Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 17, 1993 TAG: 9306170009
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Expect Rudd to say he is building his own shop near Rusty Wallace's operation in Mooresville, N.C., just north of Charlotte. The team's current sponsor, Tide detergent, is expected to join him in his new venture.
Rudd reportedly is busy trying to line up a top-notch crew chief, but he has yet to decide whether to field Ford Thunderbirds or Chevrolet Luminas for next season. He has talked with both manufacturers, but was seen in a friendly chat with Ford's Preston Miller during the weekend at Pocono.
As for a connection with actor/racer Paul Newman, don't hold your breath, although that's still swirling in the rumor mill.
\ DRUNK ALERT: Gene Haskett, general manager of the Michigan track, says there is not a lot a speedway can do - beyond putting its security people on alert - to prevent a drunken fan from jumping the infield fence and running onto the track, as Chad Kohl allegedly did Sunday at Pocono.
"All of our people have been alerted to it, but to police a situation like that entirely, you would need to station someone every 10 feet along the fence on the inside of the track. And that's true at every race track, even on a mile track.
"So you hope people use their heads and you hope people read the press clipping about the seven charges that young man is facing."
Pocono apparently dug deep into the Pennsylvania statutes to throw the book at the 25-year-old from Ephrata, Pa. The charges include two felonies: risking a catastrophe and arson endangering a person. The arson charge stems from the contention that Kohl could have caused a fiery crash.
\ FOR THE T-BIRDS: Ford officials were bellowing again during the weekend - to selected publications - about the disadvantages Thunderbirds have been dealt in 1993 by NASCAR.
It is the same stuff they were hollering about at Daytona in February. But it is resurfacing now, because Fords have won only three of 13 races and that has made many in the Ford camp - including sponsors - grouchy.
Amidst the sniping and verbal salvos, Geoff Bodine offered this levelheaded assessment of the problem as the Ford teams see it:
"The things NASCAR took away from us that we had last year - the nose piece that we ran last year and the fact that they made us narrow the back end of the car up - those two things are giving us problems with aerodynamics," Bodine said.
Although the changes in the Ford nosepiece were small - making it slightly less pointed - "just that little bit changes the down force on the front of the car and changes the air flow over the car."
The car doesn't stick to the track as well, Bodine said, and that makes it a bit loose, particularly in traffic.
"So we need a little of the stuff back that they took away after last year," he said. "Right now, everybody seems to be trying different things and nothing is working really well."
\ NOT TOO COOL: Rusty Wallace says he used a different type of oil cooler on his engine at Pocono during the weekend, and that led to his early exit from the race with a broken engine.
Wallace finished 39th after completing only four laps. He dropped from second to fifth in Winston Cup points, trailing leader Dale Earnhardt by 298.
The different oil cooler "created a lot of restriction and that burned the bearing out of the engine," Wallace said Wednesday.
Wallace said he is surprised that, after winning four races, his streak of failing to finish races is now at four.
"So, it's four in a row and if it continues at Michigan I just can't believe it," he said. "But sometimes it takes something like that to solve your problems.
"My key right now is I've got to finish these races. I know my car is fast and competitive, it's just got to finish. I've just got to drive smart and keep the sheet metal on the car."
Pole-position qualifying at the two-mile Michigan oval is 3:30 p.m. Friday. The race, which will be televised live by CBS (WDBJ Channel 7), starts at 1 p.m. Sunday.
by CNB