Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, April 26, 1993 TAG: 9304260010
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MARTINSVILLE LENGTH: Medium
Stewart skipped this weekend's Greater Greensboro Open at Forest Oaks Country Club, but he was holed up in a long meeting in Charlotte on Friday with Winston Cup owner Felix Sabates.
The meeting lasted so long, "I flew him back to Florida in my plane," said Sabates, who is the executor of Kulwicki's estate. "He's pretty excited."
Could this be the start of an NFL-NASCAR-PGA publicity fest?
Stewart already promotes the NFL on his golf clothes. And Stewart is represented by Leader Enterprises, which also does business for NASCAR team owner and former Washington Redskins coach Joe Gibbs.
In fact, Stewart and Paul Azinger were guests of the Gibbs team at the 1992 Daytona 500 and Stewart acted like "a kid in a candy store" while watching the race from the pits, team publicist Larry Camp said.
Sabates said Stewart was "as serious as a heart attack" about buying the team. As for a driver, "He told me he was comfortable with Jimmy Hensley in the car," Sabates said.
And even though the car currently has no permanent sponsor, "He said he wasn't concerned about that," Sabates said. "He said, `We're concerned about getting the team first.' "
But Sabates said he has no firm offers on the table, despite inquiries from 39 different parties and serious negotiations with several. Geoff Bodine is among those still seriously interested, Hawk said.
"We had a real good meeting on Thursday with Geoff," he said. "He sat down with the team. There's a real good confidence level with him. He is comfortable with the team and the team is comfortable with him."
Hawk said he hoped to get one firm offer by Tuesday and another Wednesday.
Bodine declined comment Sunday on his involvement.
Sabates said Indy car owners Chip Ganassi and John Menard were no longer seriously in the running.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB