our most important asset. We will do whatever we can to make them happy. Without them, we don't have a business."
Apparently, Dabay's racers are very happy, with the weekly car count improving from 60 a season in '94 to more than 150 by the end of '95.
Gates open at the Elk Creek Dragway at 10 a.m., time trials start at noon and eliminations at 6 p.m. Admission is $8, with children 12 and under admitted for free. For more information, call (540) 674-4161.
LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: GENE DALTON/Staff. 1. While most cleared out and foundby CNBshelter against the winds and rain, a few die-hard race fans stayed
put at last week's races at New River Valley Speedway. The storm
passed and racing got underway two hours later. 2. Jeff Agnew (Late
Model Stock, above) 3. and Hank Turman (Limited Sportsman, left),
won races in their respective classes. KEYWORDS: AUTO RACING