ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, June 15, 1996 TAG: 9606170055
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
COLUMN: Racing
DATELINE: RADFORD
Jeff Agnew's four-race absence from the New River Valley Speedway's victory lane hasn't done much to hurt him in the Blue Ridge Region standings of the NASCAR Winston Racing Series. Agnew (Floyd) currently ranks third with a .757 competition performance index, just .001 behind second-place Steven Howard (Greenville Pickens Speedway). Mike Reynolds of the Nashville Speedway leads the region with a .799 cpi. All three drivers have four victories this season.
NRV Speedway Late Model Stock regulars Phillip Morris (37), Rodney Cundiff (39) and Chad Harris (44) each rank among the region's top 50 drivers. Cundiff is second at the NRV Speedway with two wins and seven top-five finishes. Harris and Morris are winless, but Morris has finished in the top 10 in each of the season's eight races. Harris has posted seven top-10 performances.
The series, in its 16th season, is comprised of 10 regions with each containing 10 speedways. Drivers are competing for a $36,000 regional championship purse, as well as a $110,000 prize that will be awarded to the national champion.
FAST TIMES: Morris posted the season's fastest qualifying lap June 1 for the Jordan Oil/Clouds Clothing 100 with a circuit time of 16.33 seconds (91.71 mph), eclipsing the season's previous best time of 16.42 (91.20 mph), set by Agnew. Frankie Pennington set the standard in '92 with a one-lap time of 16.13 (92.85 mph).
"Frankie's time came just after the turns were repaved in '92," NRV Speedway co-owner and promoter Ronnie Snoddy said. "The conditions for Frankie were perfect. I doubt we'll see another time that low again, but considering the track conditions now, Phillip's lap was pretty darn fast."
ELK CREEK DRAGWAY: Rainy weather caused the cancellation of the June 8 races. The June 1 event saw the largest competitor count of the season, with 110 cars and motorcycles squaring off in regular bracket racing.
Craig Hensdell (Independence) captured his first victory of the season in the Super-Pro division with a time of 6.48 sec (96 mph) while cutting a .006 light. Marvin Hawks (Hillsville) finished second. With the victory, Hendsell jumped from sixth in the points standings to a tie for first with John Huff. Semifinalist Rusty Jackson turned in the evening's fastest time, crossing the finish line at 116 mph.
In the Footbrake division, Randy Richardson (Fancy Gap) took home his first victory of the season in six rounds. Richardson turned in a final time of 6.99 with a reaction time of .115. Dennis Blair placed second in his first appearance of the season at Elk Creek.
Wytheville's Barry Fisher edged out Kevin Jones in the Trophy class. Corey King captured the Motorcycle division. King, the defending track champion and current points leader, defeated rookie Jesse Lipps (Independence) in the final round.
SNODDY'S CURSE: Rain canceled last week's running of the Hoechst Celanese 100, the second New River Valley Speedway race to be washed out this season. Last year, three races had been canceled by mid-June because of precipitation. Of small consolation to the speedway owner was the fact he was on vacation last weekend and wasn't at the track to witness the downpour.
"We've had lousy weather again this year," Snoddy said. "Two or three of the races we've ran we probably would have been better off canceling because when its raining elsewhere, people don't come out to the track. Rain also keeps the car count down. One of these days we'll get some good weather."
The hundreds of fans who braved last week's showers were treated to an autograph session by Winston Cup driver Mike Wallace. Those who received Wallace's autograph might consider hanging on to it as a collector's item since it was announced Monday he was released by owner Junie Donlavey and replaced by Dick Trickle. Maybe the NRV Speedway "rain curse" extended to Wallace.
LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Gene Dalton. 1. Rain beads on Lynwood Turner's race carby CNB(above) as Donald Epperly, a member his pit crew, dries it off
during one of last Saturday's rain delays at New River Valley
Speedway. 2. Late Model Stock driver Jeff Agnew (right) tries out a
different sort of race vehicle between rain showers as he talks with
fellow competitor Phillip Morris. color. KEYWORDS: AUTO RACING