ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, April 27, 1996 TAG: 9604290106
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: TALLADEGA, ALA.
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
THINGS WENT WELL at Talladega for Ernie Irvan, until he won the pole.
Just as Ernie Irvan's qualifying fortunes were changing for the better, he had another knuckle ball hurled at him, this one courtesy of NASCAR.
Less than two hours after winning the pole for the Winston Select 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, Irvan learned that Winston Cup director Gary Nelson may have damaged his race engine during an unprecedented and rather strange post-qualifying test in the garage.
``It's pretty much b.s.,'' Irvan said. ``We warned them about [possibly damaging the engine] before they started. Obviously, they didn't listen. We were real concerned about it because you can burn a piston so easy.''
NASCAR called off the test before subjecting the fastest Chevy, Sterling Marlin's car, to the same rigors. And besides possibly damaging Irvan's Ford engine, NASCAR failed to get any usable information because its computer failed.
``We decided to scrap the test for now because of the computer problem,'' Nelson said somewhat sheepishly during an impromptu press conference. ``The intention was to gather information for future use.''
Toward the end of qualifying, NASCAR officials began setting up a large portable chassis dynamometer just outside the inspection bay in the garage area. The dynamometer was a large trailer onto which the car was rolled. The rear wheels were placed on rolling drums that allowed the wheels to turn free when the engine was on and the clutch was engaged.
NASCAR's aim was to test the horsepower of the Ford versus the Chevrolet to go along with its previously completed wind-tunnel tests, which measured aerodynamics.
Irvan's car was designated as the first guinea pig. And in this case, his qualifying engine was also to be his race engine.
Although pre-test conversations between car owner Robert Yates, crew chief Larry McReynolds and Nelson were animated at times, Nelson said later that Yates ``did have the option to say no.''
Yates, who didn't indicate he had any choice in the matter, said afterward that what happened during the test was exactly what he was afraid would happen.
Nelson, behind the wheel for the test, slipped the clutch during his first run through the gears. Yates said he could see and feel sparks and carbon coming out of the exhaust - a troubling sign.
``We know you can hurt engines lugging them,'' Yates said. ``All truck drivers in America know about lugging. When you go up a hill and miss a gear and go to the next one up and you don't have enough RPM, you have to start over. That kills these engines, especially these restricted engines.''
Nelson himself had no problems on the second try, but the NASCAR computer failed and all of the information from the test was lost.
``I'm not happy with what happened here,'' said Yates. ``We just wiped the clutch out. It about half-snapped the crankshaft in two. It threw a lot of sparks out of the exhaust. We wanted to race this motor, but now it's questionable.''
Nelson said the test was set up after requests from other car owners, whom he didn't identify. And he said NASCAR chose to do the test after qualifying because ``qualifying is pretty much the example of the best - the peak - you can do.
``If I hadn't slipped the clutch and the computer hadn't failed, maybe [other car owners] would be lined up trying to use it.''
But did his test damage Yates' engine?
``I'm hoping it didn't,'' Nelson said. ``I know the clutch is going to have to be replaced.''
LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP Ernie Irvan watches as Winston Cup director Garyby CNBNelson tests his pole-winning engine, possibly damaging it. KEYWORDS: AUTO RACING