Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 17, 1991 TAG: 9102170214
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. LENGTH: Long
Dale Earnhardt is the favorite again.
When the race starts at 12:15 p.m., virtually no one will be surprised if he charges to the front from his starting position on the outside of the second row.
And when the race ends some three hours later, no one will be surprised if Earnhardt drives his Chevrolet Lumina into Victory Lane, even though he has never won the 500 in 12 previous starts.
Earnhardt was so satisfied with his car's performance in Saturday afternoon's final practice that he pulled off the track 30 minutes before the end of the session and headed up to the press box for the Goody's 300 winner's interview.
He had won the Grand National race two hours earlier in another dominating performance.
"I hope to see you one more time this week," he told the media members.
He was featured in the press box last weekend after winning the Busch Clash. He returned on Thursday after subduing the competition in his Twin 125 qualifying race. His only disappointment came in the International Race of Champions on Friday, when he spun and damaged his car, sending him out of the race. But he led four laps of that one, too.
Earnhardt has led 162 of the 230 laps he has raced here this week, a success rate of 70.4 percent.
"We're back down to the Daytona 500 now," he said. "We're looking forward to it. All the guys are really feeling good about it. The car has been running great."
Earnhardt came up just short of Victory Lane last year. He dominated the Daytona 500. But on the third turn of the last lap, he ran over a piece of bell housing, cut a tire and slid high in the turn, relinquishing the lead, and the race, to Derrike Cope. Earnhardt hung on for fifth in the most crushing defeat of his Winston Cup career.
If there is one other competitor who can be considered a threat to Earnhardt, it is Davey Allison, who sits on the pole after turning the fastest qualifying lap of 195.639. Allison also won his 125-mile qualifying race.
But the fact that Allison won the qualifying trials doesn't really bother Earnhardt and his team, who have never placed great emphasis on qualifying.
"We've got a really good, really fast car," Allison said, "And we have gained a considerable amount since we got down here last Friday [Feb. 8]. Daytona is a track where I've won and a track where I've crashed, so I can't say it's been very good or very bad to me.
"Based on what happened in the Busch Clash, there's one car [Earnhardt's] that looks mighty strong."
The Daytona 500 will be the first time this year that Earnhardt and Allison race head-to-head in their Winston Cup cars. Allison was not in the Busch Clash, and they did not race in the same 125-mile qualifying race.
For the ever-popular Richard Petty, the race again affords an opportunity to shine. He has won this race a record seven times, and he thrilled the crowd in the first qualifying race Thursday by nipping Hut Stricklin at the finish line for second place.
Petty starts on the inside of the second row, next to Earnhardt. Petty's starting position (third) is his best since 1977.
"I want to be in front going for the checkers," he said. If he's not, he said, "there's no hope of getting by. Right now it's really, really hard to draft by anybody.
The days of the classic slingshot pass for victory on the last lap are over, Petty said.
"It used to be OK to be in second place going to the finish," Petty said. "In fact, it was better off being in second. With even cars, the back car was going to win. With even cars now, the back car pulls out and they still run even. It's really frustrating trying to pass."
Ernie Irvan, who starts next to Allison on the front row, also has been running well here. He qualified second and finished his qualifying race second behind Earnhardt. Irvan, however, broke a motor in practice Friday, although he didn't seem to think it would set him back.
"I think we've proven that we can run with Dale in a race setup, so I feel real good about Sunday," Irvan said.
The race also is expected to be the first real test of NASCAR's new pit road rules, instituted after Bill Elliott crewman Mike Rich was killed in a pit road accident at Atlanta in the last race of 1990.
Under the rules, cars will be penalized if their crews change tires during yellow-flag pit stops. The teams are limited to fuel stops during caution periods.
This means that pit stops with tire changes will come while the green flag is out.
In addition, NASCAR has given each car an odd- or even-number designation for the race, based on starting position. On the second green-flag lap after a caution period, the odd-numbered cars may pit. On the third green-flag lap, the even-numbered cars may pit. After that, any car may pit and change tires while the green it out.
This rule is designed to reduce congestion on pit road after a yellow flag, since NASCAR officials thought that many cars would want to pit to change tires right after a caution period.
The new rules have not seemed to have had much impact on the racing during Speedweeks. In Saturday's Goody's 300, the first race of Speedweeks in which tire changes were important, most cars pitted for tires in the midst of an extended green-flag period and not right after a caution period.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB