THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 13, 1994 TAG: 9410130628
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DENISE MICHAUX, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
It isn't unusual for traffic on Virginia Beach Boulevard to slow to a crawl during the afternoon rush hour.
But on Wednesday it turned into a parking lot at about 5:45. Any NASCAR fan will tell you that that's par for the course on race day.
No, there isn't a new superspeedway in the area, but car-owner Rick Hendrick did park his stable at Colonial Chevrolet for a few hours. People reportedly got in line during the wee hours of the morning to ensure themselves of the chance to see Jeff Gordon, Terry Labonte and Ken Schrader up close.
The autograph session began at 6 p.m. and was supposed to wrap up at 8, but the demand kept the drivers signing autographs until 8:30. Anyone who thought they would be able to drop by after work and get an autograph before heading home for dinner was out of luck. There was no estimate of how many fans got in to see the drivers, but a Hendrick Motorsports spokesperson said 600-700 people were left standing outside, unable to get in.
``This was so highly advertised,'' Gordon said. ``It's too bad, because somebody is going to leave disappointed. There is no way everybody is going to get in here.''
``We were within 10 minutes of the getting in,'' said Deanna Morse of Portsmouth, who arrived at 5 p.m. ``I really wanted to get (Gordon) to sign my hat. Oh, well, maybe if I get to race sometime we can get him.''
Even after the doors were locked, hundreds of people stood in the cold and peered inside the windows of the showroom to catch a glimpse of the drivers.
Scott Driskel and his mother didn't show up until 7 p.m.
``We didn't even try to get in,'' Driskel said.
Inside Gordon was on his second session of the day. He had been in Richmond for a DuPont promotion earlier in the day.
``My hand doesn't really get tired,'' Gordon said. ``It's the flashes from the photos and the looking up and down. My autograph is more of a scribble now than anything, so it isn't too bad to do.''
Coming to Ricky Rudd country after Sunday's accident in Charlotte in which Rudd spun Gordon out and wrecked both cars in the process, may not have been Gordon's preferred destination, but everyone seemed to be on Gordon's side.
``I think we need to kick Ricky out of Chesapeake,'' said a fan.
Nearly everyone had a comment about the situation.
One fan who happened to be wearing a Tide jacket received jeers from several fans before he pointed out that it was an old Darrell Waltrip Tide jacket, not Rudd.
Rick Klobruchar of Virginia Beach should get bonus points for waiting for hours holding a bumper from one of Schrader's Luminas.
Klobruchar bought the bumper for $150 in January at the Winston Preview auction, where drivers donate parts of their cars and other items. ``The price was right,'' he said. ``We are fans of Ken's and we couldn't afford any of the others.''
Labonte said he has signed everything from womens' underwear to dog collars.
``They really love stock-car racing in Virginia,'' said Labonte, who was on his third autograph session of the week. ``When you go to any of the tracks all over the place, I always notice more fans from Virginia than anywhere else.'' ILLUSTRATION: NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon signs autographs for hundreds of fans
at Colonial Chevrolet.
BILL TIERNAN/Staff
Rick Klobruchar of Virginia Beach waits in line for driver Ken
Schrader to sign his bumper.
by CNB