ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, September 5, 1996 TAG: 9609050091
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
For a full dose of pure NASCAR racing, few events on the schedule can top what Richmond International Raceway has with the Miller 400 weekend, which starts today.
No other track features NASCAR's three biggest series on successive nights on the same weekend.
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck series 200-lap race is at 8 p.m. tonight. The Busch Grand National Autolite 250 is at 7:40 p.m. Friday. And the Miller 400 Winston Cup race is at 7:40 p.m. Saturday.
All three races, of course, will be run on the 3/4-mile, D-shaped asphalt track at the Virginia State Fairgrounds. The low-banked Richmond track is famous for side-by-side racing, and it tied for third (with Daytona) in a poll of Winston Cup drivers' favorite tracks conducted in June.
The Winston Cup race, however, usually turns into a Rusty Wallace show.
Wallace is the defending champion and he has won three of the last four Miller 400s. His record at Richmond is particularly impressive, with five victories in 25 career starts, 13 top-five and 17 top-10 finishes.
Since 1989, he's finished every Richmond race and his worst finish was 17th in the spring of 1992.
``Richmond is the type of race track where I just really like the shape of the track,'' Wallace said. ``I like the layout, and when I go there, I go there with a smile and feeling good.''
Wallace will be driving a new race car with a new paint scheme - a silver and black Miller Ford Thunderbird - when Winston Cup practice gets underway at 11:30 a.m. Friday. The new paint commemorates his sponsor's 25th anniversary in motorsports.
``Everybody knows the new PC-style chassis that you hear me talking about so much has run good,'' Wallace said. ``PC-1 has two wins out of the last five starts. PC-2 is just complete. It's a state-of-the-art car, so I'm going to debut a new car and a new paint scheme at Richmond for the night race.''
A driver swap is expected for the Winston Cup race, with John Andretti and Jeremy Mayfield switching to each other's teams to get a head start on 1997.
Andretti was expected to drive Cale Yarborough's No.98 Ford Thunderbird, while Mayfield was expected to take over Michael Kranefuss' No.37 Ford.
Andretti finished fifth in the Kranefuss car at Darlington, however, and the swap was still unofficial as of Wednesday evening. But a Richmond paper on Wednesday morning advertised a Mayfield appearance this weekend at a Richmond area Kmart, which is one of Kranefuss' sponsors.
The NASCAR truck race at 8 p.m. is actually the beginning of a double-header weekend for the trucks. After Richmond, they're off to New Hampshire for a race Sunday. There are eight races left in the 1996 truck schedule. Heading into Richmond, Dale Earnhardt's driver, Ron Hornaday, Jr., has a slim 64-point lead over Richard Childress' driver, defending champion Mike Skinner.
Five races remain on the Grand National schedule, with former champ David Green leading Randy LaJoie by 100 points.
Tonight's truck race is preceded by pole qualifying for the Grand National cars at 3 p.m. Friday's events, in addition to the Grand National race, include Winston Cup pole qualifying at 5:30 p.m.
Tickets for today's events are $25, with general admission seating. Saturday tickets are $30 and also are general admission. As in the past, children 12 and under are admitted free with an adult both Thursday and Friday.
LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines KEYWORDS: AUTO RACINGby CNB