ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, July 13, 1996 TAG: 9607150033
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
COLUMN: Racing
DATELINE: RADFORD
SOURCE: CHAD WILLIS STAFF WRITER
Late Model Stock driver Clay Highberger doesn't have to dig through a mountain of racing mementos or sift through scrapbooks to describe to family and friends the best of times. For the Salem resident and pilot of the No. 27 Collins Racing Monte Carlo, these are his glory days.
It's a bit difficult to call Highberger the "new kid on the block" with 22 years of driving and crew chief experience under his belt, but his recent run at and by the New River Valley Speedway's heavyweights has pumped new life into what had threatened to become a three-car division.
"I wouldn't say we're one of the hunted yet, but hopefully we're getting there," Highberger said. "In all my years of racing, this last three or four weeks is the most confident I've felt about a car or crew."
While he may rank as the speedway's most underrated drivers, four consecutive top-five finishes, including a June 29 victory in the Commonwealth Concrete 100, have thrust Highberger into fourth place in the division points standings, trailing LMS second-place driver Tony McGuire by only 30 points. Highberger sat on the pole the previous two weeks and ranks second in the class with three poles, one behind points leader Jeff Agnew.
Highberger said he attributes the successful run to brother and crew chief Jim Highberger. This season is the first in Highberger's career he has been able to concentrate strictly on driving and let others handle the setup of the race car.
"In the past, we've had a bunch of us putting our heads together trying to get the car running as well as we could," Highberger said. "It's such a fine line between running up front and the middle of the pack. We've made some changes lately, and it's paid off. All that stuff you hear about long hours and trying different combinations ... it's all true. Lately we've been able to find a certain amount of consistency."
CLOSING THE GAP: After winning six of the first nine Limited Sportsman races of the season, Tam Topham of Wytheville amassed a 68-point lead in the season standings and was all but handed the trophy as track champion.
Move forward three weeks. Since his June 15 victory in the Shelor 35-lap event, Topham has seen his stranglehold grip on the Limited Sportsman field weaken to a 16-point lead over Jay McCray. McCray has reached the winner's circle only once in 1996, but his 11 top-five finishes rank first in the Limited Sportsman division.
A pair of wins by Eddie Walls and a victory by Bruce Brown have kept Topham out of victory lane for nearly a month - his longest drought of the year. Topham, who after his sixth victory said his secret was "staying out in front and out of danger," has been involved in spins in two of the last three races, each requiring minor repairs to his No. 24 Christiansburg Motors Monte Carlo.
"This last week we did a little damage to the frame, but I think we've got it fixed and should be back to running like we were," Topham said. "Two or three incidents we've been involved with this year were maybe a little uncalled for, but that's the part of racing you have to expect."
Despite the recent dry spell, Topham's team recently received some good news when FM 94 agreed to come aboard as a major sponsor.
AROUND THE TRACK: Agnew continues to lead the LMS division (92 points ahead of McGuire) and maintains his third-place standing in the NASCAR Winston Racing Series' Blue Ridge Region with a .757 CPI. Agnew, the only NRV Speedway regular in the region's top 50, trails Greenville-Pickens (N.C.) Speedway's Steven Howard (.797) and Nashville Speedway's Mike Reynolds (.778). ... Those fans complaining about Agnew's point dominance can only look to what could have been if McGuire and Highberger had not each missed a race. McGuire's bid for his first track title also took a big hit when he finished last on June 29 after a lap 4 wreck sidelined him for the evening. ... Speedway co-owner and promoter Ronnie Snoddy said the July 27 Kroger/WDBJ-7 250 has received commitments from North Carolina drivers Jay Fogelman and Greg Marlowe, adding that other top drivers from around the region are expected to compete. qualifying seventh and placing sixth in the 100-lap event. ... Independence Day festivities at the NRV Speedway drew the largest crowd of the season, with an attendance estimated by speedway officials at 7,500. Deihl Wilson drove the Virginia Giant to victory in the Monster Truck event. Steve Coleman took the checkered flag in the 25-lap Mini Cup race, and Kelvin Harmon won the 100-lap Enduro.
LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ALAN KIM/Staff. Race cars are lined up in the pit areaby CNBwhile being prepared for warm-up laps prior to a Saturday evening
race at New River Valley Speedway. color. KEYWORDS: AUTO RACING RACING