ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, May 29, 1996 TAG: 9605290118
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: AUTO RACING NOTES
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
Owning two Winston Cup cars can be a juggling act, and Robert Yates is discovering the mixed bag of pleasure and heartache as one of his teams excels and the other doesn't.
While Ernie Irvan has been struggling to regain top form in the No.28 Ford Thunderbird owned by Yates, Dale Jarrett is flying in Yates' No.88 car, with two major victories in 1996.
Irvan's troubles - and he's not doing all that badly - prompted a wave of rumors at Charlotte that he and Yates might be parting ways.
``We plan to be together for four years, which includes next season,'' Yates said Tuesday during the weekly Winston Cup teleconference. ``I think it's going to be a matter of keeping the question from being asked, which is tied to performance.''
The longtime NASCAR owner said Irvan was on the verge of breaking through at Charlotte until he hit some debris from the Johnny Benson-Ricky Craven crash and damaged his car.
``We had a really good shot at it,'' Yates said.
And when Irvan does break through, which Yates said he thinks could happen as early as Sunday in the Miller 500 at Dover, ``everybody will sit back down in their seats and stop asking what Ernie is going to do. Maybe sometime we're going to prove those cars can run 1-2, and then everybody will sit back down.''
Just a year ago, Jarrett was struggling with the No.28 Thunderdbird - more than Irvan is now.
``It was difficult,'' Jarrett said Tuesday. ``To say I wasn't a little bit on the downside, I would be telling a story. But you have to keep focused and understand there's going to be difficult times, not only in the sport but in life. I never gave up.''
Some drivers' images are shinier than the reality, but Jarrett proved he is one of NASCAR's genuinely decent fellows during the weekend. He solicited donations in the Winston Cup garage for the education trust fund set up to aid Carly Brayton, the daughter of Scott Brayton, who was killed in a crash this month during practice for the Indianapolis 500.
``All we did was try to help to contribute,''Jarrett said. ``Last I heard, we were a little over $10,000.''
MORE TESTING: NASCAR conducted more horsepower tests on a portable dynamometer after the Coca-Cola 600, and Yates said he has heard Ward Burton's Pontiac Grand Prix had the most power.
Yates, calling the NASCAR dyno a device ``to invade our privacy,'' said, ``My stopwatch told me the [No.]22 car [of Burton] actually out-accelerated the [No.]3 car [Dale Earnhardt's Chevrolet Monte Carlo] and the [No.]88 car [Jarrett's Ford].''
Yates said of the tests, ``I think it's an effort to see who's got the power, but I don't know how they could ever make a decision'' on that because of the variables involved in making horsepower.
SABATES UNDECIDED: Car owner Felix Sabates, still chafing over Sunday's race and the seven-lap penalty against his driver, Kyle Petty, said Tuesday he still wasn't sure he would attend another Winston Cup race this year.
``I don't know yet,'' Sabates said. ``I haven't decided. I handed my credential to [Winston Cup director] Gary Nelson and I said, 'Gary, I don't plan to be around for a while.'''
Sabates said NASCAR ``wouldn't even review the film with me,'' to discuss the circumstances that led to the penalties. Petty was penalized five laps for rough driving after getting into Ted Musgrave's car on a restart and triggering a 13-car wreck.
The team was penalized two more laps for Sabates' language toward NASCAR officials after he learned about the five-lap penalty.
``I just think whole thing was unfair because Kyle didn't wreck anybody on purpose,'' Sabates said. ``Jimmy Spencer, he hits everything but my bus in the garage every week and nobody says anything to him.''
LENGTH: Medium: 76 linesby CNB