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

DATE: SATURDAY, April 29, 1995                   TAG: 9505010044
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: TALLADEGA, ALA.                                LENGTH: Short

WINSTON CUP STARS FAVORED IN IROC RACE

All those stock car racers look real comfortable on Talladega's 2.66-mile oval, even if they are in unfamiliar cars.

An IROC Dodge Avenger isn't a Winston Cup car, but it's more like a stock car than a World Sports Car or an Indy-car.

So that makes guys like Mark Martin, the defending International Race of Champions series champion and current points leader, as well as fellow NASCAR stock car stars Dale Earnhardt, Rusty Wallace, Jeff Gordon, Ken Schrader and Ricky Rudd, the ones to beat in today's 38-lap, 101-mile race.

Steve Kinser, the 14-time sprint car champion shocked the racing world by winning the Talladega race last year as an IROC rookie and a virtual novice on superspeedways.

And Scott Pruett, the current IndyCar PPG Cup point leader and last year's SCCA Trans-Am champion, has won two IROC races.

But road racing stars Tom Kendall, Hurley Haywood and IROC rookie Steve Millen will be at a decided disadvantage on Talladega's 33-degree banking.

Jim Sauter, a sometimes Winston Cup racer who, along with Dave Marcis and Dick Trickle sets up the IROC cars at each track and works with the newcomers to the series, said, ``Both Hurley and Steve look real comfortable out there.

``I've told both of them that they have to pay attention,'' he added after drafting with the two sports car drivers. ``The speed here is real relative because of the size of the race track. You can lose concentration and get into trouble real easy if you're not careful.''

Under IROC rules, the field will start in reverse order of points, meaning last-place Millen and Haywood, tied with 12 points, will be at the front, while Martin, 33, and Earnhardt, 31, will be at the back.

Keywords:
AUTO RACING

by CNB