Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 25, 1990 TAG: 9005250137
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By RANDY KING SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: CONCORD, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
"We're getting whipped, that's all you can say," Hendrick said Thursday at Charlotte Motor Speedway as his four teams prepared for Sunday's Coca-Cola 600.
"We've got to get better. It's not fun not winning," he said. "There's no pressure now, but sooner or later there will be."
Hendrick, a big winner in life, is not accustomed to losing - in the business world or on the race track. He admits it has been frustrating to watch as drivers Darrell Waltrip, Ken Schrader, Ricky Rudd and new addition Greg Sacks have come up short in 1990.
"I would have thought we'd have won six races by Daytona [July 7]," Hendrick said. "To say the least, it's been a disappointing first half."
Hendrick's supposedly potent Chevrolet teams, like everyone else on the Winston Cup tour, have been overpowered to this point by the Chevrolet team of Dale Earnhardt.
"Dale's car has been tough everywhere and he drives the wheels off it," Hendrick said. "He's definitely the guy you've got to beat.
"I think if you did a survey in the garage, there wouldn't be many who'd say Earnhardt wasn't the best driver. You didn't see a lot of people smoking all four tires in The Winston [last Sunday], but he was."
Despite his teams' struggles, Hendrick said it's not time to press the panic button. Not yet, anyway. The boss is concerned, though.
"If I start doing things that don't make sense and disrupt the teams by changing personnel around, it will backfire," Hendrick said. "Moves like that can make you backtrack.
"I wish I knew the reason. But when you look back, we've had some really bad luck, coupled with the fact that Earnhardt has been so strong."
Schrader had the fastest car in the Daytona 500, but his Chevrolet was knocked out by a broken piston.
"That's unheard of in a restricted motor," Hendrick said. "We win easy if he stays in the race.
"At Talladega, we [Sacks] ran second to Dale. I think we should have made our move [to pass Earnhardt] earlier.
"I think we won North Wilkesboro, but Darrell lost out to Brett Bodine on the scoring deal.
"Still, though, we haven't shown up at the track running as consistently well as last year."
Hendrick has a pretty good idea of what has gone wrong.
"It's a combination of three things: No good luck, the others are better and some new stuff we've tried hasn't worked," he said.
Hendrick defended his multiple-car operation, the only one of its type on the circuit.
"I think having more than one team works and we are able to learn things faster. I never push it, but I think the guys are seeing the benefits of it.
"The record doesn't show it, but I look at the long term," he said. "We'll be winners over the long haul."
Hendrick said he thinks the drought could end in Sunday's Coca-Cola 600. Schrader has the best shot of the quartet, having won the pole.
"We're hungry," Hendrick said. "I really feel good about this week. It's time to go to victory lane for a change."
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB