ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, February 18, 1996 TAG: 9602190134
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: DAYTONA BEACH, FLA.
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
HISTORY MAY BE MADE as another Winston Cup racing season takes the green flag.
One is a two-time winner of the Daytona 500. Another is a one-time winner. The third never has won.
But if the victor of NASCAR's biggest race is Sterling Marlin, Ernie Irvan or Dale Earnhardt, history will be made today at Daytona International Speedway.
Marlin is shooting for his third consecutive victory in the 500 - something that never has been done.
Irvan, who won 1991 and was nearly killed in a 1994 crash, is trying to put the exclamation point on the most remarkable comeback in the history of stock car racing.
And Dale Earnhardt, the most successful racer of the modern era, is trying to win the only significant trophy that has eluded him.
There are 40 other drivers in the 38th annual running of the Winston Cup jewel, but Marlin, Irvan and Earnhardt have been the fastest here this week and thus have been pegged as the favorites by most folks in the garage.
Many observers also include Irvan's teammate, Dale Jarrett, on the list of favorites.
``Nobody has ever won three straight Daytona 500s, but it wouldn't surprise me if that [No.]4 car [driven by Marlin] does it,'' Darrell Waltrip said Saturday. ``In order of preference, I'd say the 4, 28 [Irvan], 88 [Jarrett] and 3 [Earnhardt] would be my picks.''
Waltrip has had one of the slowest cars here this week and, at the last minute, his team leased Marlin's qualifying engine.
``If we haven't been running well because of the engine... and [Marlin's] runs faster, we know where we've got to work,'' he said. ``If the car doesn't run any better with that engine, then we've got a real problem.''
Earnhardt won the pole with a speed of 189.510 mph in his Chevrolet Monte Carlo. Irvan was second-fastest. Both of them also won their Twin 125 qualifying races.
No one has been talking much about the chances of Winston Cup champion Jeff Gordon, who was sixth fastest in qualifying. But Gordon thinks his car is one of the best.
``I know our car is driving good and I think we're going to be in good shape,'' he said. ``I think it's more competitive this year than it has ever been. There are more fast cars.
``Right now, Sterling is real good. They have figured out something here at Daytona.''
The final Winston Cup practice didn't seem to give any clue of how the race might shake out.
John Andretti went the fastest, at 191.95 mph, followed by Mike Wallace (190.88), Bobby Hamilton (190.74), Ted Musgrave (190.64) and Brett Bodine (190.60).
No one, however, was thinking about speed. Just about everyone used the hour-long final practice to test handling and drafting. Otherwise, Marlin wouldn't have been 23rd fastest and Earnhardt wouldn't have been dead last.
Earnhardt, in fact, ran only four laps. Everyone else ran at least seven laps. Musgrave ran 44 laps - the most of anyone.
One of the biggest stories during Speedweeks has been the performance of the new Pontiac Grand Prix. By week's end, Pontiac drivers still were upbeat about the performance of their cars, but no one was talking like they were a threat to win.
``I think the Pontiacs are OK,'' said Ward Burton, who drives one. ``I just think we all have got to figure out what it needs. None of the Pontiac teams have gotten their cars to run too well at these particular tracks.''
Said Pontiac driver Johnny Benson: ``I'm not sure yet how it'll race. Just a good, smooth day is all I'm looking for. Me being a rookie, I've got a lot of things to learn.''
In the age-old Ford-Chevy battle, the Fords seem to have a better chance this year, although Ford teams still are complaining the Thunderbird is inferior to the Chevy.
``Obviously, the two makes got a lot closer, probably because the speeds came down'' because of a NASCAR rule change for engine manifolds, said Michael Kranefuss, owner of John Andretti's Ford.
Today's cool weather (the forecast is for sunny skies and mid-60s) may help further equalize the two makes, since a hot track favors the better-handling Chevys.
``I don't think it will be as much of a factor with the weather like this,'' Ford driver Wally Dallenbach said. ``The key will be how the cars handle after 30 or 40 laps on a set of tires, especially late in the race.
``The guys who can handle it at that point are the guys who will be strong.''
The race starts at noon and will be televised live by WDBJ (Channel 7).
SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT: Because of inadequate reporting, an item was included in Saturday's racing notebook that failed to include Rick Mast's version of an incident with Morgan Shepherd in practice Friday.
After they collided, Shepherd called the incident the ``stupidest thing I've ever seen down here.''
Mast said he received a barrage of phone calls about it Saturday morning because he did not have an opportunity to respond to Shepherd's statement.
Mast said he and Shepherd talked it over soon after Shepherd's comment.
``If it was a stupid move, it was a stupid move by both parties,'' he said. ``It was not that big a deal.''
LENGTH: Long : 101 lines ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC: chart with color headshot of Earnhardt. KEYWORDS: AUTO RACINGby CNB