Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 28, 1995 TAG: 9503280083
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Many Ford team members, firmly convinced the Chevys have an aerodynamic advantage, refuse to believe the numbers might be the same for the two makes.
``Feed that stuff to some other mule. I'm not buying that,'' said Bill Ingle, crew chief for Ricky Rudd's Ford team.
``No way,'' said Lee Morse, a top Ford racing official. ``I may be surprised, but I don't believe that at all.''
But some Ford folks are not so sure.
``The worst-case scenario for me would be to find that the GM teams were all better than the Ford teams - that they worked harder over the winter, that the Monte Carlo is not a better car than the Thunderbird ... ,'' Ford owner Jack Roush said Sunday, before the TranSouth 400 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. ``That's what we're going to find out this week. There's a chance of that.''
And a lot of Chevy folks are so convinced they've beaten the Fords fair and square in overall car and team development, they're almost expecting the numbers to be the same.
``I think there's a good chance when you put the cars in the wind tunnel, you're not going to see much difference,'' said Ford owner Joe Gibbs.
This unprecedented test starts today at the Lockheed wind tunnel used by Ford in Marietta, Ga., and concludes Wednesday at the General Motors wind tunnel in Warren, Mich.
The Chevrolet Monte Carlo of Darlington winner Sterling Marlin, the Ford Thunderbird of Derrike Cope and the Pontiac Grand Prix of Bobby Hamilton survived the wreck-filled TranSouth 400 and were selected to represent the three makes in the tests.
The tests exemplify NASCAR's growing willingness, under the leadership of Winston Cup director Gary Nelson, to master the technical issues that affect race car performance.
In the past, NASCAR officials made changes after listening to the arguments of the various manufacturers' representatives, who told them what they needed. If you needed a change, you presented your case over a period of time, waited for NASCAR to see the need for the change, then hoped that you got at least part of what you sought.
One of the more common arguments heard from Ford drivers trying to explain their shellacking at Atlanta was that the Chevy teams had done the best politicking during the winter.
The NASCAR tests will give Nelson hard data. While that will give the Ford, Chevy and Pontiac teams a whole new subject to argue, it also will give NASCAR something more concrete to use to change the rules.
But even if the aerodynamic information shows significant differences between the three makes, there are more elements at work here than aerodynamics.
After all, the highly touted ``big four'' who won 17 of 31 races last season - Rusty Wallace, Mark Martin, Dale Earnhardt and whomever was driving the Robert Yates-owned Ford - have yet to win a race in 1995.
Could it be what we're seeing is not so much the dominance of the Chevy teams, but the emerging dominance of a Hendrick Motorsports juggernaut?
``If you pull the Hendrick teams out of the equation, then it's pretty even,'' said Steve Hmiel, Martin's crew chief, addressing the issue Sunday.
But Sterling Marlin's Darlington victory in the Morgan-McClure Chevrolet, and his ability to compete with Jeff Gordon just before Gordon was taken out during the crash-filled race, is evidence Hendrick doesn't have a lock on Chevy excellence in 1995.
The three Hendrick teams, however, clearly have been building momentum.
And one of the things Hendrick Motorsports does that none of the Ford teams do is build its own custom chassis. It's possible the Hendrick Chevys are beating the Fords, and outperforming most of the other Chevys, because they've found some chassis secrets.
Jimmy Johnson, Hendrick racing's general manager, does not dispute this.
``Yes,'' he said. ``The chassis is a big part of it.''
But he cited tremendous improvement in the quality of support from Chevy and General Motors engineers as a key to the overall improvement of the Chevy teams.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB