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

DATE: FRIDAY, November 4, 1994                   TAG: 9411040123
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: FROM ASSOCIATED PRESS AND STAFF REPORTS
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

WINSTON CUP DRIVERS MAKE THEIR MOVES

NASCAR Winston Cup car owner Bill Davis released Bobby Labonte as the driver of his Ford Thunderbird on Thursday afternoon in a move that is expected to have a domino effect on two other teams today.

``Bobby has been released from here,'' Davis said from his shop in Thomasville, N.C. As to reports that Labonte will be joining Joe Gibbs' Chevy team, ``I'm sure that's where he's going,'' Davis said.

Labonte is expected to replace Dale Jarrett as driver of Gibbs's Chevrolet Lumina. And Jarrett is going to Robert Yates's Ford Thunderbird to drive for Ernie Irvan, still recovering from near-fatal injuries suffered at Michigan in August.

Gibbs released a statement late Thursday that confirmed this plan. He said he had offered Labonte a contract to drive and said Jarrett would be released from the final two years of his contract as early as this morning.

``We are scheduled to meet with Dale tomorrow morning,`` Gibbs said in the statement released Thursday. ``If everything goes as we have discussed with him, then we will honor his request to be released. Bobby understands that our contract offering is contingent on final agreement of terms of separation with Dale.``

Jarrett was in Las Vegas on Wednesday and Thursday appearing for his sponsor, Interstate Batteries, at a large auto parts manufacturers show. He was expected to return to Charlotte on a red-eye flight Thursday night so he could make this morning's meeting with Gibbs.

Labonte then was expected to sign with Gibbs this afternoon, while Jarrett goes to the Yates shop to sign his new contract, despite the open house there today and Saturday.

Jarrett and Labonte will remain with their respective teams for the season-ending race Nov.13 at Atlanta.

Those moves will leave everybody covered except Davis, who said he would begin looking for a driver immediately. Davis still hasn't announced his new sponsor, but it is expected to be a major financial institution.

In other auto racing news:

Ricky Craven, who finished second the past two seasons in NASCAR's Busch Grand National series, will drive next season for the Winston Cup team owned by Larry Hedrick.

Craven, 28, will drive a Chevrolet Monte Carlo under the sponsorship of Kodiak smokeless tobacco, officials of Larry Hedrick Motorsports announced. Craven, a native of Newburgh, Maine, joined the GN series in 1992 and was named rookie of the year.

ETC. Mantle, a former New York Yankee and a Hall of Famer, alleges that Upper Deck said it wanted out of its 1992 contract with him unless he agreed to take a pay cut. The Carlsbad, Calif.-company said Mantle's 1994 admission to having gone through alcohol rehabilitation diminished his marketability, according to the lawsuit.

Keywords:
AUTO RACING BASEBALL

by CNB