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

DATE: SATURDAY, February 19, 1994                   TAG: 9402190087
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DAYTONA BEACH, FLA.                                LENGTH: Medium

DASH DRIVER MAKES HIS MARK IN LAKE LLOYD

Stacy didn't expect to be there during his Goody's Dash race Friday, but that's exactly where the driver ended up after his Ford flipped over the earthen berm on the 33rd lap of the Florida 200. It was another strange accident in a Speedweeks filled with unusual and tragic crashes.

"This isn't the kind of splash I wanted to make at Daytona," Stacy told a track reporter.

Pole-winner Mike Swaim of Archdale, N.C., won the 80-lap race by about a half-second over Robert Huffman.

Stacy, of Enon, Ohio, was the first driver in 30 years - and only the third in speedway history - to land in the lake. Tommy Irwin dunked his Ford Thunderbird during a 100-mile qualifying race in 1960, and Bay Darnell got wet during an ARCA qualifying race in 1964.

In the three-car accident, Stacy's Ford spun down the grass along the backstretch, hit the berm backward and flipped up and over the embankment. After the final roll, his car stopped right-side up in the water at the edge of the lake.

"They said it was pretty spectacular," Stacy said. "I didn't have any idea where I was, but I remember my spotter telling me I was sitting in the lake. Then the water came in. It was waist deep."

Stacy was shaken momentarily, but said the only injury he received was a cut lip while removing his steering wheel.

During the pace lap before the race, the 41-car field paid tribute to the late Rodney Orr by leaving the pole position open. Orr, the 1993 Dash series champion, was killed Monday his Winston Cup car crashed roof-first into the wall in turn 2 during practice.

\ HOOSIER OUT: After an encouraging start, the Hoosier Tire Company's first race of the 1994 Winston Cup season has ended in defeat.

All six Hoosier drivers in Sunday's Daytona 500 have switched to Goodyear tires after receiving permission to do so from Hoosier's president, Bob Newton.

"He wanted us to switch because he wanted us to have a chance of winning," Geoff Bodine said. "We weren't going to switch until he told us to. He wants us to be competitive. We just feel bad because the tire wasn't competitive here. That surprised us all. I don't think any of us expected that."

But Loy Allen, the rookie who won the Daytona 500 pole on Hoosiers, said he "never had any problems with our Hoosier tires." Allen said he was switching because no one would draft with him.

"I don't think I was going to have any drafting partners if I hadn't switched to Goodyears," Allen said. "There were a couple of competitors who told me there would be no drafting assistance. They didn't want to draft with me, especially draft behind me. So we decided it was best to go [to Goodyears], as long as Bob Newton was OK with it."

Allen's car owner, George Bradshaw, also maintained that there was no problem with the Hoosiers.

"Our fastest lap in testing was on tires with 106 laps on them," Bradshaw said.

But most of the Hoosier drivers in Thursday's Twin 125 qualifying races said the tires lost their grip after a few laps.

"There's a little compound problem, and we feel like there's a little construction problem," Bodine said. "But it's nothing that can't be fixed."

The problem apparently is that the tire compound is too hard. And from side to side, the tire is slightly crowned instead of flat, which means that, compared to the Goodyears, less of the surface of the Hoosier tire touches the track. That makes the Hoosiers faster, but it also makes them less stable.

"I was hoping to get off to a better start - for me, for Bob Newton and for everybody," Darrell Waltrip said. "I was hoping to come down here and be, at worst, equal on the Hoosiers. But we'll make the change and get 'em next week on Hoosiers. That's our `A' choice every week.

Newton was not commenting Friday, but he said before the qualifying races Thursday, "This is just one of 31 races, so we're in it for the hard pull. I like competition. I love competition. I wouldn't be doing it if I didn't love racing."

Keywords:
AUTO RACING