Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 6, 1995 TAG: 9507060069
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO ILLUSTRATION}
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Jarrett, the hard-luck driver of 1995 while driving for the sport's ultimate hard-luck team, said the victory ``gives me new confidence to run and to win and it shows the guys on the Winston Cup team that they have a winner. And I hope it gives them confidence in me.''
Jarrett said if Ernie Irvan is unable to return to the team for 1996, he'd like to stick around. ``If given the opportunity, I want to stay at Robert Yates Racing,'' he said Sunday after his Milwaukee win. ``They're really good people. It's been tough for them to get close to their next driver. They've been through so much.''
The team lost Irvan, at least temporarily, after his near-fatal crash in practice at Michigan last August. Irvan replaced Davey Allison, who died in a helicopter crash in 1993.
Jarrett, who is 16th in Winston Cup points, may find his Milwaukee victory helpful this weekend in the Cup race at New Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon.
``We set the [Grand National] car up a lot like Loudon in a Cup race,'' he said. ``They're very similar. And [Cup crew chief] Larry McReynolds helped us set this one up.''
NEW BURTON BABY: Kim Burton, Jeff Burton's wife, proved she was the perfect NASCAR spouse this week by conveniently holding off going into labor until after the Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway.
Kim gave birth to the couple's first child, Kimberle Paige Burton, at 5:45 p.m. Monday at Halifax Regional Hospital in South Boston, some two days after the 400.
The baby weighed in at six pounds, 14 ounces.
MORE SPOILER: NASCAR's newest spoiler change applies to the Pontiacs as well as the Fords.
Beginning this weekend at New Hampshire, the Pontiacs and Fords can have a spoiler height of 6.375 inches, an increase of 1/8-inch. The Chevys remain at 5.75 inches, or 5/8 of an inch lower than the other two manufacturers.
APPEAL DENIED: Geoff Bodine's fine of $5,000 for ignoring the black flag at the end of the Michigan race was upheld by a three-member panel of the National Commission on Stock Car Racing last weekend at Daytona. Bodine appealed the penalty.
TIGHT RACE: After 15 races, Sterling Marlin, Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon are locked in the tightest points race since the current points system was developed before the 1975 season.
Marlin leads Gordon by seven points and Earnhardt by 16 points as the NASCAR season reaches the halfway point with the New Hampshire race.
In the 21 seasons in which the current points system has been used, the next closest race was in 1984, when Darrell Waltrip led Earnhardt by 30 points after 15 races.
NASCAR spokesman Kevin Triplett, who did the tallying, said the driver leading the points after 15 races has gone on to win the title in 10 of the past 20 seasons.
Based on these stats, Marlin has a 50-50 chance to win his first Winston Cup championship. Marlin, by the way, passed the $6 million mark in NASCAR purses last weekend, and Waltrip passed the $14 million mark.
by CNB