Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, July 9, 1995 TAG: 9507100099
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: E7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LOUDON, N. H. LENGTH: Medium
And Jeff Gordon, who has won seven pole positions this year, came through as expected, leading all second-day qualifiers with a speed of 127.355 mph in his Chevrolet Monte Carlo.
It was good enough for the 21st starting spot, which is the highest spot a second-day qualifier can earn. But had Gordon run that lap on Friday instead of hitting the second-turn wall, it still would have been good enough for only the 11th starting spot.
``We didn't have a bad lap today,'' Gordon said. ``We did exactly what we needed to do. That's important for me and the team to bounce back right away. Little things like that [incident with the wall] yesterday can affect you. Hopefully, it won't affect us too much.''
A dozen other drivers also ran in the second round, but it wasn't a make-or-break situation for any of them. Provisional starting spots went to Chuck Bown, Brett Bodine and Jimmy Spencer, while the only driver to fail to make the field was newcomer Eric Smith.
FORBES ON NASCAR: In case you haven't noticed, the July 3 edition of Forbes magazine had a cover article on NASCAR, reporting that stock-car racing is the fastest growing professional sport in the U.S., with a fans-in-the-stands growth rate of nine percent a year since 1990.
Forbes estimated that the ``total take'' in NASCAR racing, including income of speedways, owners and teams, at $2 billion a year.
It described NASCAR President Bill France as an ``overweight chain-smoker,'' but said the France family's holdings top $500 million.
SUPPORT RACES: Winston Cup regular Ricky Craven made a last-lap pass on Kelly Moore to win the Slick 50 150 Grand National North race Saturday, and Steve Parks won the 40-lap modified race.
``I passed [Moore] with a lap to go because everything worked out perfect,'' Craven said. ``Had I passed him with two to go, he would have passed me back. And had there been another lap, he would have probably passed me back. There were several opportunities to wreck each other.''
The support races were not completed until after 7 p.m. Saturday because of intermittent rain.
And during one of those rain delays, track founder Bob Bahre could be seen out on the frontstretch of his speedway personally directing the track-drying operations.
NELSON ON FINES: One of the repercussions of the record fines handed out by NASCAR to teams this season for rules violations has been that cheating is worse than it's ever been.
This perception, to be sure, has generated negative publicity for NASCAR and even spawned rumors that NASCAR Winston Cup Director Gary Nelson is on the outs with his superiors, including NASCAR President Bill France, because of it.
``The thing about the higher fines was the perception that the cheating was worse,'' Nelson said Saturday. ``I didn't anticipate that. To me, [the amount] is the same. I don't think the "catch rate'' has changed over the last five years, but the perception has changed for the public.
``I'm not saying the side effects of our record fines is something that disturbs us. It's something that's there. But I don't see where we're going to change what we're doing. We announced that a year ago in Daytona and it's still in effect.''
ROOM TO SPEED UP: Pit-road acceleration lanes are being added to Martinsville Speedway in preparation for the Goody's 500 on Sept.24.
Acceleration lanes are being constructed in the turns to allow pit-road traffic to move back onto the speedway at the exit of turns 2 and 4. The current configuration forces drivers onto the track in turns 1 and 3, where race traffic is divng into the turns at top speed. The lanes will allow drivers to exit the pits on a section of track that will not slow cars that are already at race speed.
``Acceleration lanes are an improvement drivers wanted, and it will keep traffic moving smoothly in the turns even during green-flag pit stops,'' said Clay Campbell, Martinsville Speedway president.
The lanes will vary from 31 feet to 20 feet wide and will be constructed between the existing inside retaining wall and the yellow curbing on the inside of the concrete turns. The front straightaway pits will exit at the beginning of the front stretch. There will still be a grass area between the acceleration lanes and the track.
by CNB