Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 7, 1991 TAG: 9104090646
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Bob Zeller Sportswriter
DATELINE: DARLINGTON LENGTH: Medium
If Earnhardt wins, he will become the first driver to win four races in a row at Darlington Raceway. After seven lifetime victories here, the sport's leading driver has gone a long way toward subduing a track labeled "too tough to tame."
Speed, on the other hand, would be thrilled with simply a good preformance at his favorite track, hoping that will be enough to land him a full-time ride in Cale Yarborough's Pontiac.
Earnhardt is on the threshold of his 50th career victory. "We're starting seventh and that ain't too bad," Earnhardt said after qualifying Thursday. "We'll be ready when they drop the green flag. We'll see what happens."
Speed has one career victory - this race three years ago. Seldom has this sport seen a driver so thankful when success blows his way. And seldom has success been his on the Winston Cup tour.
"I like to be able to go out and buck the odds and beat them" Speed said. "I'm one of those guys that pulls for the underdog all the time."
The 43-year-old native of Jackson, Miss., has campaigned his own car during most of his Wintston Cup career, which began in 1980. In 1985, he finished second at the Daytona 500 and cried with joy after the race. When he finally won here in 1988, it appeared that his time had come.
But Speed struggled in 1989. He had too many wrecks. A crash at Pocono with Greg Sacks left him with a cracked shoulder blade that temporarily took him off the track. Last year, Speed was able to run only six races and finished none in the top 10.
With no sponsor the 1991, Speed disbanded his team. "Without sponsorship, I was not going to roll my cars out the door," he said. "I was either going to have a situation where we could race competitively or I didn't want to race."
So he stayed at his new home in Kannapolis, N.C., and took care of all the domestic tasks he had let slide while racing. "I had been busy, but I'll be honest with you, I had just about run out of things to do," he said.
On March 19, the day after the Atlanta race, Cale Yarborough fired Dick Trickle as the driver of th TropArtic Pontiac.
The three-time Winston Cup champion offered Speed a one-race deal for Darlington. Speed jumped at the opportunity. Two days later, he was testing here. On Friday, he qualified for the 22nd starting spot.
"This is the kind of deal I've been waiting for for years and years and years, hoping to get in a situation where you have quality and experience," Speed said. "I always felt like when we went racing, we always had one hand tied behind our back. This has given me the opportunity for the first time in my career to really go out there no holds barred and race everybody."
Geoff Bodine starts today's 367-lap race on the pole after putting to rest, at least temporarily, rumblings that his Junior Johnson-owned team was breaking up after a terrible start in 1991. It is Bodine's second TranSouth 500 pole in a row.
"I like this track," Bodine said. "I've had some real good runs here, and I've had good equipment here. Now, I need to win here."
The 500-mile race, which starts a 1 p.m., will be televised live by ESPN.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB