Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, September 29, 1994 TAG: 9409290058
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
``Lake will not be back,'' said Greg Moore, the team's manager. ``It's a real mutual, nice parting of the ways. Nice and friendly.''
Speed, 46, a winner of one NASCAR Winston Cup race in his career, will finish the season in Moore's car.
Speed had announced at Watkins Glen, N.Y., in early August that he wasn't going to return, but negotiations reopened soon after as Ford officials apparently made an effort to get Speed to change his mind. Ford Quality Parts sponsors the car.
``As of the 28th, the higher-ups at Ford needed to know if Lake was going to stay or not stay,'' Moore said.
Moore said he had tried to persuade Speed to stay. ``I felt like we were pretty close to making that happen,'' he said. ``But it was his decision that we would both be better off if he left.''
Speed reportedly not only is considering restarting his own team, but is exploring other open rides for 1995. Moore said he is exploring several possibilities.
Moore wants to find a new driver ``as soon as I can get one. But realistically, it won't be any sooner than Charlotte'' for the Mello Yello 500 on Oct.9. ``But I think this thing has dragged on long enough, don't you?''
THE ALLEN SCALE: Monte Dutton, managing editor of the FasTrack racing newsweekly, has come up with a novel way of determining the relative difficulty of Winston Cup tracks.
Using rookie Loy Allen as a measuring stick, Dutton developed the rankings based on Allen's qualifying performances.
The easiest track, according to Dutton's ``Allen Scale,'' is Daytona International Speedway. Allen won the Daytona 500 pole and was second on the Pepsi 400 starting grid.
Talladega Superspeedway also is a cinch. Allen started second and third in the two races there.
Michigan International Speedway also is pretty tame, but not quite as easy as the superspeedways. Allen won the pole in the June race at Michigan, but was 14th in qualifying for the August race.
The first of Allen's three poles this season was at Atlanta in March. There still is another race there on Nov.19, so the track's difficulty is uncertain, but expect it to be on the easy list.
Pocono is next easiest. Allen started eighth and 31st in the two 500s there.
Allen also made both Dover races (39th and 40th), so the Monster Mile obviously is not so monstrous. He also made the spring races at Charlotte (37th) and Rockingham (42nd), but the jury is out on those tracks until October's races there.
Darlington and Richmond are tough tracks, but manageable with a little practice. Allen failed to qualify for the spring races there, but made the fall races (42nd in the Southern 500 and 35th in the Richmond night race).
After that, the tracks get tough. Allen failed to make the cut at Indy, New Hampshire and the road courses at Sears Point and Watkins Glen.
But the toughest places are the short tracks at Martinsville and Bristol. Allen missed qualifying for both races at each track.
As for North Wilkesboro, we'll just have to wait and see this weekend. But it could be one of the toughest. He missed the spring race there.
Qualifying for Sunday's Holly Farms 400 begins at 3 p.m. Friday.
DNQ LIST: The battle to make races also has created another fascinating pastime for warped statisticians - the DNQ list.
Allen, of course, is the leader of the Did Not Qualify list, so he's fortunate to have three poles and two outside poles to counterbalance his record of futility.
Here's the rundown:
Loy Allen, 11; Jimmy Hensley, 7; Dave Marcis and Wally Dallenbach, 6; Ward Burton, Dick Trickle and Mike Wallace, 5; Steve Grissom, 3; Joe Nemechek, Hut Stricklin and John Andretti, 2; Derrike Cope, Harry Gant, Bobby Hamilton and Jimmy Spencer, 1.
by CNB