Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 6, 1990 TAG: 9005060078
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: TALLADEGA, ALA. LENGTH: Medium
And we're not talking about the 12-ounce variety, says Bill Elliott, whose beer-sponsored Ford billboard starts up front at Talladega Superspeedway.
"I expect it to be a typical Talladega-type race," Elliott said. "As usual, everyone appears to be running really close; not just a few cars, but a number of cars are running close.
"I can't see one car breaking loose from the pack and running away. So it's likely to come down to who's in the right place at the end and who can work the draft."
At Daytona and Talladega, NASCAR's two largest superspeedways, the draft - the wind vacuum created by the front car in a pack that keeps the trailing cars sucked up to its back bumper - more often than not determines which driver will guzzle the champagne (or beer) afterward.
NASCAR's carburetor restrictor plates, used only at the two large tracks to control speeds, has helped make the cars even and further enhanced the need for drafting strategy.
"The plates . . . the draft . . . heck, nobody can be counted out," Elliott said.
"A lot of times here, it comes down to six, seven, eight cars on the last lap. Everybody will be guessing as to who's going to do this, who's going to do that. You've got to pick your spot and just hope you make the right move."
Geoff Bodine, who won at Martinsville, Va., a week ago, said an expected crowd of about 120,000 can count on seeing a large, high-speed freight train for 500 miles.
"The cars are going to be lined up, running tight in the draft," said Bodine, who will have to negotiate his Ford to the front from 23rd place.
"If someone gets out of line, shame on 'em. You take their spot. You don't let 'em back in.
"There's no working with anybody. It's take, take, take. There's no give-and-take anymore. The way it looks to me, it will be a take race, a tough race."
Or a "flat-out" race, said Ken Schrader, the outside pole-sitter.
"I don't think there's going to be a whole lot of difference drafting with Chevrolets, Fords, or whatever," said Schrader, whose Lumina appears stocked with horsepower.
"You just run flat out here . . . flat out. If you are fast enough to run up front, you run flat out and stay up front. If your car is only fast enough to run 20th, you run flat out and run 20th."
Only 14-hundredths of a second separated Elliott's 199.386 mph pole speed from that of fifth-place Dale Earnhardt (Chevrolet). Schrader, upstart Ernie Irvan (Oldsmobile) and Darrell Waltrip (Chevrolet) are sandwiched between.
"Schrader and Elliott are the two I'm looking at," said Earnhardt, who hopes to help make up for his last-lap Daytona 500 heartbreak.
"Elliott is going to be strong. Schrader is stout, too. This whole crowd is strong. I don't think anybody is going to drive away."
Schrader and Waltrip disagreed, predicting they and Earnhardt might break away with the Fords of Elliott and sixth-place starter Mark Martin.
"That group of cars looks a little better to me," Waltrip said. "That group could get together and go on."
Lurking well back in the 40-car field is Daytona 500 underdog winner Derrike Cope, whose Chevrolet will start 27th.
Cope will try to win the second leg of the Winston Million bonus, offered to any driver who can win three of NASCAR's four majors - Daytona 500, Winston 500, Coca-Cola 600 and Southern 500.
"Despite a poor qualifying run, I'm pretty excited because our car responds well to the draft," Cope said. "We were unable to get the car to qualify at Daytona [12th], but in the race the car sniffed the draft out very well. I think we'll hang on, be there at the end and have a shot at winning."
Other contenders figure to be Davey Allison (eighth), who won this race in 1987 and '89, and 17th-place starter Greg Sacks, whose Lumina has shown amazing strength in practice.
"Our car has been the talk of the garage. I haven't found anybody yet I can't run with. I'd say we've got as good a shot as anybody," said Sacks, driving the same Lumina he brought home second behind Schrader in February at the Busch Clash.
Sacks' big problem could come in the pits, where his new Rick Hendrick-owned team doesn't figure to be as quick as some of the other front-runners.
"Pit stops and track position will be critical," Schrader said.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB