Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 29, 1992 TAG: 9203290185
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER
DATELINE: DARLINGTON, S. C. LENGTH: Medium
More than a decade of hard work is beginning to pay dividends, and Ford has a better chance than ever in 1992 to break the Chevrolet stranglehold on the NASCAR manufacturer's championship.
The Ford Thunderbird teams, led by Bill Elliott and Davey Allison, have won all four races this year. Ford is favored to win again today in the TranSouth 500 at Darlington Raceway.
"Life is a lot more pleasant around Ford Motor Company this year than it was a year ago at this time," said Lee Morse, manager of Ford's American racing programs.
Although the Ford-Chevy rivalry in NASCAR dates to the late 1950s, the significance of the manufacturer's championship is a relatively new thing.
There wasn't even a trophy for the carmaker's title until a decade ago. And the real title competition didn't begin until Ford began posing a threat to Chevy in the mid 1980s.
But it has become one of the most important aspects of NASCAR racing today.
"I don't know if it sells more cars or not, but it means a lot," Morse said. "It's as important to the manufacturers as the Winston Cup championship is to the drivers. We advertise it. We market it. We probably use it more for promotion than a driver uses a driver's championship."
Of course, Chevrolet is the only carmaker that can promote the NASCAR title, since Chevy has won them all since 1983. So far, Ford has only been able to promote its various sports car titles, which it does vigorously.
For Chevy, the NASCAR titles have "really meant a lot" because they promote Chevy products "and how they compete in head-to-head competition against our target market competitors," Herb Fishel, director of General Motors racing programs, said in December as he accepted Chevy's ninth consecutive trophy at the NASCAR awards banquet in New York.
This season obviously hasn't been as much fun for Chevy and its top drivers, including Winston Cup champion Dale Earnhardt, Ernie Irvan, Ricky Rudd, Darrell Waltrip and Ken Schrader.
Chevy fans who hoped NASCAR might take something away from Ford to reduce its current advantage received a surprise this week. NASCAR made a rule change, all right. But in the spirit of NASCAR technical director Gary Nelson's desire to be even-handed with all teams, the change was an across-the-board increase in the size of spoilers.
And the consensus this weekend is that the Fords, as much or more as any other make, stand to benefit from larger spoilers. Ford has an immense amount of money and time trying to create more rear down force - a particularly sticky problem with the Thunderbirds. With larger spoilers, NASCAR has given Ford an essential tool to improve that down force.
Although Morse said he doesn't believe the new spoilers favor Ford, he admitted: "We have spent thousands of hours in wind tunnels trying to get more rear down force. And now, with a stroke of the pen, [NASCAR President] Bill France Jr. has done something that gives us all more down force."
Morse and the Ford folks have been doing their best to contain their glee over Ford's current success.
"I'm very optimistic, but by no means cocky," Morse said. "It can change any minute."
When the season ends at Atlanta Motor Speedway in November, Morse said he won't be the least bit surprised if Chevrolet Luminas are right there battling for their 10th manufacturer's title.
After all, Ford couldn't win a race early in 1990 but ended up winning just about every race late in the season. The battle for the title ended in a tie, but Chevy won because Chevys had more race victories.
The Ford-Chevy rivalry, so strong in the late 1950s, was non-existent during most of the 1960s, when Chevy was all but out of stock car racing, and the 1970s, when Ford was largely out of the sport.
Ford resumed its factory support of NASCAR teams in 1981, but it was still a few years before the Ford-Chevy championship contest really heated up.
"We went through a period in the mid '80s when it was acceptable to be competitive and win occasional races," Morse said. "Until a few years ago, each car got manufacturers points. Chevy had the numbers on us. They had more teams, and in most cases, they had more good teams. So we really didn't have a chance."
But about five years ago, after strong lobbying by Ford, the points system for the manufacturer's title was changed. The points had been awarded on a 9-6-4-3-2-1 basis for the top six cars, no matter what make they were.
The current system still awards points on a 9-6-4-3-2-1 basis in each race, but only the top-finishing car for each manufacturer gets points.
Now that Ford has plenty of strong stock car teams, "we have been under the gun the last couple of years to get a winning program in place," Morse said. "Winning the championship has become our objective, our goal, our desire."
The way it looks, 1992 will be Ford's year. But you never know. In NASCAR racing, the next surprise is always just around the corner.
by CNB