Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 17, 1995 TAG: 9502170051
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DENISE MICHAUX LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. LENGTH: Medium
After spending the entire week struggling to keep a motor running in his car, Mast finally thought he had a good one for Thursday's Twin 125s. But on the fourth lap, that familiar puff of smoke erupted from Mast's Ford and engine No. 5 was gone.
Mast, of Rockbridge Baths, Va., will use a provisional to start from the 41st spot on Sunday in the Daytona 500.
``It all goes back to our testing in January,'' Mast said. ``We had run so bad this last year and a half down here and at Talladega that we came here in January and tested and felt like we found what was wrong. Then we get down here and blew up everything we had.
``We put this motor in today and it was running good and it just busted.''
But there is one thing Mast is keeping in mind: ``Bobby Allison one year went through four or five motors and broke a car and ended up winning the thing. So, that's what I'm looking at now.''
NEVER AGAIN: ``I don't ever want to be in another race at Daytona like that,'' Jeff Burton said Thursday after his qualifying race. ``That was the hardest race I have ever run in my life.''
Burton squeezed into the show by finishing 14th in the second Twin 125. He will start 28th Sunday.
``If it had been too much longer of a race, we definitely wouldn't have made it,'' Burton said.
Burton spent most of the race fighting to stay ahead of the bubble spot - 15th place. Morgan Shepherd was running 15th, right behind Burton.
``I just kept looking at Morgan, wondering who was behind him,'' Burton said. ``It was a bad deal because the car was pushing so bad there wasn't but so fast I could go. But we missed three wrecks and had to do some pretty nifty deals to miss those wrecks.''
BOILING POINT: It wasn't just the 80-degree temperatures that had John Andretti hot when he got out of his car following his qualifying race.
The second race had come down to a five-lap dash after the final caution period. Coming out of turn 4, Andretti was outside Ricky Craven coming down the frontstretch, and Andretti rode the wall hard.
After the race, Andretti ran up to Craven's car to share his displeasure.
``I just felt like I had to say something. Everybody makes mistakes, and hopefully he can learn something from it,'' Andretti said. ``I know I've made my share, and I've apologized for every one of them.
``Somebody hit me really hard, that's all I know.
``I guess I'm disgusted because he had nothing really to gain except for one spot maybe, and he had a whole lot to lose and he cost us a lot. This one could have cost us a Daytona 500, and it definitely cost us a better starting spot.''
Andretti will start 38th Sunday. Craven will start 14th.
``I got sideways off of four and tried to collect it and got into the 37 [Andretti],'' Craven said. ``I thought someone got into the back of me, but maybe the air was just pulled off my spoiler. I never did anything intentional. I'm a racer and I'm not going to stop racing.''
Andretti tried to see the wreck as a positive.
``The crew is really digging in,'' he said. ``They'll probably give me an even better race car for Sunday. They're even madder about it than I am.''
TOP PONTIAC: Kyle Petty had the fastest Pontiac on Thursday and finished seventh in the first qualifying race.
``We're close,'' he said. ``We're not as strong as we want to be and weren't as strong as the 4 car [Sterling Marlin] or we would have won the race.
``We're just real, real close, but we've got a bit of work to do yet.''
GOING HOME: Shawna Robinson failed to make the field and become the first woman since Janet Guthrie in 1980 to start a Daytona 500.
Patty Moise was the last woman to compete in a Winston Cup event here. She ran the 1988 and '89 Pepsi 400s.
TODAY'S EVENTS: The 17th Florida 200 NASCAR Goody's Dash series race gets under way at 11 a.m. today, and round one of the Dodge IROC XIX will take the green flag for a 100-mile race at 1:30 p.m.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING)
by CNB