ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, January 26, 1996 TAG: 9601260059
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: AUTO RACING NOTES
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
For two days, as the Ford Winston Cup cars searched for speed in practice on the high banks of Daytona International Speedway, the manufacturer's top motorsports officials haunted the garage.
The Ford racing brass, including director Dan Rivard, chatted with NASCAR officials in the garage, held private meetings among themselves, had dinner Tuesday evening with NASCAR president Bill France, and at one point Wednesday even prowled the parking lot, looking at body styles of passenger cars and searching for new ideas for their NASCAR Winston Cup race program.
Ford officials said they did not spend their time lobbying NASCAR for aerodynamic changes they believe necessary to make the Fords stick to the track and race as well as the Chevrolet Monte Carlos.
And it was probably a good thing the Ford brass didn't revive their 1996 wish list here this week, considering what unheralded Jeremy Mayfield did on the track Wednesday.
In the early afternoon, Mayfield wheeled Cale Yarborough's No.98 Ford onto the 2.5-mile track and posted the fastest lap of January testing - 188.960 mph. That topped Chevy driver Terry Labonte's practice lap of 188.166 mph on Jan.17.
Mayfield had topped Labonte's lap at least once during the morning session. And his top speed was more than a mile an hour faster than any other Ford driver. John Andretti was second fastest Wednesday at 187.780 mph, followed by Michael Waltrip at 187.600 mph, Geoff Bodine at 186.150 mph and Lake Speed at 186.050 mph.
Mayfield's lap did not make his fellow Ford drivers happy. Some believed that if NASCAR was contemplating giving any help to Ford, that went out the window with Mayfield's performance.
Mayfield did not apologize for his speed.
``I don't think it's fair for us if we come here and don't try everything we want to try and then a Chevy comes here and beats us out for the pole,'' he saidtold Winston Cup Today's Mark Garrow. ``What if they beat us by one-tenth [of a second] and that's something we could have gained while we were testing here?''
NASCAR inspectors swarmed over Mayfield's Ford on Wednesday, curious as to why he was so fast. They inspected the car three times, but found nothing fishy.
Despite Mayfield's lap, Ford officials said nothing has changed to make them believe a Ford has a real chance to win the Daytona 500 on Feb.18.
``Fundamentally, nothing is different from 1995,'' said Preston Miller, Ford's NASCAR program manager. ``Why do we think we're going to do any better?''
And what about the new Pontiac Grand Prixs?
``Who knows what the Pontiac is going to do,'' said driver Mark Martin. ``But it sure looks like a spaceship to me.''
PETTY ENTERS POLITICAL RACE: Richard Petty started his political campaign Thursday by filing for the office of North Carolina secretary of state.
Petty filed for the Republican nomination during the day and had an evening campaign fund-raiser at his racing and museum complex in Level Cross.
``Before you start a race, they say, `Gentlemen, start your engines.' I'm starting mine tonight,'' Petty told a crowd of several hundred supporters at the fund-raiser.
It is the first statewide campaign for Petty, who has been a fixture on the GOP fund-raising circuit for years. The 200-race winner in NASCAR served several terms as a Randolph County commissioner. Petty started a political action committee to help conservative candidates two years ago, and considered a bid for governor. But he switched to the secretary of state's office after receiving only mild interest from voters and financial backers.
The Associated Press contributed information to this story.
LENGTH: Medium: 71 linesby CNB