Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 23, 1994 TAG: 9404230038
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MARTINSVILLE LENGTH: Medium
When Hoosier Tire Co. President Bob Newton spotted Waltrip's team mounting a set of Goodyear tires Friday morning before Hanes 500 practice at Martinsville Speedway, he decided he'd had enough of Waltrip's affair with the competition.
Newton confronted Waltrip and told him the tire deal was off. From now on, if Waltrip wanted Hoosiers, he could pay for them, Newton said.
"I told him, `If you run Goodyears, you're a Goodyear man,' " Newton said. "I shook hands with him. We're still good friends. But he's no longer one of our team players. I'm not going to hold anybody back who doesn't want me.
"I feel sorry for him," Newton said. "He's trying to hang onto his racing career. He needs help. He has to do something, and I'm probably the first thing that's got to go."
Newton pointed out that he had already given Waltrip a week off from Hoosiers at Bristol, where Waltrip ran Goodyears. But he said he wasn't going to put up with repeated flip-flopping, at least not from a driver with a Hoosier contract. It simply isn't good business to have a Hoosier driver running on Goodyears whenever he felt like it, Newton said.
"You can't do that in front of people," Newton said. "It's foolish."
Earlier this week, Waltrip had said the race weekend here was a "pretty big test" for his relationship with Hoosier. But even before practice started Friday, the 11-time Martinsville winner was wavering.
Waltrip used both tire brands in practice and had similar lap speeds with the two brands. But in his qualifying run, riding on Goodyears, Waltrip picked up about two-tenths of a second from his practice times and qualified 16th at 91.887 mph.
"It felt better in qualifying than it has been," Waltrip said. "We just needed to [switch]. It's good for our team. It's what my team needs. . . . It was a hard decision. We've been gambling a lot already this season, and we can't afford to gamble anymore."
Waltrip confirmed that Newton axed his contract, but said that was what he wanted, too.
"Bob Newton has been great to work with," Waltrip said. "I've tried to help him, and it's been a good relationship working together, but it just ain't going nowhere. The way things have been going, I ain't been helping him and he ain't been helping me."
Newton also said as much, saying that the loss of Waltrip as a contract driver won't change his Winston Cup program because Waltrip "hasn't really helped it. He didn't really add anything for us."
Newton said Geoff Bodine is "my leader. There ain't no getting around that." And Newton predicted he'll get another top driver to switch to Hoosiers before long.
Bodine, meanwhile, displayed no signs of insecurity with the upstart racing tire company based in Lakeville, Ind.
"I'm satisfied. I'm happy. I think things are getting better," said Bodine, who qualified third. "We're doing better and we only have good things to come. Bob Newton is going to have a tire that will sit on poles and will win races and it won't be long. I'm really excited about it."
Newton said his stable now consists of Bodine, Greg Sacks, Loy Allen, Jeff Burton and Ward Burton.
He said Waltrip is welcome to buy tires from Hoosier and hopefully will be "just another customer down the road."
Goodyear's Phil Holmer said of Waltrip: "Maybe he's like a golfer who is kinda happy with his old putter." Holmer said he would be more than happy to provide Waltrip with Goodyears - at the going rate of $271 a tire.
Holmer said he would treat Waltrip "like any other great and wonderful customer."
\ A NEW RUDD ON THE WAY: Ricky and Linda Rudd are expecting their first child around Labor Day.
"Is that good planning, or what?" said Linda, who is 5 1/2 months pregnant. "New team and new baby."
They have not found out whether the new Rudd is a girl or a boy and they don't want to know until the baby is born, she said.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB