ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, September 3, 1996 TAG: 9609040070
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RADFORD
SOURCE: ANGIE WATTS STAFF WRITER
CHAD HARRIS survives post-race protest and scores first victory at New River Valley Speedway.
In a race that saw as much action after the checkered flag dropped as it did before, Chad Harris of Stuarts Draft captured his first career Late Model Stock Car victory Monday at New River Valley Speedway.
Jeff Agnew took the pole in the United Auto Workers 200, but quick starts from outside pole-sitter Tony McGuire and Harris dropped Agnew to third early.
McGuire, Harris and Agnew ran 1-2-3 for most of the 100-lap race, but a caution flag at lap 93 brought the field back together. Harris made the most of the restart on lap 96, pulling close behind - then even - with McGuire.
Running side-by-side coming out of turn 4 of lap 98, Harris nipped McGuire to the white flag by mere inches, and held the inside lane for the checkered.
"I had my hands full there at the end," Harris said. "But we've been so close this year I couldn't back off. I had to go for it. We were lucky enough to have just enough left to win this one at the end.''
McGuire crossed the finish line second, and accused Harris after the race of bumping him into the outside groove on lap 99. McGuire pointed to a dent in his left-rear quarterpanel as proof, but refused to comment further. Instead he paid $400 to protest the cambered rear axles of both Harris and Agnew, who apparently finished third.
A crowd of almost 500 fans waited in the pits as all three cars underwent inspection, and erupted into cheers with the announcement of a disqualification to McGuire. Harris' car survived the inspection process, but Agnew's camber was found illegal.
The official results gave Harris the victory, with Johnny Rumley second and Ray Young third.
The turn of events knocked Agnew, who has led the LMS points race all season, into second place, 34 points behind Harris. Going into Sunday's double-points finale, Harris leads with 962 points, followed by Agnew (928), Rodney Cundiff (926) and McGuire (900).
In the 35-lap Limited Sportsman division, points leader Tam Topham of Wytheville posted his 10th victory of the season. Topham took the pole at 16.76 seconds and led from flag to flag.
Salem's Jay McCray challenged Topham briefly for the lead, as both cars led the rest of the field by approximately five seconds. Kenny Montgomery took third just ahead of Hank Turman, with Bo Howell rounding out the top five.
Christiansburg's Tommy Allie continued his dominance in the Pure Stock class, leading all 25 laps to record his 17th victory. Allie has taken the checkered flag in all but three Pure Stock races this year.
Anthony Hall of Radford made his way from sixth position to second in the opening eight laps, and held on for the second-place finish. Randy Taylor was third.
In the 25-lap Mini Stock division, points leader Ray Sowers captured his ninth victory of the season, with Robert Cox taking second and John Cox third.
The Mini Stock cars were held over from Saturday's race, and after inspection Monday, track officials disqualified Saturday's apparent winner, Mary Moore. As a result, the victory was awarded to Robert Cox, with Kevin Snyder second and Ray Sowers third.
In a special running of the Mini Cup division, Willie Wines captured the victory, with Larry Johnson and Willie Wines, Jr. finishing second and third, respectively.
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines KEYWORDS: AUTO RACINGby CNB