ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, March 9, 1996 TAG: 9603120033
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: AUTO RACING NOTES
DATELINE: HAMPTON, GA.
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
It was a frozen free-for-all in qualifying Friday for today's Busch 300 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, and a wily old veteran, Dick Trickle, came out on top.
Trickle won the pole with a lap of 177.544 mph in a Chevrolet Monte Carlo owned by Dennis Shoemaker, who last week released Bobby Dotter as the driver.
``I've been there [on the pole] before but I'm kind of happy with myself,'' the 54-year-old Trickle said.
Before taking his two qualifying laps, Trickle told his team that if they put new tires on the car, he could circle the track without lifting off the gas.
``I didn't want to go back on my word, so I held it wide open,'' he said.
David Green was second fastest in a Chevy at 177.389 mph, followed by Mark Martin in a Ford (177.309), Chad Little in a Pontiac (177.137) and Dale Fischlein in a Chevy (177.114).
The free-for-all came at the other end of the lineup. Sixty-one cars made qualifying runs, and 19 went home after failing to qualify, including Busch regulars, veterans and top Winston Cup drivers.
The list of those who failed to make the race included Dotter, Jeff Fuller, Chuck Bown, Dennis Setzer, Michael Waltrip, Dale Jarrett, Jim Bown, Doug Heveron, Stevie Reeves, Buckshot Jones and Robert Pressley.
MAN OF STEEL: Tim Steele was in agony with kidney stones Friday, so he made quick work of the ARCA Apco 300 field, leading 110 of 122 laps to win by 3.1 seconds over Bob Hill.
``I wanted to get it over with and I figured this was the best way - set a fast pace and go,'' said Steele, who seriously considered pitting for a relief driver about halfway through the race.
``They say kidney stones are the size of sesame seeds, but it feels like a Mack truck in there,'' he said.
EARNHARDT'S TRUCK: Dale Earnhardt has signed a three-year contract with NAPA auto parts to sponsor his NASCAR truck, which is driven by Ron Hornaday.
``This year, we're hoping for the championship and we don't see any reason why we can't do that,'' Earnhardt said.
Earnhardt said Hornaday also will try to qualify for at least one Winston Cup race in the single Cup car that Earnhardt now owns.
``We are going to run in several races, at least two and as much as five,'' he said. ``And probably a bigger schedule next year and we'll have another car, too. Our plan is to get more involved in the years to come, and Hornaday is going to be part of it.''
Hornaday had his own announcement: ``NASCAR has invited us to [race] in Japan. We haven't even figured out who we're driving for. But hopefully we can talk Dale out of his Cup car and take that one over there.''
MORE ON ALLEN RESCUE: Rescuers did not use a backboard to lift Loy Allen out of his wrecked car at Rockingham because they felt it would increase the hazard to him by trying to wedge it between Allen's back and the seat, the rescue supervisor said this week.
Greg White, Montgomery County EMS director, who supervised rescue operations at Rockingham, said proper emergency procedures were followed in Allen's rescue.
White sought to clarify the rescuers' actions in the wake of criticism by Allen team members that the rescue was slow, that a backboard was not used, that a team member had to put a cervical collar on Allen and that he was lifted from the car by the shoulder section of his uniform.
White said the arrival of an ambulance was delayed because ``they were checking the car that had wrecked in front of Allen'' and the driver of that car, Bobby Labonte, had declined to ride to the infield care center in the ambulance, prompting further time-consuming complications.
White said a fire truck was dispatched to the scene first, which is routine NASCAR procedure. He said most of the firemen on the trucks are trained EMTs, but he was not sure if that was the case with the firemen on the truck that went to Allen's car.
He said rescuers ruled out the use of a backboard because of the way the seat is molded to wrap around a driver's body.
``They made sure they kept everything in line,'' White said. ``Spinal mobility was maintained. Everything was maintained. And they lifted him straight up. I don't feel like he was jerked out of the car.''
White confirmed that one of Allen's team members helped put a cervical collar on him before Allen was removed, but that was because the team member was already inside the car next to him.
NEW RULE: In the wake of the low-height controversy after the Richmond race, NASCAR changed its rule book to read that all cars must be aired to Goodyear recommended tire pressures before pre-race and post-race inspection.
NASCAR, searching for banned bleeder valves at the Richmond post-race inspection, did not let the teams reinflate their tires before going through the height check, although the tires on several cars appeared low. NASCAR normally allows reinflation. Three cars, including race winner Jeff Gordon's, were less than an eighth of an inch low, but NASCAR assessed no penalties.
LENGTH: Medium: 91 linesby CNB