ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, August 18, 1996 TAG: 9608190084
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: Auto racing notes
DATELINE: BROOKLYN, MICH.
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER
This is the time of the racing season when people notice who is talking to whom in the NASCAR Winston Cup garage.
So when car owner Michael Kranefuss was seen with his arm around Jeremy Mayfield in the garage at Michigan International Speedway on Saturday, and both were smiling broadly, it seemed to be more than just a passing conversation.
Did that mean Kranefuss had signed Mayfield to drive his No.37 Ford Thunderbird in 1997, as rumored?
``It means nothing,'' Kranefuss said.
As for his 1997 plans, ``I think we're sorted out, but I can't really talk about it,'' Kranefuss said.
Mayfield, asked where he'll be in 1997, replied, ``I don't know.`` He had a big smile on his face when he said it.
And so it went in the garage here this weekend. Rumors were flying, and changing by the hour, but as of the end of the day Saturday, little had happened.
The hot report Saturday afternoon was that car owner Felix Sabates had scheduled a press conference following the late-afternoon IROC race here to announce Indy-car driver Robby Gordon would replace Kyle Petty in the No.42 car next year.
That press conference was canceled at about 5:15 p.m., but Sabates confirmed his plans to hire Gordon to a long-term contract. Sabates also has laid the groundwork to switch from Pontiac Grand Prixs to Chevrolet Monte Carlos in 1997.
``If you look at Robby's record since he was six years old, he's won in everything he's ever driven,'' Sabates said. ``He's young, he's eager and he wants to win. He's a young gun and he's more like Kyle than any other driver I've talked with.''
Sabates never had a contract with Petty, but he said he plans to have a multi-year contract with Gordon, mostly to take the pressure off what he expects will be a tough first year.
``I want to put his mind at ease so he doesn't have pressure to do well,'' said Sabates. ``And I'm going to put him in the Indy 500, too. Robby is going to drive in the Indy 500 next year.''
Another hot rumor this weekend was that Ken Schrader, after a winless half-decade with Rick Hendrick, was leaving to drive the No.33 Chevrolet Monte Carlo that will be owned as of Oct.1 by crew chief Andy Petree.
Schrader was telling reporters only that he had a contract with Hendrick Motorsports and he was sticking to that contract.
``I can't really say,'' said Petree. ``We've talked to some drivers and I think we'll be ready to make an announcement in the next week or so.''
Coincidentally, Schrader's No.25 Hendrick Chevrolet team, and his sponsor, Budweiser, also should be ready to make an announcement in a week or so as to future plans, said team spokeswoman Joy Pinto.
But by the end of the day, the new spin on the Schrader rumor was that he was staying put in the Hendrick Chevy because of sponsorship obligations.
While the Schrader rumor was percolating, another rumor surfaced that Ward Burton would take over Schrader's Chevy.
But Burton told car owner Bill Davis and the crew of his No.22 Pontiac Grand Prix on Saturday that he was sticking with them.
``The phone has been ringing the last couple of weeks and some teams had some pretty good offers, but the biggest reason for me not moving is that I like Bill and [wife] Gail as people and I still think we can get the job done here,'' Burton said.
But there are still many other pieces left to be placed in the 1997 driver-car puzzle.
``I've talked to a lot of people and hopefully we'll have something to announce in the next couple of weeks,'' said Robert Pressley, who's out of the No.33 car as of the end of the season.
"I don't know what I'm going to do, I just read about what I'm going to do. Everybody seems to know but me,'' said John Andretti, who's out of the Kranefuss car at the end of the year. ``I will be in Winston Cup and I'd like to do the Indy 500.''
Steve Grissom is also a free agent for 1997 and no replacement has been named for the car he left - Gary Bechtel's No.29 Chevrolet Monte Carlo.
``The decision is in my hands,'' said crew chief Bill Ingle. ``We're undecided, but we've talked to about four people. I would have really liked to have had Ken Schrader, but that didn't work.''
Meanwhile, car owner Larry McClure confirmed Saturday that he will have a second team in 1997. No decision has been made as to a driver, but the top prospect in the rumor mill has been Rick Mast.
``That's a pretty hot rumor going around,'' Mast said here Saturday. ``I don't know what I'm doing yet. There are two or three good opportunities there, and I'm waiting to see what happens.''
LENGTH: Medium: 92 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Garage conversations like this one Saturday betweenby CNBdrivers Mark Martin (left) and Jeff Burton take on added
significance at this time of year. color.