ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, August 11, 1996 TAG: 9608120136
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-7 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: AUTO RACING NOTES
DATELINE: WATKINS GLEN, N.Y.
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
While Dale Earnhardt was finding ways to overcome his pain and stay in his race car this weekend at Watkins Glen International, Bill Elliott was discovering it hurt too much to drive.
Elliott, who broke his left leg during a crash at Talladega in May, on Saturday named road racer Dorsey Schroeder as his replacement driver. Elliott will not receive championship points as Schroeder will start today's race and run the entire event.
``The ovals haven't bothered me, and we go to Michigan next week and I want to run well there, so why not give up here to go run well there?'' Elliott told Ford's Jeff Owenssaid. ``The first two laps I ran yesterday, it really bothered my leg.
``Here, you brake so hard and you shift so much, and when you turn to the right here, it lays on my hip. And my muscles are a little weak. That's the worst part. I have to change my braking point and everything I do, and that kind of screws my timing up.''
Elliott said he was surprised his leg hurt as badly as it did.
``I thought it would be fine here,'' he said. ``I didn't believe how bad it was. But when I made the first two laps, I called them on the radio and said, `Man, this is tough on my leg.'''
Schroeder will start from the back of the field.
``Well, there's only one way to go from back there,'' he said. ``The McDonald's car is really awesome. My realistic goal is to bring him home the best finish I can and not tear up the equipment. The worst thing you can do when you're trying to help a guy out is to tear up his race car.''
Schroeder was 15th fastest in the final Winston Cup practice session.
EARNHARDT TALK: Earnhardt's remarkable qualifying run still was the talk of the garage Saturday at Watkins Glen International.
``I got hurt a couple of times on the farm as a kid and I know it hurt to just get out of bed,'' Sterling Marlin said told Chevy's Ray Cooper. ``To see a man get up and practice a car and qualify like that, it's amazing. He can't hardly move, and he's out here banging around these corners. It's incredible.''
``You've seen him do too many things too many times to be surprised about anything he does,'' Ken Schrader said.
``He's the man,'' said Ray Evernham, crew chief for Jeff Gordon. ``Whenever something like that happens to him, he's going to show everybody he's the man. Until you can do what he does, you're second. He makes his statement, and that's it. Right now, the rest of us, as far as I'm concerned, are just wanna-bes.''
Said crew chief Jimmy Makar, ``He told me he wasn't getting out of the car under green [today]. He said it was going to be under caution or when he passes out.''
SECOND ROUND OF QUALIFYING: Ford driver Bobby Hillin led the second round of time trials Saturday, securing the 26th starting position with a lap of 118.443 mph on the 2.45-mile road course.
Hillin would have qualified 23rd had he run that lap Friday.
Eight drivers participated in the session to fill the 36 regular starting spots. Grand National regular Mike McLaughlin was the only driver who failed to qualify for the event. He was not eligible for a provisional starting spot. Those positions went to Morgan Shepherd, Dave Marcis and Ricky Craven.
Craven is having a miserable weekend. He crashed his primary car in practice Friday, then spun off the course in his backup during qualifying. Saturday, engine trouble kept him from taking his qualifying lap.
MARTIN FASTEST SATURDAY: Mark Martin, attempting to win his fourth consecutive Bud at the Glen, was the fastest driver in Saturday's final Winston Cup practice.
Martin's best lap was 119.498 mph. Gordon was second fastest, followed by Rusty Wallace, Terry Labonte and Robert Pressley.
Pressley, however, spun off the course and damaged the back end of his Chevrolet during the session. And Kyle Petty's car blew an engine while it was being driven by Todd Bodine, Petty's designated relief driver as Petty recovers from a wreck during the Brickyard 400.
LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Elliottby CNB