Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 8, 1995 TAG: 9507110008
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LOUDON, N.H. LENGTH: Medium
The track crumbled and came apart all weekend, and the racing suffered because of it.
It's hot again here this weekend, but the track won't be breaking up. Temperatures are in the 80s, not the 90s, and the patches of asphalt that were used to fix the turns are holding up well.
But that doesn't mean it's easy to drive, even though Mark Martin set a Winston Cup track record Friday of 128.815 mph to win the pole for Sunday's race.
``The patches in the corners are really, really slippery,'' said Martin. ``But the one good thing about those patches, they are not going to tear up no matter how hot it gets.''
``It seems like turns three and four are more slippery,'' said Joe Nemechek, who qualified third. ``If you get into [turn 3] just 20 feet too far, you'd better hang on, because you are going to be sliding.''
KULWICKI SETTLEMENT: The widow of a man killed along with NASCAR driver Alan Kulwicki in a plane crash two years ago will get $2.1 million to settle a lawsuit.
Joan W. Duncan, wife of G. Dan Duncan, filed a $5 million suit last year alleging that the plane's manufacturers and its pilot were negligent. Nearly a dozen companies were named in the suit.
The settlement, which was expected to be formalized Friday, will be paid by the insurance carrier of one of the defendants, Eastern Foods, said John Hagins, attorney for Mrs. Duncan.
Hagins said other defendants named in the lawsuit are not part of the settlement and the case against them is still open.
Duncan, 44, was killed April 1, 1993, in Bristol, Tenn., where he was to attend a race at Bristol International Raceway. The plane crashed as it approached an airport in Tennessee, killing four people, including Kulwicki.
The National Transportation Safety Board concluded that ice on the wings may have contributed to the crash.
Duncan was the director of sports marketing for Hooters of America, which sponsored Kulwicki's racing team.
BODINE STILL STRUGGLING: Geoff Bodine, who won three races last year, hasn't finished better than fifth yet this year, and the highlight of his season thus far has been winning the pole for the Busch Clash.
Part of his trouble can be traced to the withdrawal of Hoosier, whose tires Bodine used last year. Part of it can be traced to expansion at his shop, including an in-house engine building program.
But Bodine said the main reason he isn't running like the Bodine of old is because he's still struggling with the breakup of his marriage of some 25 years to his wife, Kathy. She moved out of their Julian, N.C. home last August after the Bristol race.
``My personal life has completely overwhelmed everything else,'' he said. ``I haven't been performing. I don't know how long it will be till I'm normal.''
Bodine talked earlier this year about how his personal troubles have affected his racing. But he revealed Friday that he's been seeing a doctor for counseling to help get through it.
``You know, this racing is a pretty stressful and demanding business as it is,'' he said. ``Maybe I can do it, but not very well.
``It's all right to talk about it. I'm through the embarassment stage. And maybe by talking about it, I can help someone else stay together. I can certainly tell them how bad it is. Plus, by talking about it, maybe it will take a little bit of heat off the team. It's not their fault.''
BREWER HERE LATE: Tim Brewer, John Andretti's crew chief, has delayed his trip here until Sunday to be with his wife, Susan, who broke her leg in a jet skiing accident Monday on Lake Norman, N.C.
RAYBESTOS OUT: Two sources close to the Stavola Brothers racing team said Friday that longtime NASCAR sponsor Raybestos will not be returning as the team's sponsor in 1996.
MARTIN ON CHEVY: Ford driver Mark Martin's comments on the Chevrolet Monte Carlo, which has won 12 of 15 races this year:
``They built a car that you would build. Before the Monte Carlo, if they told me to shape a car, some of it would have looked a lot like that car. It has the racer's shape.
``I'd give anything to have as much downforce as a Chevy - except build a Chevy.''
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