Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 2, 1995 TAG: 9502020041
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
Three teams tested at the state fairgrounds Tuesday afternoon, when the three-quarter-mile track finally dried, and four arrived Wednesday, including Rusty Wallace, who has won twice there in the past three years.
``This is the first time we've had a Monte Carlo anywhere except Daytona,'' said car owner Leo Jackson, who was there with his new driver, Robert Pressley. ``I think it should be better. I think the downforce is better.''
Jackson said he believes the car won't necessarily be any faster, but should drive better.
Pressley, Mike Chase and Derrike Cope were on the track Tuesday afternoon, while Rick Mast of Rockbridge Baths, Lake Speed and Pancho Carter arrived Wednesday, along with Wallace.
BOWN ON TRACK: Chuck Bown, who like Ernie Irvan is trying to recover from an eye injury, tested Mike Chase's Chevrolet Monte Carlo on Wednesday at Richmond.
Bown, 40, of Asheboro, N.C., suffered nerve damage in his right eye after a crash at Pocono in June. Unlike Irvan, who nearly was killed by a head injury at Michigan in August, Bown walked away from his crash, although he was unconscious for about five minutes.
But Bown, like Irvan, has double vision. And the vision in the right eye wobbles, as well. Neither driver at this point knows if he will fully recover, but both are itching to return to racing.
Bown will be working with The Nashville Network on race telecasts and the Motor Racing Network on radio broadcasts, ``but I'd a lot rather be driving,'' he said.
After emerging from Chase's car Wednesday, Bown said his vision was improving.
``It felt better than the last time,'' Bown said. ``I didn't have any double vision, but the image was jumping around a little bit from the vibration in the car.''
Bown said he also hoped to practice wearing an eye patch.
NEW RULES: NASCAR has announced a couple of new rules.
The most significant change prohibits interchanging pit crewmen over the wall during pit stops. In other words, no more Keystone cops routines, with guys bounding back and forth over the wall in relays.
From now on, seven - and only seven - men can go over the wall during a stop.
``Teams were using an interchanging system and sometimes as many as nine or 10 guys were working on the car during a stop,'' said Kevin Triplett, a NASCAR spokesman. ``There is a NASCAR inspector every two pit stalls, and it's tough for one guy every two stalls to make sure there are only seven guys over the wall. So this will definitely make it easier for us to police the situation. And it's for safety.''
It may slow pit stops a bit, but, ``I'm sure they'll discover ways to make them quicker,'' Triplett said.
The other new rule slightly alters the provisional starting system. Basically, it replaces the last two qualifying positions in each race with provisional starting positions. So instead of having, say, a 40-car field with two provisionals (plus a possible champion's provisional), a race will have a 38-car field of qualifiers with four (or five) provisional starting spots.
``This will give owners who have been with us a long time posting consistent finishes another opportunity to make the field,'' Triplett said. By the same token, it will make it that much harder for part-timers to race.
A BUSY RACER: Derrike Cope certainly is filling his racing platter this year.
Besides driving Bobby Allison's Ford Thunderbird, Cope said he will drive the Allison Busch Grand National car in 18 or 19 races.
And he's forming his own Busch team to run in about 10 races with Tim Bender.
``We're also going to build a truck to have it here to compliment the whole Busch race team,'' Cope said. ``We'll probably run it once or twice, like at Bristol or something.
``We're doing that to have fun with it more than anything.''
BRIGHTER TRACK: Among the many improvements Paul Sawyer, the track's president, has planned are ground-level lights around the inside of the track.
``After the March race, we're going to tear down all the steel retaining walls and replace them with 30-inch concrete walls,'' Sawyer said. ``By September, we'll have the new ground-level lights instead of portable ones.''
HESS LANDS RIDE: CQ Motorsports Ford Thunderbird. A formal announcement and news on sponsorship are expected next week.
Hess' last venture in Winston Cup ended against the wall at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, when he wrecked in practice for the inaugural Brickyard 400 and suffered a concussion.
by CNB