Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 2, 1993 TAG: 9305020053
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER
DATELINE: TALLADEGA, ALA. LENGTH: Medium
Hardly anyone is even asking Wallace about four in a row.
Wallace has all but ruled himself out of a visit to Victory Lane this afternoon, which is somewhat unusual for a driver who won everything last month.
Wallace was talking such a defensive game Friday that it was impossible to avoid the conclusion that the superspeedways at Talladega and Daytona have psyched him out.
"I've got to race this race and not pay any attention to anyone else," he said. "I need to survive it, try to get through it and try to win it."
Some of his cars have been fast here, he said, but "some of the cars feel like they've got a parachute behind them and no matter how hard you work you can't get 'em to go here."
"We have never really hit on how to get these things running fast around here," he added.
But a lack of horsepower is not Wallace's only problem at the big tracks.
Not only has he never won at Talladega and Daytona, he has never even done well. More significantly, he has had two terrible crashes on the high banks.
In 39 previous superspeedway races, Wallace's best finish is a fifth at Talladega in July 1988. At Daytona, he doesn't even have a top-five finish. Both tracks are at the bottom of his list for percentage of laps completed.
During qualifying Friday, Wallace was beaten even by his younger brother Kenny, a Winston Cup rookie. (Rusty Wallace will start 23rd; Kenny starts 17th).
Wallace thought he was seeing the light at the end of the tunnel at Daytona in February when he clawed his way into the lead pack late in the race.
Then came that incredible series of flips and barrel rolls down the backstretch with 30 laps to go. Wallace walked away from the crash with only a cut on his chin, but it was another blow to his psyche. A crash like that can make any driver skittish.
"After you've had that type of problem a couple of times, you do get a little apprehensive and you do get a little psyched," said Jimmy Spencer, a fearless driver who won the outside pole for today's race. "A lot of that plays on your mind.
"As for me, we could go 220 miles per hour around here and it wouldn't scare me a bit. But they tell me I'm crazy. I don't think a lot of guys would like it."
A victory at Talladega or at Daytona would cure Wallace of his self-doubt about the superspeedways, but until that happens, he is running scared.
"Everything I do Sunday is going to have to be really planned and done really carefully," Wallace said. "I'm coming into this place with blinders on. I'm trying to stay out of those magnetic crashes. But when you see that dust and smoke swirling in front of your car, I don't care how good a driver you are, you've just got to hope and pray."
Wallace is not the only driver psyched out by the big tracks. Mark Martin has no love for them, either, at least in the age of restricted engines. Martin has a fear of getting upside down in a stock car.
Conversely, some drivers who have not shown much at other tracks always seem to go fast on the superspeedways. Joe Ruttman and Rick Wilson, for example.
"This is always a weird race," said Kyle Petty. "A lot of guys who haven't won races qualified well and are running good. Anybody can win this race, and anybody can come out and run good. You never know what's going to happen here."
One driver who almost always is among the leaders on the superspeedways is Dale Earnhardt. He has five wins at Talladega, more than any other driver.
The driver known as "The Intimidator" is not the least bit intimidated by this or any other Winston Cup track. And that is why he is the top driver in the sport.
Earnhardt summed it up Friday:
"You've got to do it everywhere."
Some day, Wallace may break his superspeedway jinx, but right now the big tracks are doing a tap dance on his head.
And that's why he was so happy to pick up that third win in a row last weekend at Martinsville Speedway and extend his Winston Cup lead over Earnhardt to 106 points.
"It was real important," he said, "because my worst race tracks have been the superspeedways. And if I somehow go to Talladega and trip and fall, I can still leave with the points lead."
by CNB