ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, February 11, 1996 TAG: 9602130026
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-2 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: DAYTONA BEACH, FLA.
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
The 1996 NASCAR Winston Cup series opens today at Daytona International Speedway with little more than 15 minutes of racing.
It's time for the annual Busch Clash, a 20-lap race that serves to whet everyone's appetite for the real racing to come later this week, culminating with the Daytona 500 on Feb. 18.
The Clash this year features a record 17 drivers, all of whom will be driving their Daytona 500 backup cars. Rockbridge Baths native Rick Mast will be leading the field for the first of two 10-lap runs. But starting positions mean little in this race, since the field is inverted after the first 10 laps.
``A lot of cars are running good, and it's going to be hard to pass,'' said Terry Labonte.
``When you're in the Clash, that's a high-risk race,'' said Ricky Rudd, explaining why all the teams use backup cars. ``But even if you're not running as good as others, you can get by with more stuff in the Clash because you have to have a pretty pitiful setup to not run 10 or 12 laps.
``The tires are an equalizer in the Clash because it's such a short race. Anyone ought to be able to hang on for 10 laps. The grip of fresh tires will overcome many of the differences between the cars.''
Of all the cars in the race, Darrell Waltrip's might be the most interesting. It is more than a year old - it was built before the 1995 season - but it has never been raced.
It was Waltrip's backup car for both Daytona and both Talladega races last year, but he never needed to pull it off the transporter.
``We're not going to do anything wild and crazy,'' Waltrip said. ``We're just going to try to hang on. It's driving good, but it's just not very fast.''
The field consists of the 15 pole winners from 1995 as well as David Green, the top pole winner in the Busch Grand National series, and Dave Marcis, who was selected as the wild-card draw in New York last December.
Starting next to Mast will be Bobby Labonte. They are followed by Waltrip, Sterling Marlin, Ted Musgrave, Rudd, Ken Schrader, Green, Marcis, Mark Martin, Terry Labonte, Dale Jarrett, Bill Elliott, Hut Stricklin, John Andretti, Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon, who led the Winston Cup series with eight poles in 1995 but drew the last starting position last week.
Earnhardt has won six of the nine Clashes he has run in, so he'll be the favorite. He's shown in the past that he can win from the last starting spot.
``There's 17 cars in it this time, so it's going to be tougher coming from the rear, the way the combinations are today,'' said Earnhardt. ``It's a care-free race because there's no points involved, but it's a go-for-broke race.''
The leader of the race after the first 10 laps wins $25,000. The second segment pays $45,000 to the winner.
LENGTH: Medium: 62 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. 1. Two-time defending Daytona 500 champion Sterlingby CNBMarlin (right) talks with crew chief Tony Glover (center) and fellow
Winston Cup driver Rusty Wallace in the pits Friday during practice
at Daytona International Raceway in
Daytona Beach, Fla. 2. (headshot) Mast Graphic: Chart.