Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, April 25, 1994 TAG: 9404250047
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MARTINSVILLE LENGTH: Medium
Although Waltrip came home third at Atlanta on Hoosier tires, he almost seemed happier with his result here on Goodyears. And he took some more parting shots at Hoosier tires, which he stopped using Friday.
"We had a great day," Waltrip said. "We needed it so badly. It's easy for me to get down with my age and all the critics we've had. I'm glad it's over with. We're on our way to recovery. We've wasted seven races and this is the beginning of my year right here.
"I've been way out on a limb, and each time I turned around all I heard were 35 chain saws running," Waltrip said. "The [Hoosier] tires had my team messed up. They felt beaten before the race ever started. That was the problem, and I didn't realize it. My team was suffering, and I needed to do something to help them out.
"I feel like a new Corvette right now. I'm just hot. I'm excited, but it was a tough day at the office out there. Morgan Shepherd [who finished fifth] was wearing me out there at the end. I got hung up in traffic every which way I went."
\ A GOOD RUN FOR MARTIN: "We had a good day," Mark Martin said after finishing third, his fifth top-10 finish this year.
"We just got beat," he said. "But we were good. We ran better than the day [in April 1992] we won here."
Martin remained third in Winston Cup points, 96 behind leader Ernie Irvan.
\ BAD START, GOOD FINISH: First impressions can be deceiving.
Todd Bodine was the first driver to lose it Sunday at Martinsville Speedway. On the third lap, he locked up his rear brakes and spun in turns 1 and 2.
But he didn't lose a lap after the mishap, and things got better and better as the afternoon wore on. When it was over, Bodine was sixth on the lead lap.
"I've been getting down on myself a little bit," he said. "I thought I was losing my short-track touch. The whole package was there today. We had the luck, and that was what we've lacked all year."
\ CHEATER VALVES: NASCAR was hunting for tire bleeder valves during Sunday's prerace inspection. None was found.
Bleeder valves are used to draw excess air pressure from tires at speed to keep the tire at a consistent pressure. Although used on the Midwest ASA stock car circuit, bleeder valves are illegal in NASCAR racing.
NASCAR decided to make spot checks Sunday after rumors swept pit road Saturday "about as fast as a car goes down the straightaway," said Winston Cup director Gary Nelson. "That was enough for us to check."
One report said a team had been caught with a bleeder valve Saturday. Nelson said that wasn't true. There also were reports teams might be using a bleeder valve that was undistinguishable from a regular valve.
The reports prompted Nelson to tell everyone at the drivers' meeting that NASCAR would be making spot checks before and after the race and anyone caught with one would be relegated to last place in the race.
"We're just squelching it before it does" appear, said Mike Helton, NASCAR's vice president of competition.
\ ANOTHER TOP 10 FOR MAST: Enjoying his best season for car owner Richard Jackson, Rick Mast finished eighth, one lap down. It was the fourth top 10 finish of the season for the Rockbridge Baths driver.
"I should have been able to run third, fourth or fifth," Mast said. "We made our last stop and everything was looking good, and the dadgum left-front [tire] went down. I ran the last 50 laps with a flat left-front. So every week it's something new."
\ BAD DAY FOR JEFF: Jeff Burton was running on the lead lap when he announced around lap 288: "Something bad just broke. I'm going behind the wall." He dropped out of the race with a broken clutch, finishing last in the 36-car field.
\ GOOD DAY FOR WARD: Ward Burton drove a workmanlike race, stayed out of trouble and finished 16th, three laps down. It was the best finish in five starts this year.
\ TOP FIVE FOR WOOD BROTHERS: Morgan Shepherd brought home the Wood Brothers' Ford Thunderbird in fifth place after trying in vain to pass Darrell Waltrip for fourth in the final laps.
"We had to overcome the back-straightaway [pit position]," Shepherd said. "I feel like it would have been real close if we'd been pitting on the front."
\ HENSLEY 23RD: Jimmy Hensley was seven laps down at the end in 23rd position. "We didn't have a very good day, but at least we made the race and got to the finish," said the Ridgeway driver.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB