ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, June 23, 1996 TAG: 9606240147
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-7 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: AUTO RACING NOTES
DATELINE: BROOKLYN, MICH.
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
Ron Barfield, who qualified Bill Elliott's car for today's Miller 400, won his first ARCA race Saturday, taking the checkered flag about two car lengths ahead of Kelly Denton of Bristol, Va.
Barfield, 25, who is from Florence, S.C., led three times for 38 laps, including the final 14 circuits.
``I was really pumped up because of all the help that Bill and Ernie [Elliott] and McDonald's and everybody has given me,'' Barfield said. ``Running with the Winston Cup drivers really helped me find a better line around the track.''
Race favorite Tim Steele had engine troubles and finished a lap down in seventh. There were no serious accidents.
NO SECOND ROUND: There was no second round of Winston Cup qualifying Saturday because everyone was able to make the race without requalifying.
The only driver in possible danger of missing the race was Dave Marcis, who was 36th and has no provisional starting spots left. But none of the four drivers behind him chose to requalify, so his starting position was unthreatened.
Provisional starting spots went to Barfield in 39th (substituting for Todd Bodine in qualifying Bill Elliott's car) and Jimmy Spencer in 40th.
Today, by the way, is Dave Marcis Day in Jackson, Mich.
QUOTE OF THE MONTH: Ray Evernham, Jeff Gordon's crew chief, was asked Saturday why Dale Earnhardt was such a great driver.
``What makes Dale so good? He's just mean,'' Evernham told Angelique Chengelis of The Detroit News. ``People are always asking what makes him so tough. Well, heck, all he likes to do is kill stuff and race. You don't ever want to mess with anyone like that. He don't really care about anything else. That's what makes him so tough.''
Earnhardt, of course, is an avid hunter.
POLITICS AND RACING: Do politics and racing mix?
Not NASCAR politics. Real politics. New Hampshire congressional candidate Jack Heath hopes so.
Heath has an ad in the current issue of the weekly Speedway Scene offering seats in ``an air-conditioned luxury sky box,'' complete with food, drinks and a guided pit tour, for the July 14 Winston Cup race at New Hampshire International Speedway.
The price? $1,000 per ticket.
AN EARNHARDT MOVING UP: Earnhardt was a keenly interested observer, even if from a distance, as his son, Dale Jr., made his Grand National debut at Myrtle Beach Saturday night from the seventh starting spot.
``I want to see how he'll do and how he reacts to pressure and how he does with heavier cars,'' Earnhardt said. ``He's got a big job ahead of him. His crew chief, Wesley Sherrill, is only 20 years old and Dale Jr. is 21.
``They work on the cars themselves and they race at Florence, South Carolina, on Friday nights.''
Earnhardt said his son has won races at both Florence and Myrtle Beach.
``He qualifies in the top five every race,'' Earnhardt said. ``He's been real consistent. He's doing it himself with hands-on learning. That's what you've got to do. He don't try to be me. He runs a good, smooth race and does the best he can do.''
CLASH ISSUES: There was no immediate word from racing officials, but Bobby Hamilton and members of Richard Petty's No. 43 Pontiac Grand Prix team told reporters Saturday that they did not expect to run in next year's Busch Clash at Daytona.
Hamilton won the pole for today's Miller 400 and that normally would get him in the race, but Petty does not carry the Busch decal on his car.
LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines KEYWORDS: AUTO RACINGby CNB