ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, August 25, 1996 TAG: 9608270026
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
COLUMN: GOODY'S 500 NOTES
DATELINE: BRISTOL, TENN.
SOURCE: Associated Press
At one point, concrete looked like it might be the racing surface of the future.
Former Bristol Motor Speedway owner Larry Carrier started the trend in 1991, when he tore up the asphalt on the .533-mile oval and replaced it with concrete.
Dover Downs followed suit on its one-mile oval, and Martinsville Speedway concreted the turns on its egg-shaped half-mile oval.
But all is not well with the new surface at Bristol, where drivers are complaining about the rough ride and difficulty in passing on the white track.
``I used to come up here with daddy in the early '70s and it was awesome then to watch them,'' said Sterling Marlin, whose father, Clifton ``CooCoo'' Marlin, raced in NASCAR's top division before his son.
``In the early '80s, you could run up against the fence and somebody would be on the bottom [of the banking] and really put on a good show,'' the younger Marlin continued. ``They're talking about paving it again, and I think that would make it a lot better race for the fans. At least then you'd have a two-groove track.
``It ain't bad now, but everybody wants on the bottom. Somebody's holding the line up and you get impatient and you bump and there you go. It would be better with two grooves.''
Dale Earnhardt, an eight-time winner at Bristol, said, ``With all the improvements around the outside [of the track], if they'd put some black stuff on the race track it would be a better track.
``They're looking to put some asphalt back on it, but they're not sure. They need to,'' Earnhardt added. ``Then we could have side-by-side racing through the corners.''
HAPPY DAYS: Rick Mast was doing some reminiscing this week at Bristol Motor Speedway, remembering fondly his first time on the fast half-mile track.
That came in 1988, when Mast was 31 and still a regular in NASCAR's Busch Grand National series. He was asked to substitute for an injured Buddy Baker in the race at Bristol and quickly accepted.
After running a few laps around the track in Baker's Oldsmobile, Mast headed down pit road to confer with crew chief Joey Knuckles.
``Joey asked me how the car was handling,'' Mast said. ``I said, `Joey, I don't know what it is, but this is the worst handling car I've ever driven. It's awful. I don't know what we're going to do.' I mean, I was hanging on for dear life.
``He said, `Is that right? We're fifth-fastest right now.'
``I said, `The car's great. Don't touch a thing,''' Mast added with a laugh.
LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines KEYWORDS: AUTO RACINGby CNB