Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 7, 1993 TAG: 9303070193
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Bob Zeller
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
CONFIDENT GORDON HAS WINNING EDGE
The NASCAR Winston Cup rookie class of 1993 was assembled to meet the media Friday at Richmond International Raceway. They proved they've learned the fine art of public relations.Stock car racing publicity has come a long way since the 1950s, when the ultimate in hype was numbering your car 00, adopting nicknames like Buckshot and Speedy, or driving with a monkey, as Tim Flock did.
A driver, of course, has to be more than a driver to succeed in Winston Cup today. A driver has to be well-spoken. A driver has to look good.
The three rookies - Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte and Kenny Wallace - demonstrated Friday that they have the right PR stuff. They were friendly. They were articulate. They were glib.
That's part of the reason all three are riding first class in their first year of Winston Cup, with major teams and big sponsors.
And that's why last year's rookie of the year, Jimmy Hensley of Ridgeway, is a temp for Jimmy Means, with no immediate prospect of a full-time ride.
Hensley is well-spoken, friendly and one of the nicest people you'll ever meet. He's a pretty good driver, too. But he's 47. And he doesn't have the pizzazz of this year's rookies.
Those seem to be the primary reasons he lost his ride to Derrike Cope, who can provide a slicker marketing package.
That said, no glib-tongued rookie is going to succeed on good looks and personality alone. All three of the 1993 rookies have proven to be good drivers.
Labonte, 28, was the 1991 Grand National champion. Wallace, 29, was the runner-up that year. Gordon is the youngest at 21, but he already has won more than 500 races.
As Labonte put it, "Unfortunately, two of us have to lose . . . ."
It's early to make predictions, but it's obvious Gordon is going to win. And if he doesn't win, he'll put on the best show in losing.
That is not simply because of Gordon's impressive performance at Daytona, which included a victory in his Twin 125 qualifying race.
Gordon has a little something extra that Wallace and Labonte lack. Gordon has the sharpest winning attitude. That was clear from Friday's news conference.
Consider the following quotes:
Rookie No. 1: "As far as approaching each race, we just try to go out and run the best race we can."
Rookie No. 2: "I approach each race with the attitude that I'll run as good as I can."
Rookie No. 3: "I'm trying to go out there and win the race or run as far forward as I can that day."
Which rookie is Gordon?
If you guessed No. 3, you're right.
Rookie No. 1 is Labonte. Wallace is No. 2. Granted, their statements are probably more realistic than Gordon's. But you've got to think like a winner.
Not only does Gordon have the greedy attitude, he may have the superior team, although on paper, that does not appear to be the case.
Labonte has veteran Tim Brewer as crew chief. Wallace has veteran Jeff Hammond as crew chief. Both crew chiefs have won races and Winston Cup championships.
Gordon has a rookie crew chief in Ray Evernham, but he has a ton of racing experience. And the fact that he and Gordon are starting on the same level seems to give that pair a tight-knit, brothers-in-arms feeling the others may not have.
"Ray and I have worked together before. We really seem to click," said Gordon, who admitted, "I pushed really hard to have Ray Evernham as a part of it."
Wallace won the hearts of his audience Friday by wearing a Gordon T-shirt and a Labonte hat.
"I guess the reason I'm wearing the Maxwell House hat and Jeff Gordon T-shirt is that I want to show everybody this isn't any grudge match," Wallace said. "Whoever wins the thing is going to win it."
What a guy. What sportsmanship. This was such a generous, friendly act that you feel like a heel questioning the propriety of it.
But do you think Dale Earnhardt would have done such a thing?
Every time Earnhardt is asked to name the favorite to win a race, he says, "Me." He still said that late last season amid a terrible slump.
Kenny Wallace would do well to take a lesson from his older brother, Rusty, who was "floored" by something he heard last week at a sponsor's sales meeting.
"They had this triathlon gal there," Rusty said Saturday. "They asked her, `Are you going to try to win?'
"And she said, `I'm not going to try to win. I've made the decision to win. That takes an extra commitment.' And I thought, `That's exactly the way I feel.' "
Gordon admittedly spoke of "trying" to win, but he was the only rookie who used the word "win." Attitude can make all the difference in today's competitive Winston Cup series.
So far, Gordon is the winner of that battle.
\ AUTHOR Bob Zeller covers Winston Cup racing for this newspaper
Keywords:
AUTO RACING