Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, August 22, 1993                   TAG: 9308220167
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: D11   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: M.J. DOUGHERTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD                                LENGTH: Medium

THOMAS NOTCHES 11TH WIN

Then he held off Paul Radford in the fourth turn of the final lap to win the 100-lap Late Model Stock Car race in the Pontiac Excitement 250 at New River Valley Speedway.

"I had to move back up to the top of the track," Thomas said after he tied his own track record with his 11th victory of the season. "I'm not saying we would not have won the race if we had stayed down low, but when we were high we had a little bit more coming out of the corner. That worked out good.

"Also we had developed a push over the last half of the race. And the higher up we were, the less it pushed."

The closest Radford came to taking the lead was on lap 94. On a restart after a caution period, Radford pulled his Chevrolet Lumina to the inside of Thomas' Ford Thunderbird. But Radford didn't have enough power to complete the pass.

"He [Thomas] has got so much horsepower, he doesn't have to worry about anyone pulling along side of him," said Radford, whose points lead over Thomas is 24 with three races left. "He can just pull past them. He is one cool cat."

Thomas started from the outside of the first row. He moved around pole-sitter Jeff Agnew in turn 1 on the first lap and wasn't challenged until Radford pulled close behind him in the closing stages of the race.

Tink Reedy was third, equalling his best finish of the season. Agnew was fourth and Rodney "Six Pack" Cundiff was fifth.

In other NRVS races:

Junior Leagans of Max Meadows made it 2-for-2 in the Limited Sportsman division this season with a victory in the 35-lap race. Leagans started from the pole and led the entire race. Rock Harris finished second and Bo Howell third.

Tony Howell of Christiansburg continued his dominance of the Mini Stock division by outdueling Jay McCray in a 25-lap race. It was Howell's 10th victory of the season.

Tommy Allie of Christiansburg led from start to finish as he won the 25-lap Pure Stock race for the second time in three weeks. Davis "Ducky" Phillips was second.

The Modified Minis did not run because of the Goody's Dash race. Division points-leader Charlie Smith of Dublin entered the Dash race with his Toyota Celica and finished 10th.

Johnny Smith of Taylorsville, N.C., won the Dash race, leading all 100 laps.

Keywords:
AUTO RACING