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

DATE: SUNDAY, April 16, 1995                   TAG: 9504180066
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: E7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

EARNHARDT GETS HELP CRAMMING FOR TESTS

The Hanes 500 at Martinsville Speedway is a week away, but the engines have been roaring at NASCAR's shortest track during the many test sessions Winston Cup drivers conducted as they prepared for the final short-track race of the spring.

Dale Earnhardt was at Martinsville on Tuesday with two cars. Earnhardt drove one and Jimmy Hensley of Ridgeway drove the other. But then Earnhardt took off for the Bahamas and arranged for Hensley to continue testing Wednesday and Thursday.

Darrell Waltrip and Ward Burton also were at the .526-mile track Tuesday and Wednesday. Ricky Craven and Chuck Bown joined the group Wednesday. And in previous weeks, Mark Martin, Ted Musgrave, Ricky Rudd, Dick Trickle, Geoff Bodine, Morgan Shepherd, Lake Speed, Randy LaJoie, Todd Bodine and Joe Nemechek tested at Martinsville.

``I think it's really good to have two cars and two driver and two opinions,'' Earnhardt told Martinsville Speedway's Steve Sheppard said during his session. ``Hensley gets around this place really good. He put it on the pole for me that year [1989, when Hurricane] Hugo came through and I was late getting up here to qualify.''

That year was 1989.

Said Hensley, ``It's just a plus to have me test for them to give him time to do other things.''

Waltrip, who has won 11 times at Martinsville, said he's hoping this is the place he can break a victory drought that is into its third year. His last victory was in the 1992 Southern 500.

``Martinsville has been a good place for me to break a losing streak,'' he said. ``It always seems that whenever I get into a streak where I haven't won a race in awhile, I'll win here.''

IT'S ALL DOWNHILL: Martinsville has a history of coming up with some interesting grand marshals, and the Hanes 500 is no exception. Giving the command to start the engines will be Picabo Street, the World Cup downhill skiing champion.

TICKET UPDATE: The speedway still has reserved seats available, at $35 each, in the lower concrete grandstands around the track. And, as usual, 8,000 backstretch unreserved seats will go on sale race day at 7:30 a.m. Those seats are $30 each. For information, call (703) 956-3151.

Friday's schedule features pole qualifying at 3 p.m. Admission for the day's activities is $8. Saturday's schedule features the Hanes 150 for Slim Jim All Pro series cars. Tickets for that race are $15 each. The Sunday race starts at noon.

Keywords:
AUTO RACING

by CNB