Asheville Citizen-Times from Asheville, North Carolina • Page 24

SPORTS ASHEVILLE CITIZEN-TIMES C2 SUNDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2009 sportsworld I a closer look at the news with Keith Jarrett ACC Box score on C9 Virginia 16 North Carolina 3 Cavaliers upend Tar Heels GERRY BROOMETHE ASSOCIATED PRESS Duke's Austin Kelly, top left, and Vlnce Oghobaase, bottom left, upend Virginia Tech's Ryan Williams during the second half Saturday In Durham. Va. Tech. etdowmi dodges I By Aaron Beard THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CHAPEL HILL It took just one game for Virginia to regain some of the con- fidence lost during an 0-3 start. Now it's North Caro-: Una's turn to figure out what's gone wrong.

Mikell Simpson ran for the game-clinching touchdown in the fourth quarter while Virginia's defense turned in a dominating performance to beat North Carolina 16-3 on Saturday, giving the Cavaliers yet another victory against their cross-border rivals. Robert Randolph kicked three field goals for the Cavs (1-3, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), who i went into their bye week looking desperate and hearing Al Groh's critics I chirping about his uncer- tain future at his alma mater. They emerged from that break with a victory against a team that was nationally ranked only a week earlier to start league play. "We're very proud, very 1 appreciative of the effort they put in to make this happen and very happy for them that they can enjoy a moment like this," Groh said. Simpson added 100 yards rushing, but the Cav- aliers didn't need much offense considering the way their defense completely locked down on the Tar Heels (3-2, 0-2).

North Car- I olina got nothing from its rushing attack, committed three turnovers and man-' aged just 174 total yards. And when Simpson ran it in' from 8 yards out with 5:49 left, Virginia had a two-possession lead. The ones who stayed booed the Tar Heels steadily the rest of the way, which was coincidentally 1 the same thing the Cava- liers heard during their last home game. "We needed (the win) bad just for the fact we started 0-3, and a lot of" guys, had confidence coming into the season that we would never be in this situ- ation," Simpson said. Now the Cavaliers have won 10 of 12 meetings against North Carolina, including all three since Butch Davis took, over in 1 Chapel Hill in 2007.

"It's just being relent-, less," said defensive end Nate Collins, who had the interception-forcing hit on Yates. "Our coaches told us this week, 'Just. be too hard to handle for every- ACC Box score on C9 No. 6 Va. Tech Duke 34 26 Scholarship to honor NASCAR legend 'Banjo' Matthews Recognition and appreciation for one of NAS-CAR's legends who spent much of his life in Asheville is the goal of a new scholarship created by the Buncombe County Schools Foundation.

The "Banjo" Matthews Scholarship will provide opportunities for local students who want to further their education in the field of motorsports. Edwin Matthews was born on Valentine's Day, 1932 in Akron, Ohio, and was soon tagged with the nickname "Banjo" by his friends and his mother because his round glasses with gold rims resembled the musical instrument. After the family moved' to Florida, Matthews began working on cars at age 12, climbed into a race car at age 15 and quit school soon after to go racing. He first came to Asheville in 1952, and two years later moved here permanently. Banjo also set up residence in Victory Lane in his new home.

When McCormick Field was temporarily converted from a baseball field to a racetrack from 1956-58, Banjo won 14 consecutive races there. He was so dominant on the 13-mile track that 'race officials once made him start from the back of a 36-car field to give the other drivers a better chance. Banjo still won. After dozens of wins in NASCAR's Modified division, he moved up to the Grand National (now Sprint Cup) Series. He had no wins in 51 starts but won several poles, including at Daytoha, and had 13 top 10s.

Banjo was also a colorful driver and quote in an era of characters in the garage area. His language was salty, and he once drove a car sponsored by a neon sign company. To promote the business, Banjo's car had a working neon sign on the roof. But it was as a car builder that Banjo left his mark. He first set up shop in the '50s with Joyner's Speed Shop on Brevard Road, and later he built Banjo's Performance Center in Asheville.

If you drove NASCAR in the 1970s and early 80s, chances are Banjo built your car. According to records provided by the International Motorsports Hall of Fame, cars, built by Banjo won 262 of 362 races from 1974-85, including all 30 victories ini978. As a car owner, Banjo's team won nine races and employed drivers like Fireball Roberts, Junior Johnson, A.J. Foyt, Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison. And when three drivers including Roberts died in racing accidents in 1964, Banjo's focus was on building safer race cars.

"It was a transition time going from homemade cars to cars we have today," Matthews once told the Citizen-Times. "It was time to make race cars safer." A member of several halls of fame including the WNC Sports Hall of Fame Matthew died at age 64 in 1996. Buncombe County School System employee "Harmon Ingle, a former racer, said recognizing Matthews is long overdue. "Buncombe County holds a unique position in the history of the stock car racing industry, one that has been all but erased," said Ingle. "It's time that we do something to remember these people who were instrumental in laying the foundation for racing today." Ironically, Matthews regretted quitting school at an early age, even to pursue his passion.

"I swear a lot," he once told the Citizen-Times. "When a man swears a lot, he usually doesn't have the vocabulary to use a more proper word for what he wants to say." Banjo's children, daughter Sara and son Jody, gave a statement to the Buncombe County Schools Foundation about the scholarship plans. "Our father was a prominent man among his racing peers for his ability to drive, design and manu- facture NASCAR stock cars, thus making him a legend in the motorsports industry. It is our wish that his dedication and knowledge will, live on through the students who receive this scholarship." BCSF's first fundraiser for the scholarship is set for Oct. 18.

The inaugural Banjo Matthews Memorial Race will begin at 1 p.m. at Hickory Motor Speedway. The race is sponsored by BCSF, the United Auto Racing Association and SpeedWeekly. Tax-deductible donations can be mailed to Banjo Matthews Scholarship, co Buncombe County Schools Foundation, 175 Bingham Road, Asheville, N.C., 28806. For more information, contact Bob Washel at 232-4190 or michael.washelbcsemail.org.

Women playing golf In Asheville "Fall in love with Asheville" is the theme for the Country Club of Asheville's Women's Four-Ball Invitational on Oct. 13-14. Combining competitive golf with some entertainment and cocktails, tournament organizer Ann Brandis annually draws players and teams from across the Southeast for the 36-hole event that also includes a practice round on Oct. 12. "We have some real good players coming in, just every year, but it's also a fun social event for the girls," said Brandis, long one of WNC's top amateur players, There are still spots available for teams, and some impressive crystal pieces will be presented to low gross and low net finishers in each flight.

Entry fee is $195, which includes the tournament, the first-round box lunch and post-round cocktail party and entertainment and Wednesday's awards luncheon. Discount accommodations are available at two local Rodeway Inn Suite motels. Call Brandis at 231-7777 for more info. Hokies sloppy in win against Blue Devils By Joedy McCreary THE ASSOCIATED PRESS DURHAM With No. 6 Virginia Tech not at its best, Tyrod Taylor needed to be.

He certainly was. Taylor threw for a career-high 327 yards with two long touchdown passes to help the sometimes-sloppy Hokies dodge a letdown and beat Duke 34-26 Saturday. Taylor was 17 for 22 with TD tosses of 36 yards to Danny Coale and 28 yards to Jarrett Boykin, and Josh Oglesby had two late touchdown runs once the rushing game opened up for Virginia Tech (4-1, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference). "I know we have a lot of talent on the offensive side of the ball," Taylor said. "It's just my job to get the ball to them." Playing one week after dominating then-No.

9 Miami, the Hokies were nowhere near that crisp this time. But they were good enough to claim their ninth straight victory against Duke. "I don't think that's the old Duke football team," Tech coach Frank Beamer said. Thaddeus Lewis was 22 for 40 for 359 yards with two touchdown passes, including a 4-yarder to Austin Kelly with 25 seconds left. But Lewis said the pesky Blue Devils (2-3, 0-1) too often settled for field goals, with Will Sny-derline kicking four, including a 43- yarder that pulled the Blue Devils to 27-19 with 7 minutes left.

