ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, March 23, 1996 TAG: 9603250114
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: AUTO RACING NOTES
DATELINE: DARLINGTON, S.C.
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
Jeff Green took a big step toward turning around an abysmal early start to the season Friday by winning the pole for today's Darlington 200 Busch Grand National race at Darlington Raceway.
Green, driving Dale Earnhardt's Chevrolet Monte Carlo, circled this 1.366-mile oval at 166.337 mph - a track record for Grand National cars by more than four miles per hour.
It was Green's first pole since Myrtle Beach last June. Green said he was motivated after his older brother, David, practiced in the car Friday morning. ``I guess he got me tuned up for this race track when he ran the car faster than I had,'' Jeff said. ``It made me work harder.''
Mark Martin, who has led more than three times as many laps as any other Busch driver this season, won the outside pole at 166.090 mph. Martin has led 411 of the 764 laps run this year, despite skipping last weekend's race in Nashville, Tenn.
Also in the top 10 were Mike McLaughlin in a Chevy (165.917), David Green in a Chevy (165.810), Ward Burton in a Pontiac (165.771), Dale Jarrett in a Ford (165.331) and Chevy drivers Ricky Craven (165.220), Randy LaJoie (165.181), Sterling Marlin (165.170) and Dick Trickle (165.142).
Forty-nine cars ran for 38 regular starting positions.
Provisional starting spots went to Patty Moise, Mike Dillon, Shane Hall and Bobby Dotter. Moise broke a bone below her left knee at Rockingham and is making her first start since Richmond.
Drivers who failed to make the race included Tommy Houston, Buckshot Jones, Michael Laughlin, Randy Porter and Pete Orr.
Green has yet to get a top-10 finish in the five Grand National races run this year and he is currently 27th in points.
``We hope to turn this season around here,'' he said.
WIND TUNNEL TESTS: In the wake of NASCAR's latest comparative wind tunnel tests, the position in Daytona Beach, Fla., is: If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
NASCAR has released no specific information about the results of the tests of a Ford, Chevy and Pontiac. ``We're still trying to figure it out,'' Vice President of Competition Mike Helton said Friday.
The word in the garage, confirmed by three sources, was that the tests showed that the Ford and Chevy were closer than they were in last November's tests, but that the Chevy still has a downforce advantage.
``They're pretty close from what we're seeing off a quick look,'' Helton said.
Last year, an independent test by Ford showed that the Chevy had about 22 percent more rear downforce. Last week's NASCAR tests showed that the percentage of the Chevy downforce advantage was down to a single digit, sources said.
``The wind tunnel can only tell you a third of what's going on,'' said Helton. ``In addition to the aerodynamics of the car, you've got the horsepower in the engine and you've got the driver.
``And if the numbers are close in the wind tunnel and the competition is close on the track, like it was at Atlanta, there's no motivation on our part to change things.''
PONTIAC A SLEEPER: The Pontiac's performance in the wind tunnel reportedly was quite intriguing.
The word is that the Pontiac had even better rear downforce than the Chevy, as well as less drag.
But the problem for the Pontiac was that it reportedly had far less front downforce than the other two makes - so much, in fact, that it puts the whole car out of balance. The drivers can tell you that's true.
``The problem is the new Grand Prix is out of balance,'' said Pontiac driver Rick Mast. ``It really doesn't show up in one lap. It's more on the long runs.''
Ward Burton, who won the pole for Sunday's TranSouth Financial 400 in a Pontiac, elaborated.
``The new Pontiac doesn't have any front downforce, and it's got rear,'' he said. ``That means tight. Everywhere we've been, we've been too tight on the race track. We can't get the car turning, and can't get the nose pointed to where I can get on the gas quick.''
LENGTH: Medium: 79 linesby CNB