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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 22, 1993                   TAG: 9309220031
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

HENSLEY HITCHES A RIDE FOR MARTINSVILLE RACE

Already destined to be out of a job for 1994, Winston Cup driver Rick Wilson is now out of the driver's seat of Richard Petty's Pontiac Grand Prix for Sunday's Goody's 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

Jimmy Hensley, the 47-year-old driver from Ridgeway, will race the car at Martinsville instead of Wilson, who broke two ribs in a hard, single-car crash Sunday during the SplitFire 500 at Dover Downs International Speedway.

The team decided to forgo the usual strategy of letting its injured driver start the race and then replacing him, crew chief Robbie Loomis said Tuesday.

"Being so far back in the points [26th], it really won't benefit us to do that," Loomis said. "And if he [Wilson] were to get in another crash, it might hurt him even worse."

While Wilson was recovering at his home in Bartow, Fla., Hensley was at the team garages in Level Cross, N.C., on Tuesday getting his seat fitted for the car.

Martinsville is Hensley's home track, and he has won sportsman and Grand National races there, as well as a Winston Cup pole position for Dale Earnhardt in 1989, when Earnhardt was delayed by Hurricane Hugo. Hensley has spent most of 1993 driving the late Alan Kulwicki's Ford Thunderbird.

Petty's team and its sponsor, STP, announced that Wally Dallenbach Jr. will drive the Petty Enterprises Pontiacs in 1994. Dallenbach, 30, is in his second year as a Winston Cup regular.

Keywords:
AUTO RACING

by CNB