Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 13, 1995 TAG: 9507130049
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Down at Jack Roush's Winston Cup shops in Liberty, N.C., they're shaking their heads at what fate has dealt them in the 1995 NASCAR Winston Cup season.
After 7 1/2 years in NASCAR's big leagues, Roush's two Ford Thunderbird teams are at their very best. Mark Martin is fourth in points, with a victory, and Ted Musgrave is fifth, trailing his teammate by only two points.
But Roush is convinced neither of them have a prayer of winning the 1995 championship.
``It's a real bittersweet year,'' Roush said this week. ``We don't have the prospect at all of improving on the three GM cars in front of us [the Chevrolet Monte Carlos of Jeff Gordon, Sterling Marlin and Dale Earnhardt]...''
At the same time, Roush said, ``we've been our absolute best of the eight years I've been involved in Winston Cup racing.
There's no question that every decision, every preparational aspect, every execution of things that are done on the race track... is at its absolute best for us.''
Roush said he keeps a list of things to work on in the fall, ``and I've got a real short list of things to even consider to make our program better.''
Martin, too, sees the operation reaching a peak.
``We've had a great season,'' he said. ``The reason I say we've had a great season is that we've had a lot of glitches in races that normally would've set us back to 15th, 18th, 20th-place finishes, and most all of those races we've managed to come back to a top-10 finish ...''
Roush said the only hope is concessions from NASCAR to bring the Fords closer to the Chevys, which have won 13 of the 16 races this year. But he sees little hope that.
``It's real obvious Chevy's going to have its day,'' he said.
``I talked to [NASCAR President] Bill France when I was at the Firecracker [Pepsi] 400, and he told me that he felt that the Ford combination - engine and car - was better than the [Chevrolet] Lumina for some time and in his effort to establish parity with this new Monte Carlo, they'd given considerations that proved to be way too much, and that the difference between the Monte Carlo and the Thunderbird was many times greater than the Thunderbird and the Lumina before.''
Roush said he believes there are too many Ford teams and he thinks NASCAR does, too. ``In a dark moment, the view I take of it is that the Monte Carlo has been enough better that nobody in their right mind would go from racing a Monte Carlo to a Ford. In fact, some of the good Ford teams are looking at running a Monte Carlo next year, and that would make NASCAR very happy, I think.''
Roush said his early report from the ``GM underground'' is that the new Pontiac Grand Prix, which will be introduced next year, is going to be better than the Monte Carlo.
``It's going to be a long period of time before Ford's going to have a chance to be on an equal playing field, not only with the Monte Carlo but also with the Pontiac we're going to have to face next year,'' he said.
Martin, meanwhile, was asked if he has any concerns about Ernie Irvan returning to the track.
``None whatsoever,'' he said. ``I look forward to Ernie getting back with us. He's already demonstrated that he hasn't lost any speed, even driving with one eye. He's totally adjusted to having [a patch over one eye].''
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB