ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, October 19, 1996 TAG: 9610210024
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: RADFORD
SOURCE: CHAD WILLIS STAFF WRITER
If Late Model Stock driver Rodney "Six Pack" Cundiff has his way, today's race at New River Valley Speedway will resemble the Iditarod.
"Heck, I hope it snows, sleets and is just downright cold for the race," Cundiff said. "It worked in our favor last year, so I'm hoping for more of it."
Cundiff won last October's New River Valley Chevrolet Dealers 250 in conditions better suited for dogsleds and thermal undergarments than auto racing. For his efforts, the Boones Mill resident received a check for $10,000 and a warm jacket from his crew.
"We always seem to run better in colder weather," Cundiff said. "All the cars are faster when it gets cooler, but we seem to do a little better than the rest."
With the local forecast calling for highs in just the mid-40s, Cundiff may just get his wish for today's PMI/Stop In/Winston 250, the final race of the 1996 season at New River Valley Speedway.
With a total purse of $30,000 and regional bragging rights on the line, this year's October race shapes up to be the most competitive field in the history of the event.
Six NASCAR Winston Racing Series track champions - Jeff Agnew (Kingsport Speedway), Barry Beggarly (Ace), Chad Harris (New River Valley), Randy Ratliffe (Lonesome Pine), Wes Troup (Old Dominion) and B.A. Wilson (South Boston) - will be among those competing for a $10,000 winner's purse and $1,000 bonus awarded to the race's halfway leader.
"I would say this is the best field we've ever had for this race," speedway co-owner and promoter Ronnie Snoddy said. "We've got the six track champions and all the local drivers. We'll also have guys like Dexter Canipe [runner-up, Tri-County Motor Speedway] and Jay Fogleman [New River Valley Speedway WDBJ-7 250 winner] here. It should be our best fall race."
Big-purse events like today's PMI/Stop In/Winston 250 have become so popular among drivers and track owners that a sort of second season has emerged in the Winston Racing Series.
"I think that you will see a lot more drivers competing in these big money races," Cundiff said. "It seems like more of the better drivers are just going from one track to another chasing the big purses."
Fogleman, who edged out Cundiff and picked up $15,000 at the only other 250-lap race held at the Radford speedway this season, sees events like this as a greater challenge for his Durham, N.C.-based Libby Hill race team.
"I don't want to give people the wrong impression when I say this because I don't want people to think I can't run at a weekly track," Fogleman said. "You get a lot more competitive fields for races like Martinsville and New River and as a driver, it's easier to get up for a race like that. We don't run at just one speedway anymore we kind of tour around to wherever the big money is."
Today's race in Radford is but one in a series of races being run throughout the Eastern United States in September and October featuring purses of $10,000 or greater to win. Events at Orange County, Martinsville, Nashville, Kingsport, Lonesome Pine, North Wilkesboro and Myrtle Beach highlight the latter part of the NASCAR Winston Racing Series.
"Since the season ended at South Boston we've being going everywhere to run in these big races," said B.A. Wilson, champion of last weekend's Taco Bell 300 at Martinsville Speedway. "Running these big races against strong competition is the best way to improve as a driver. I'm learning something every time out."
Among the favorites for today's event is Floyd's Jeff Agnew, a three-time track champion at the New River Valley Speedway. Agnew slipped from first to third in this season's points race in the final two weeks, finishing behind 1996 champion Chad Harris and Cundiff, but will compete today in a different race car.
Agnew will be piloting the familiar orange and white Clarence's Steak House Chevrolet of Martinsville racing legend Clarence Pickerul. Pickerul has been a fixture at Martinsville Speedway since the early days of Modified racing and his cars have enjoyed success at the New River Valley Speedway, winning the track title in 1993 as well as a pair of WDBJ televised races.
"This is one of the best cars I've ever driven," Agnew said after finishing third at last weekend's Taco Bell 300. "We won the big-money race at Lonesome Pine in it and finished in the top three at [North] Wilkesboro."
Gates open today at 9 a.m. with practice beginning at 11 a.m. Admission is $12 for adults and $1 for children 12-and-under. Qualifying begins at 1:30 p.m. for the first 20 starting positions. Two heats races will decide positions 21-30 and a pair of track provisionals will round out the grid. The green flag drops on the PMI/Stop In/Winston 250 at 3 p.m.
LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: GENE DALTON/Staff. Rodney "Six Pack" Cundiff won lastby CNBOctober's New River Valley Chevrolet Dealers 250. color. KEYWORDS: AUTO RACING