Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 24, 1991 TAG: 9102240140
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
Last week, the first round at the Daytona 500 ended with many drivers complaining about the rules.
Richard Petty said the pits may have been safe, but the track wasn't. Too many drivers crashed, he said, after overextending worn tires to avoid pitting for fresh rubber under the green flag and losing a lap.
Today's race (1 p.m., TBS cable) will put an even greater premium on pit stops, because a driver in the pits during a green flag will get lapped on this short track more than twice as quickly than at Daytona's superspeedway.
The complex rules, created to avoid pit-road traffic jams and accidents so the area will be safer for crews, have boiled down to one key element: Routine tire changes are no longer allowed during caution periods.
Many teams are beginning to avoid yellow-flag pit stops altogether, because the only significant thing they can do in the pits during caution periods is refuel the car. The price a driver pays for such a stop is his position on the track.
When they do pit for new tires, many teams are changing only the two right-side tires to save time.
Because the rules are the same for everybody, pit-stop timing and pure dumb luck may well play a role in the outcome of today's race.
Saturday's Pontiac Excitement 200 provided a good example. Dale Earnhardt and Harry Gant had good luck; Davey Allison's was bad.
At the halfway point, Earnhardt, Allison and Gant held the top three spots.
Around lap 110, Earnhardt and Gant pitted for fresh right-side tires and lost a lap. Allison stayed on the track and assumed the lead.
Soon after Earnhardt and Gant pitted, the yellow flag came out. It was well-timed for them, because on the restart they both were able to get back on the lead lap. Gant eventually won the race; Earnhardt finished second.
Allison came into the pits for fresh right-side tires later in the race, during an extended period of green-flag racing. However, there were no caution periods soon after Allison's stop and he never could get back on the lead lap. He finished 10th, one lap down.
"It just depended on where the yellow would fall," Richard Childress, who owns Earnhardt's car, said Saturday. "You were in big trouble if it fell at the wrong time."
Allison will start on the pole for today's race. Alan Kulwicki will be on the outside of the front row, followed by Brett Bodine and Ricky Rudd.
\ For any winner of the Daytona 500, the week after is a busy one. For Ernie Irvan, this year's winner, it was particularly hectic.
In addition to an appearance on "Late Night with David Letterman" and other obligations, Irvan had personal matters to take care of.
"A new son came along Tuesday," he said. "His name is Jason Ernest Irvan. He weighed 6 pounds, 11 ounces, and was born at 4 o'clock on Tuesday morning. So I've been pretty busy."
It is the second child for Irvan and his wife, Jatana, who also have a 3-year-old son, Christopher.
\ Sprint-car star Sammy Swindell's new career as a stock-car driver ended abruptly Saturday.
Swindell was fired as driver of the Rob Moroso Memorial Oldsmobile by team owner Dick Moroso. NASCAR regular Bobby Hillin Jr., whose season began without a full-time ride, was hired to replace Swindell.
A business associate of Swindell's "failed to met his obligations to the race team," Moroso said in a statement. "We also were less than happy with Sammy's performances at Daytona and in first-round time trials at Richmond."
Swindell crashed in his Twin 125 qualifying race at Daytona and wrecked again early in the 500, finishing 41st in a 42-car field. Hillin, meanwhile, finished seventh in a second Moroso car.
On Saturday, he qualified 33rd in the 36-car Richmond field.
Hillin requalified Swindell's car during a second trial Saturday, driving it about 1.3 mph faster than Swindell had. Hillin will start 28th today.
\ In September, Richmond International Speedway hopes to inaugurate the second night race of the NASCAR Winston Cup series.
Although NASCAR already has scheduled the fall Richmond race for Sunday, Sept. 8, track vice president Wayne Sawyer said he hopes to change the date to Friday night, Sept. 6, after meeting with NASCAR officials here this weekend.
"From what I heard at the meeting, there's not a problem," Sawyer said.
However, NASCAR spokesman Chip Williams said: "At the current time, we're planning on running the race Sept. 8, as scheduled. We've had no serious discussions with the racetrack about anything else."
Sawyer said the track already has arranged with an Iowa lighting company to provide nine towers of temporary lights for the September Winston Cup race as well as a NASCAR Modified/All Pro combination race in August.
He said the track eventually hopes to install a permanent lighting system.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB