ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, October 14, 1996 TAG: 9610150084
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: MARTINSVILLE
SOURCE: CHAD WILLIS STAFF WRITER
Despite a record crowd of 21,000 for Sunday's Taco Bell 300 Late Model Stock race at Martinsville Speedway, only a handful of people saw B.A. Wilson win the race.
It wasn't because the race was completed in an event-record one hour, 26 minutes (72.747 mph). It was because for the second year in a row the apparent winner defaulted after failing to survive the postrace inspection.
Last year, Roanoke's Tony McGuire was the beneficiary of a disqualification to Elliott Sadler when it was found that Sadler's cylinder heads were illegally angled.
This time around, Wilson and his crew found themselves standing in the dark in a deserted victory lane after apparent winner Jay Fogleman was disqualified for an illegally angle-milled cylinder head.
``Yeah, it takes a little away from winning the race like this,'' Wilson said. ``Everyone wants to cross the finish line first and have the crowd cheering for you. You don't get to victory lane often, especially at Martinsville.''
But his 7:30p.m. celebration wasn't the first time this weekend that Wilson visited the area reserved for the sport's elite.
``I parked my truck there the other day, just so I would know what it was like,'' Wilson said. ``But this is going to feel a lot better.''
No one was more surprised at Fogleman's disqualification than Fogleman himself. Following the race, Fogleman was jokingly asked by a reporter if his car ``was legal,'' to which he confidently responded, ``Yes.''
``I don't know what to say about this whole deal,'' Fogleman said. ``You never know what to expect at Martinsville. One minute you're up, the next you're down. I just feel sick about the whole thing.
``The biggest thing is that what they said was wrong with my car doesn't have anything to do with performance. I may not be getting the check, but in my mind we won the race.''
Sunday was the second time Fogleman has been disqualified after a victory at Martinsville. He was disqualified Oct.27, 1991 in the 100-lap Winston Classic, giving Curtis Markham the victory.
In addition to the winner's trophy, Wilson, the South Boston track champion from Glen Allen, took home $25,000 as the winner of the richest Late Model race in NASCAR. Fogleman also had to forfeit the $5,000 bonus he picked up as the halfway leader. The check instead went to Philip Morris.
The announcement of Wilson's victory brought to a crescendo what had already been one of the wildest finishes in the 12-year history of Martinsville's fall Late Model race.
In the first turn of the 200-lap race's final circuit, David Blankenship got underneath race leader David Hyder, forcing Hyder into a 180-degree spin and sending Blankenship through the infield grass.
Fogleman, running third at the time, swerved high, took the lead and held off Wilson by one-tenth of a second for what appeared to be his third career victory at Martinsville.
``My father raced for a long time, so I learned early on to keep your head up and always be on the lookout,'' Fogleman said. ``The last few laps I was constantly looking for somewhere to go because I knew it was going to be close racing. Luckily I found it.''
Blankenship regained control of his Chevrolet in the infield grass and managed to cross the finish line third. Floyd's Jeff Agnew finished fourth and Scott Kilby took fifth.
All three drivers gained a position following Fogleman's disqualification, with Rodney Cook rounding out the top 5.
``When I came into that first turn, I got it onto the curb and went straight into'' Hyder, Blankenship said. ``I thought I could get inside of him, but he came down on me a little.
``It was just racing, and at that point I had to try to make a move. I wish things could have ended differently, but it was just hard racing.''
Hyder, who ended up 17th, had a different take of the incident.
``My guys told me he just went over the curb and slammed into me,'' Hyder said. ``I just wish that if he really thought he could get around me, he would have done it on the track and not in the grass.''
LENGTH: Medium: 87 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: DON PETERSEN/Staff. 1. The car of David Hyder (8) spinsby CNBafter tangling with David Blankenship's car (37) on the final lap of
the Taco Bell 300. Jay Fogleman crossed the finish line first before
being disqualified. color. 2. Jay Fogleman celebrates - as it turned
out, prematurely - in Victory Lane after finishing first Sunday in
the Taco Bell 300 at Martinsville Speedway. Fogleman was
disqualified during the postrace inspection, giving B.A. Wilson the
victory in the Late Model Stock event. KEYWORDS: AUTO RACING