"We needed to get seven points, and we didn't do that," Lewis said. "But three points is better than no points." The Blue Devils, 17-point underdogs, kept this one tight throughout, but were denied their first win over a top-10 opponent in two decades. Before last year's 14-3 loss in Blacksburg, Duke hadn't come within 24 points of the Hokies since they joined the ACC in 2004. "We got close enough in the fourth quarter to go beat a great team," Duke coach David Cutcliffe said. "Once you taste that, you like it.

I wouldn't say we spit it out it wasn't a choke but we just didn't finish." Indeed, Tech spent much of this one looking ripe for an upset after routing the Hurricanes 31-7 to vault back into the top 10. By halftime, the Hokies had matched their season highs with seven penalties for 55 yards, and they finished with 12 flags for 105 yards. "Too many penalties and too many long plays," Beamer said. "We weren't as sharp as we would like, but I don't think it was lack of effort. Part of it was Duke, and part of it was us.

Sometimes I think you've just got to win some games that's not real pretty on the road, and this is probably one of those." 'if an 7r ACC ROUNDUP Maryland 24, Clemson 21 COLLEGE PARK, Md. Chris Turner passed for two touchdowns, and Maryland overcame two late missed field goals by Clemson in a 24-21 win on Saturday. The win snapped a two-game losing streak by the Terps (2-3, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), who snuffed the Tigers' final drive at the 28 with a sack and fumble recovery by Demetrius Hartsfield with 27 seconds to play. Clemson (2-2, 0-2) cut the score to 24-21 with 4m left in the third quarter when C.J. Spiller scored on a 92-yard kickoff return.

The Tigers could have tied and taken the lead but Richard Jackson missed field goals from 47 and 48 yards away. NICK WASSTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS Maryland's Ronnie Tyler (24) catches a pass for a touchdown against Clemson safety Marcus Gilchrist on Saturday In College Park, Md. loose for a 39-yard run but then fumbled on the next Play-Boston College's An- thony Castonzo recovered, and Dave Shinskie was able to run out the clock. The Associated Press blowing an 18-point lead to beat Florida State. Harris finished with a career-high 179 yards on 25 carries for the Eagles (4-1, 2-1).

After Boston College stopped the Seminoles (2-3, 0-2) on fourth down with 2a6 left, Harris broke Boston College 28, Florida St. 21 BOSTON Montel Harris broke free up the middle for a 42-yard touchdown run with 4:07 left his second score of the game and Boston College recovered after MERGER: RPM-Yates consolidation on track Yates' current facility. Although many believe the Yates shop is too small for a big organization, Gillett said it's doable if parts of the operation are still handled in RPM's building. Executive vice president Robbie Loomis will likely still handle the day-to-day operations after the merger, but co-owne'r Richard Petty will be at the top of the ladder. "This man will always be the leader," Gillett said.

A business agreement with a group that represents a Saudi prince could potentially lead to the sale of a share in RPM. "They had an interest in buying a small un po-quito small interest in RPM," Gillett said. "Majority? Heck no." Despite the lack of details, Gillett sought to calm a storm that has been brewing most of this sea- son but seemed to explode after the Sept. 10 announcement that RPM and Yates had signed a let- ter-of-intent to merge. "When we issued the press release regarding the LOI, that seemed not the right way to do it in retro- spect," Gillett said.

"We raised more questions than we answered." I. I several conversations surrounding the race team. Gillett just doesn't have many answers: A merger with Yates Racing is still moving forward, and Gillett said RPM would be in Fords in 2010. "We're going now from letter of intent to a formal contract," he said. The team will be at least three drivers, but Gillett would not reveal the lineup.

"We're very early in the process," he said. It's not yet been determined where the race shop will be located. Gillett said the team has looked at leasing different buildings, or moving into Continued from CI think he believed that he was trying to give an answer that would hopefully shut the conversation off. "Kasey has been fully aware of and apprised of the conversations going on." The fact is, there are.