Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 13, 1994 TAG: 9405130050
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SAN FRANCISCO LENGTH: Medium
Although the Winston Cup road course at Sears Point International Raceway is one of NASCAR's longest tracks, at 2.52 miles, Sunday's Save Mart 300 may be more like a short-track race when it comes to beating and banging.
"[Jimmy] Spencer ought to fit right in," Ernie Irvan said at a news conference Wednesday, joking about the driver who has been living up to his "Mr. Excitement" nickname.
"The way I look at it is, it looks like there's a lot of places [on the course] to get even with Spencer," Irvan said, warming to the subject.
Then, he quickly added: "I don't have to get even with Spencer, though. He hasn't wrecked me once!"
As quickly as you might point to "Swervin' Irvan's" fading reputation as a crasher, Irvan addressed that point:
"I got involved in a few accidents, but it took me a year-and-a-half to get involved in three of 'em. And it took Spencer three weeks."
Spencer purposely rammed Ken Schrader at North Wilkesboro, was involved in three incidents at Martinsville (where he was mostly a victim) and then made a number of drivers furious when he triggered a 12-car crash at Talladega.
Spencer called it aggressive driving. Terry Labonte, one of the Talladega casualties, said Spencer was driving "like an idiot."
Spencer, an oval-track racer throughout his career, isn't one of the favorites on the tight, hilly, 11-turn course near Sonoma in Northern California's wine country.
But that may not stop him from going fast, or perhaps even winning. There have been five winners in the past six Winston Cup road races at Sears Point and Watkins Glen and none of them was considered a road-course specialist, at least certainly not on the level of a Ricky Rudd or a Rusty Wallace.
Irvan won at Watkins Glen in 1991 and came from the back of the pack to win at Sears Point in 1992. Davey Allison won at Sears Point in 1991, and Geoff Bodine triumphed at Sears Point last year. Mark Martin won last year's Bud at the Glen; Kyle Petty won there in 1992.
"Ernie adapted to road courses probably as good as anybody," Labonte said. "But there are so many guys now, really, who have a chance to win here and run good."
"I ain't a road racer," Irvan said. "I just drive the wheels off it, whether it's a half-mile or two-mile track or a road course. But [car owner] Robert Yates and the guys think I'm a road racer, so they built me a road-race car. They used to just bring their short-track car to the road courses."
Irvan said he tested the new car at Road Atlanta last week and spun twice. He's not sure how it will run at Sears Point, but given his record there and Yates' reputation for building fast, reliable cars, Irvan enters the race as one of the favorites.
Qualifying starts at 6:30 p.m. today and is expected to run late because 60 cars are entered, including a number of Winston West drivers with Winston Cup cars.
For Winston Cup rookies and other Sears Point novices, the addition of the West Coast drivers will make it harder than usual to qualify. Expect another tough, nail-biting session during second-round qualifying, which starts at 1 p.m. Saturday.
The 74-lap (300-kilometer) race starts at 4 p.m. Sunday and will be shown live on ESPN.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB