Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 13, 1994 TAG: 9407140061
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: M.J. Dougherty
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Long
To make the shorter races competitive, the top qualifiers in the lower divisions at New River Valley Speedway are being inverted. The top four, six or eight drivers are ``turned upside down'' in the starting lineup, depending on what number was drawn by the fastest qualifier in each division.
Track promoter Ronnie Snoddy and chief steward Lynn Carroll devised the plan. It is similar to the process used to set the front of the field in the second half of Late Model Stock Car doubleheaders.
``A lot of tracks do it, especially with their lower divisions,'' said Snoddy. ``I think it creates excitement. The fans don't come out here to see the same car run away with it.''
Saturday was the first time the field was inverted, and it didn't affect the results. The winners in the Pure Stock, Mini Stock and Modified Minis were no strangers to victory lane. But the new rule did make it much more difficult for them to get up front.
Tommy Allie of Christiansburg got held up on the start in the Pure Stock race. Robbie Cudiff, who moved from eighth to first on the inverted grid, had trouble getting his car into gear when the green flag dropped.
``It got a little bit scary at first,'' said Allie. ``I bumped the car in front of me and I got hit from behind.''
Gene Duncan of Radford was moved from first to eighth when the field was inverted in the Mini Stock race. He fell back as far as 10th place early in the race, but by lap 20 he was on his way to the win.
``We got a few scratches on the car; we got a few bings and bangs,'' said Duncan. ``We just had to be patient.''
And as always in the Modified Minis, Jimmy Hinkley and Tony Howell dueled for the victory. Hinkley, who was moved from first to fourth on the starting grid, won the battle and took a two-point lead in the division standings.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR: The rained out Wade's/Campbell Soup 200 has been rescheduled for Oct. 1. And at least one new driver will be in the race - Ken Schrader. As in the Ken Schrader who is fifth in the Winston Cup points.
If he wins, Schrader will join Morgan Shepherd as Winston Cup winners who have victories at NRVS. Shepherd won a race in 1988, the track's first season.
The Enduro race originally scheduled for Oct. 1 has been pushed back one day to Oct. 2..
TOO QUICK TO HANDLE: Allie is unbeaten in six starts in the Pure Stocks with his mid-70s vintage Chevrolet Camaro.
``We're just on a hot streak and we haven't changed a thing [on the set up],'' said Allie after victory No. 5. ``The car is a little slow on the first lap. But it gets going once the tires heat up.''.
NEW JOB FOR OLD HAND: Roanoke's Malcolm Fink has found something to do as he waits for a new engine for his Chevrolet.
Fink is now the crew chief for Kenny Prillaman of Salem.
``If he's running up front, I've done my job,'' said Fink. ``It frees him [Prillaman] up from having to work on the car, get it set up and then having to think about the race. He can now concentrate on what he has to do out there.''
In just their second week together, Prillaman qualified on the outside pole. However, the engine lost a cylinder early on and then later dropped a valve, forcing him to park it after 60 laps.
``It always runs strong right before it goes away,'' said Prillaman.
Fink will continue to serve as crew chief even after his car is repaired. He plans on driving only part time. On those weekends when he is racing, the two teams will park side-by-side on pit road..
PURE EXCITEMENT: Despite the front half of the field being inverted, the Pure Stocks had no caution periods for only the third time in 14 races. One reason for the safe driving was a prerace warning from chief steward Carroll, who said action would be taken against drivers who caused wrecks.
The strong message came one week after the Pure Stocks equaled their season high (for a 25-lap race) with five cautions.
The worst of those wrecks totaled Mike "Monk" Marion's Monte Carlo. Marion had just put $700 worth of work into the front end of the car after a wreck last month that caused him to miss several races.
``At least I didn't paint it,'' said Marion. ``That was an expensive nine laps I ran.''
Only nine of the 16 cars that started that race were around at the end and two of them were badly damaged. All that had the drivers talking about the roughness of their division in the pits after the race..
COMINGS AND COMING SOON: Two drivers who hadn't been at NRVS for a while showed up in the Late Model lineup.
Darrell Holman, who started the season driving in both the Late Model and Limited divisions, was at the track for the first time since May 22. The Abingdon resident returned from Lonesome Pine International Raceway in Coeburn in an effort to change his luck. He qualified 10th and finished 15th.
Christiansburg's Bo Howell was driving the Chrysler LeBaron owned by George Link of Newport.
``He told me to take the car out and see what I could do with it,'' said Howell, who is converting his Chevrolet from a Limited to a Late Model.
Despite oil leak problems in the car driven last year by Chris Diamond and in 1992 by Ronnie Thomas, Howell qualified 15th and finished ninth.
Expected back next week are Thomas and Mike Dillon. Christiansburg's Thomas has taken a couple of weeks off in an effort to make his Buick more competitive. North Carolinian Dillon decided to try his luck at other Saturday night tracks..
DOWN AND OUT: For the second straight time, Stacy Compton took an early exit in the Late Model race.
This time, the right front quarter-panel broke loose from the car and could not be removed before Compton - an every-other-week competitor at the track - lost a lap.
Overheating problems doomed Compton in his previous try at NRVS.
In between, Compton had better luck at South Boston Speedway, winning a 200-lapper for his third victory of the year..
THIS WEEK AT NRVS: It's 200-lapper time for the Late Models Saturday night in the Basham Oil/F&H Oil/Pennzoil 300.
Also on tap are a 35-lap Limited Sportsman race and 25-lap races for the Mini Stocks and the Pure Stocks.
In addition, sky divers will land at the start-finish line at race time.
Gates open at 2 p.m. Practice begins at 4. Qualifying starts at 6:15. The green flag drops at 8.
Admission is $10 for adults and $1 for children 12 and under.
Also, Thursday is an open practice at the speedway at 4-8 p.m. Admission is free to spectators beginning at 3.
M.J. Dougherty covers racing and community sports for the Roanoke Times & World-News' New River Valley bureau.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB