ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, April 13, 1996 TAG: 9604150045
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: FIRST UNION 400 NOTES
DATELINE: NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C.
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
Reporters were trooping up to Richard Petty on Friday at North Wilkesboro Speedway, which means that either his car is running well or another one of his records is about to fall.
On Friday, it was both. Petty's driver, Bobby Hamilton, qualified fourth for Sunday's First Union 400. And his record of 513 consecutive Winston Cup starts will be tied Sunday by Terry Labonte, who celebrated by winning the pole.
``The only good thing I see about it from my standpoint is the records they're breaking are mine, and that makes me feel good,'' Petty said. ``I'm glad to see Terry break it, at least a driver of Terry's talent. I'll put it that way.
``He don't make a lot of waves, he wins races, he's really smart, he's a money-making driver and he don't tear up a lot of equipment. And that's helped him a lot in the sense that he's not been hurt. He's a very cautious driver, butwhen that car is there, he goes. And when the car is not there, he knows how far to take that car and still be safe with it.''
Petty said when he was setting his record, ``I was just doing it and doing it and doing it and nobody paid any attention to it - until it ended.''
Petty's streak started in 1971 and ended in March 1989, when he failed to qualify at Richmond.
``It was not an easy feat,'' he said. ``It was not an easy feat for me and it wasn't for him. You gotta figure that one of the things that helped us is that the cars are so much safer today than what they used to be. And so you can have a wreck and still be able to come back.
``I told Terry I'm glad he's breaking it, because Richard Petty's name is in the paper again.''
RUDD OK: Ricky Rudd said he's doing well after a hard crash Monday during a test session at Martinsville Speedway.
``I'm fine and I'm sure I won't need a backup driver,'' he said.
FELIX'S NEW TEAM: Car owner Felix Sabates, who fields Kyle Petty's Pontiacs, announced First Union Bank will sponsor a second Pontiac with driver Jay Sauter for a five-race campaign later this season.
Sauter, who has been competing in the NASCAR truck series, plans to run the Southern 500 at Darlington and the season's second races at Richmond, Martinsville, Charlotte and Atlanta.
Former driver Brad Noffsinger will be the crew chief.
``I have owed First Union millions of dollars for many years, and I figure this is the first opportunity to get some of my money back,'' Sabates said. ``But if you're going to be competitive in the long run, you're going to have to have multiple teams.''
The advantage, he said, is more testing opportunities and better use of monies, especially in areas such as the engine shop.
Sabates said he hopes to expand to perhaps 15 races in 1997 and a full season in 1998.
``This is a fabulous opportunity for me. ...'' Sauter said.
THE CAT'S MEOW: Sabates on his offer to buy the Charlotte Hornets:
``We made the offer two months ago. It took this long for it to get out. We never told anybody we made the offer. Somebody had to leak it. We made an offer and got turned down and that was it.
``I thought $95 million was more than it was really worth. To me the real worth was $85 million, but we were willing to pay a premium to entice [Hornets owner George Shinn]. Obviously it wasn't enough. As far as I'm concerned, it's dead. Unless George calls back.''
But new franchises are going for $125 million. ...
``Yeah, but you've got tax credits on new franchises. So you're going to save about $30 million. So if you pay $125 million, and save $30 million, you get $95 million. That's how we arrived at that number.''
Would he fire coach Allan Bristow? ``In about six seconds. I mean the man's been there how many years now? He's had some of greatest players in the league and gone nowhere. He's a nice man, but he would have been the first person to get gone.''
LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines KEYWORDS: AUTO RACINGby CNB