DRIVERS HAVE MIXED FEELINGS ABOUT DRESS REHEARSAL

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, February 7, 1993                   TAG: 9302070139
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DAYTONA BEACH, FLA.                                 LENGTH: Medium
DRIVERS HAVE MIXED FEELINGS ABOUT DRESS REHEARSAL
After 12 long winter weeks without racing, stock-car fans get to whet their 1993 racing appetites with today's Busch Clash, a couple of 10-lap heat races around the high banks of Daytona International Speedway.
The fans may get a thrill or two. But among the drivers, the Clash is low on their list of favorite things. Too many bad things can happen.
Two years ago, Ricky Rudd crashed his Daytona 500 car in the Clash, blasted the twin 10-lap format as "junk" and said he might not run it again.
As a 1992 pole winner (Sears Point, Calif.), Rudd is back in the Clash again this year, but he still takes a dim view of the race.
"A 10-lap race is not enough to find out how the car is handling," so a team can't learn anything for the Daytona 500, he said. "This new format was created more for fan excitement.
"I used to come here with one good race car. So it's pretty disheartening when you get that good car wasted in the Clash, like I did two years ago."
Rudd has two cars here this year, and, like nearly everybody else in the 15-car field, he is using his backup.
"The problem is, everybody has been off all winter and everybody is just a tick rusty," said Rick Mast, the Rockbridge Baths, Va., driver making his second Clash appearance. "And by the time you get settled in, the race is over. It ain't nothin' but a Saturday night heat race at 190 miles per hour."
Said 1992 Winston Cup champion Alan Kulwicki: "I hope it's an exciting race, but I wouldn't use it as a strong indicator for the rest of the season. We may learn a little something about engines, but I don't see it as being any big edge over the guys who don't run in it."
The bottom line, he said, is "if you do well, you certainly want to use it as positive momentum for the rest of the week. And if you don't do well, you just sort of blow it off and say, `Well, next week is more important.' "
Ernie Irvan drew the pole for today's race, and Brett Bodine will start on the outside pole.
After the first 10-lap segment, there is a two-lap caution period while the field is inverted for the final 10-lap dash. The leader at the end of the first segment wins $25,000. The winner receives $35,000 for winning the second segment, plus whatever he won in the first one.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB