Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 7, 1995 TAG: 9505080104
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: E7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER
DATELINE: SONOMA, CALIF. LENGTH: Medium
You know you're in California when you see young guys wearing pagers riding around the garage on mountain bikes or motorized skateboards.
You know you're in California when the drink in the media center refrigerator is apple-boysenberry juice.
You know you're at a California track when you can smell eucalyptus trees instead of charcoal grills; when you don't see car owners' wives at the track because they're at the spa getting a massage; and when Dale Earnhardt's team hires an Italian chef to cater lunch.
There's no question that the annual Save Mart 300 at Sears Point International Raceway is different than any other race in the NASCAR Winston Cup series. And it's not just because the 11-turn, 2.52-mile road course is darn near impossible to negotiate in a 3,400-pound stock car without driving off the asphalt.
It's the atmosphere, the ambiance, the sheer sense of California cool that permeates the scene.
``You don't see too many Volkswagens back home, and you certainly don't see any with peace signs painted on the rear bumper - and I mean actually painted on the car,'' said Winston Cup points co-leader Jeff Gordon, who grew up in nearby Vallejo, Calif.
``When we got ready to practice this morning, they were playing a `Doors' song on the public address system,'' said Steve Hmiel, Mark Martin's crew chief. ``You don't hear that at any other track. And when they're not playing `Doors' music, they actually have an announcer doing play-by-play of practice. Where else do you hear play-by-play for practice?
At no other NASCAR track will you see ads for Yokohama tires, Auto Spa and Korbel champagne, and signs that exhort you to ``Buy Recycled. Everyone Profits.''
There's a sense of propriety around here that doesn't exist, say, in the rowdy infields of Talladega and Darlington. And NASCAR is in tune with the custom.
``This happens at Pocono, too, but we had to stop practice this morning for a deer on the track,'' NASCAR spokesman Andy Hall said Friday. He thought for a moment and then added: ``Of course, we did the politically correct thing. We shooed it away.''
But if the atmosphere isn't as rowdy, there's no other race in the series whose primary reason for existing is to give northern Californians an excuse to party.
There's no pretense about this. The Sears Point ad in this year's NASCAR media guide says: ``Think of it as a party with 90,000 of your closest friends.''
Gordon's biggest problem here has been getting into the track, because Winston Cup stars aren't readily recognized.
``Here, it doesn't matter who you are,'' he said. ``If you don't have a badge, you're not getting in. I've had trouble at the gate every time I've ever come here.
``You say, `I'm Jeff Gordon.'
``And they say, `So?'
``It's kind of tough not having any clout,'' Gordon said. ``You don't have any weight to throw around here. Heck, the first year I came here, they were checking my trunk for beer.''
But a driver can't always escape the spotlight, not even in California.
Rick Mast of Rockbridge Baths, Va., was at the Oakland Athletics baseball game Friday night when a stranger wished him well in today's race. Mast was startled that he was recognized, so he asked the man if he was from California.
``Oh, no,'' the man replied. ``We're from Pennsylvania. We came out here for the race.''
by CNB