ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, April 22, 1996 TAG: 9604230170
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RADFORD
SOURCE: CHAD WILLIS STAFF WRITER
Lately, the New River Valley Speedway has resembled a championship golf course - there's a lot of driving and it seems as if there's always a water hazard.
For the second straight week, speedway fans have had to endure an afternoon shower and a delayed start to the Winston 200.
When matters finally got under way Saturday night, Late Model Stock driver Jeff Agnew (Floyd) was standing in Victory Lane for the second time in as many races.
Agnew passed pole-sitter and race leader Phillip Morris (Ruckersville) in turn 2 on lap 69, just before the second yellow flag of the evening waved.
Agnew, the lead driver in the restart, led the final 31 laps, holding off Tony McGuire to pick up his second win of 1996.
``I had been battling Phillip all race,'' Agnew said. ``I would get inside of him, but his car held a good line on the outside all night. It was a good race and we're happy to have come out on top.''
Agnew added that his crew came into '96 with intentions of starting off strong.
``Last year we started out terrible in the opening races,'' Agnew said. ``This year we're having better luck. We're just going to ride this little wagon as long as we can.''
Roanoke's McGuire wound up second after charging through the pack, making up four spots from his sixth-best qualifying position.
``I had a lousy qualifying run tonight and that probably cost me the race,'' McGuire said. ``But it's a second-place finish and it's still early in the season.''
McGuire's brother, Tim, finished third for his second straight top-three finish. Rick Sigmon (Rocky Mount) finished fourth and Tink Reedy (Roanoke) placed fifth.
In the 50-lap Limited Sportsman race, Tam Topham (Wytheville) rebounded from last week's second-place showing to take the checkered flag.
Topham qualified first and led flag-to-flag in picking up his first win of the season.
``I was a little hard on myself after finishing second last week,'' Topham said. ``It wasn't until Thursday that we discovered the car's rear end was broken. After that I felt better about it all.''
Mark Akers (Narrows) finished second, a position he held the duration of the race, and Jay McCray (Salem) finished third.
Cloverdale's Tony Rogers picked up the win in the caution-extended 29-lap Pure Stock race. Rogers inherited the lead on lap 25 when front-runners Tommy Allie and Randy Taylor collided.
John McMahan (Pembroke) finished second, with James Hunt rounding out the top three.
In the finale, Steve Dalton captured the 32-lap Mini Stock race, leading the final 24 laps. Terry Hanks (Max Meadows) took second and Paul Vaught (Newport) claimed third.
LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines KEYWORDS: AUTO RACINGby CNB