Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 10, 1995 TAG: 9503100040
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The teams of Dale Earnhardt, Darrell Waltrip and Bobby Hamilton each had RCA miniature satellite dishes attached to their rolling tool boxes last Sunday at Richmond for the Pontiac Excitement 400.
What are they there for?
``To watch television, of course,'' said Keith Waltz, publicist for Waltrip's team. He cited two benefits.
``One, if our car is in a wreck, they nearly always show that on television, and you can see how much damage you have. Two, we monitor the sound, and if they interview another crew chief late in the race about his pit strategy and he tells the truth, we know what they're going to do.''
Say goodbye to truthful pit interviews on television.
NO GO AT SABCO: Robin Pemberton, Rusty Wallace's crew chief, has been crew chief at three teams - Sabco (Kyle Petty), Roush (Ted Musgrave) and Penske South - in less than a year. He was asked to compare and contrast them.
``Penske South so far is the best place I've ever been,'' he said. ``Those two places [Penske South and Roush] are comparable. They each have their own little things that are better than the other.
``As far as the Sabco thing goes, it was way different than any of these teams, and I really don't have much to say about it.''
ATLANTA THE FASTEST: Pemberton raises an interesting point by noting that Atlanta Motor Speedway is the fastest track in the Winston Cup series.
``Talladega and Daytona have the potential to be the fastest, but with restrictor plates and 450 horsepower, the speeds we see are only 192 or 193 miles per hour,'' he said. ``You go to Atlanta, and there is a real opportunity that when you're entering the corner, you're approaching 200 mph. And you have more horsepower and more acceleration than you do at these plate races, so it is faster.''
Wallace, meanwhile, says Atlanta may be the race that shows NASCAR the Fords need some help to stay competitive with the new Chevrolet Monte Carlos.
``It's probably going to be the tale that tells whether NASCAR will try to equal the rules back up between the Fords and the Monte Carlos because that's a really fast track, and downforce is really critical there,'' Wallace said.
by CNB