Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 15, 1992 TAG: 9203150041
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER
DATELINE: HAMPTON, GA. LENGTH: Medium
A year ago, during the Motorcraft 500 race weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Kyle Petty was on a radio talk show in Atlanta with host Rhubarb Jones when a caller identified himself as Glanville.
"I thought it was a joke," said Petty. "I didn't think it was Glanville. But they're good friends. Glanville called up and got to talking. He'd been a drag racer and knew a lot about cars. He knew what Earnhardt had done, and what `The King' had done. He was just like a fan - a big fan."
"So I said, `Man, I'll leave you some tickets for the race, just like you leave football tickets for Elvis.' "
Elvis never has picked up his football tickets. But Glanville, 50, who led his Falcons to the NFL playoffs last season for the first time in nine years, was at the gate on race day, ready to see the show.
In the 12 months since then, Glanville's interest in stock-car racing has mushroomed into a potential driving career.
But you will hear no hue and cry from professional drivers to let the flamboyant football coach join them on the big tracks.
It makes as much sense as Buddy Baker and Jimmy Spencer joining the Falcons' offensive line.
"He needs to go do what all of us did," said Ernie Irvan. "He needs to go race on some short tracks. He's never been in a race car except in practice."
NASCAR is trying to make Glanville do exactly what Irvan suggested, but the irrepressible coach has been doing his best to avoid paying his dues.
After attending driving schools here last fall and at Rockingham, N.C., this spring, Glanville decided he was ready to race. He had reached 141 mph at Rockingham, N.C., and 165 mph here.
He wanted to race in the Grand National race at Rockingham two weeks ago. NASCAR said no. He filed an entry for the Grand National race at Richmond, Va., NASCAR said no.
Then Glanville announced his intention to drive in Saturday's race here. "Glanville Determined To Drive" at Atlanta, a speedway media release proclaimed. The only evidence of his ability was a quote from Glanville saying that his Rockingham driving school instructor, former NASCAR champion Buck Baker, had told him, "We've got ourselves a racer."
But NASCAR again said no. Get some experience on a short track, NASCAR vice president of competition and former NFL linebacker Les Richter told him.
So Glanville was a spectator here this weekend, as he was a year ago. But in the media room Friday, the coach still was talking a big game. He was dressed in his black cowboy outfit and wearing a Harley-Davidson jacket.
"The plan is that I'll drive in my first Busch [Grand National] race on April 25 at Lanier Raceway. And then I'll run three Sportsman races in seven days at Charlotte in May," he said. "We had a little detour, you know, but we're still going to end up at the destination we aimed at."
Glanville's co-conspirator in the Charlotte plan is Charlotte Motor Speedway President H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler, who knows a good publicity stunt when he sees one. Wheeler said he is arranging to buy a Sportsman car for Glanville.
If racing wasn't such a deadly serious business, you could say that Glanville and the crash-filled Sportsman races at Charlotte deserve each other.
But the Sportsman series at Charlotte provided a graphic lesson in 1990 of the fatal consequences of inexperience.
During a practice session, David Gaines spun coming off turn 4 and came to a stop on the track. More than five seconds later, an inexperienced young driver named Steve McEachern came barreling off turn 4 at full speed and "T-boned" Gaines' car - hitting it square in the side and killing Gaines instantly.
Former hydroplane driver Tom D'Eath broke his neck in a nasty Sportsman crash last year. And when Philip Ross was nearly incinerated in a fiery one-car crash, he retired.
"I've been out on the track with, at the most, six cars," Glanville said. "I've raced with two or three cars. That's why I'm going to the short track."
Actually, he's going to the short track because NASCAR won't let him race anywhere else.
And Richter said Saturday that he doesn't know if he will let Glanville run at Charlotte.
"We want him to run some races on a short track, and then we'll look at him," Richter said. "Without any racing experience, it is not in his best interests to drive on a large track, and it is not in the best interests of the drivers he would be racing with."
As for Charlotte, Richter said: "I would say it's premature to talk about any plans there."
But Glanville remains optimistic.
"Racing takes your total concentration," he said. "You can't think about anything else. You can't worry about third down and one yard to go. You can't worry about [Falcons player] Deion Sanders playing baseball."
One can safely assume Glanville won't be thinking about football when he finally gets in a race. But does he have any concerns that his inexperience will endanger the other drivers on the track?
"None whatsoever," Glanville said.
by CNB