Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 20, 1991 TAG: 9104200190
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
The odd-even pitting system, which made a brief reappearance last weekend at Bristol, is gone again after the fifth rule change of the 1991 season.
Starting with the First Union 400 here Sunday, Winston Cup cars will be able to pit during caution periods much as they did last year.
The only difference is that once pit road is opened during a caution, only cars on the lead lap will be able to pit on the first lap. Lapped cars may pit on the second lap.
Races will restart as they have in the past: Cars will line up in two rows, with lead-lap cars on the outside and lapped cars on the inside.
Cars that spin or collide on pit road can expect a five-lap penalty, NASCAR spokesman Chip Williams said.
Cars that come to a stop outside the painted lines of their pits can expect a minimum penalty of one lap.
Cars that leave the pits excessively fast "will result in a minimum stop-and-go penalty and could result in more severe penalties," a NASCAR statement said.
And cars that pit out of sequence - such as a lapped car pitting on the first lap after the pits open - will be put at the tail end of the longest line for the restart, Williams said.
The speed of cars entering the pit will be governed by the pace car on the track. Any competitor that passes the pace car will be penalized a lap.
"It was obvious in the Valleydale Meats 500 [at Bristol] that the cars didn't pour down pit road as they have sometimes in the past," Winston Cup director Dick Beaty said. "Today, track position plays a more important role in racing strategy than ever before."
Because of tire improvements, "we have advanced to the stage where teams realize they don't have to change tires as often as they might have in the past," Beaty said. "The lap time spread between new tires and used tires is not as great as it once was."
Drivers were particularly critical of last week's version of the rules after the wreck-filled Bristol race. NASCAR instituted sweeping pit road changes for the 1991 season in the wake of several pit road mishaps last year, including the death of Mike Rich, a crewman for Bill Elliott. But the sanctioning body has been modifying the rules nearly every week.
The latest version, announced at the track Friday, won approval from the drivers.
"I think anything's better than what they had at Bristol," Ricky Rudd said.
"We're coming full circle," Rick Mast said.
"It's got us back now where it's up to the driver to make pit road safe and that's the way it ought to be," Dale Jarrett said.
"I think what they're doing on pit road is good - penalizing drivers if they mess up on pit road - because it's letting us go back to racing on the race track," Dale Earnhardt said.
\ Qualifying for the First Union 400 was rained out Friday. NASCAR plans a single qualifying session for the race at noon today, weather permitting. The weather forecast calls for more rain.
The Winston Cup cars were able to practice Friday afternoon, but rain began to fall again just before qualifying was supposed to start.
Richard Petty smacked the wall during practice and damaged the left rear of his Pontiac. "I beat it up pretty good," he said, "but they'll get it repaired in time for qualifying."
\ Sterling Marlin has been given the go-ahead to start Sunday's race.
Marlin, seriously burned last weekend in a fiery crash at Bristol, "has made progress even since yesterday," Dr. John B. Lynch, said Friday. "He looks good, and I see no reason why he can't start the race."
Lynch is Marlin's physician at the burn center at Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville, where Marlin was transferred Thursday.
Lynch has agreed to let Marlin come to the track today, accompanied by a burn specialist, so the driver can make the practice lap required of drivers by NASCAR before they can compete in a race.
Veteran driver Charlie Glotzbach, brought in as a relief driver by team owner Junior Johnson, will qualify the car.
Marlin plans to drive only one green-flag lap in Sunday's race before turning the car over to Glotzbach. Marlin is then scheduled to leave the track by ambulance during the first caution period and fly back to Vanderbilt for further treatment.
Marlin, who received second-degree burns on his inner thighs, shoulders, right elbow, face and hands, will drive in a custom made baggy, loose-fitting driver's suit.
"I'm excited and ready to go," Marlin told team spokesman Chris Browning. "I remember the accident, but those things happen. All I want to do is go racing again."
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB