ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, September 11, 1996 TAG: 9609130096
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: auto racing notes
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
During the 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup season, Lake Speed's Ford will carry the name of one of the most unusual sponsors in the sport's history - the University of Nebraska.
Actually, the three-year sponsorship is a complex marketing arrangement involving the university, former Cornhuskers football star Trev Alberts and corporations that want to get involved with NASCAR and the university's two-time defending national championship football team.
``The sponsorship will benefit three parts of the university - academic, athletic and general scholarship funds,'' said Gordon Grigg of Empire Management Group in Charlotte, N.C., who put together the program.
Wait a minute. Sponsorship usually means spending money, not receiving it.
``Trev Alberts put the money up to put the University of Nebraska on the car,'' Grigg said. ``We designed the program so that the car is self-funded. I don't want to give away how we did it, but there's a lot more involved than just the standard endorsement program.
``Some of the program will involve corporate sponsors in the state.''
The University of Nebraska Ford show car was on display Saturday at Nebraska's season-opening football game against Michigan State. When the car was unveiled in Lincoln on Friday night, more than 9,000 people came to see it, Grigg said.
He said the full sponsorship for Speed's car is for three years ``with a step up each year.'' Grigg wouldn't say how much the sponsorship is other than ``it's millions of dollars.''
``We've had other colleges already calling,'' he said. ``There's no reason we couldn't have a collegiate series in NASCAR. Clemson, Michigan, Colorado, Penn State, Tennessee, Florida State, all of these schools have an interest. Hopefully, we'll be able to bring three or four new sponsors to NASCAR next year.''
DASTARDLY DOVER: NASCAR may see this weekend's marathon endurance run at Dover (Del.) Downs International Speedway as one of the necessary evils of the Winston Cup series, but the drivers are becoming ever more vocal in their dissent.
Jeff Burton, a third-year Winston Cup driver still seeking his first victory on the circuit, was the latest to join Dover's anti-500 bandwagon.
``How do I say this politely? It is too long a race,'' Burton said Tuesday during the weekly Winston Cup teleconference.
Burton said fans have told him the 500-mile races at Dover in the spring and fall, each of which lasts four to five hours, are too long.
``At Dover, you end up getting lured into running too hard,'' Burton said. ``So we race hard at Dover out of necessity for a race that lasts five hours. You can race there for 21/2 hours and not be halfway. That's just terrible at a place that always seems hot.
``And when you wreck there, you tend to get hurt. When you wreck, it's a hard hit. You can't do your team a bit of good if you're still sore from Dover when you go to Martinsville.''
Dover is tough even in the pits, as Burton's crew chief, Buddy Parrott, can attest.
``With about 50 laps to go, they hauled me off on a stretcher,'' Parrott said, referring to the Dover race in June. ``I thought I had a heart attack. [He didn't.] I got a little uptight. Dover is a stressful place. It's tough on you.''
LENGTH: Medium: 65 linesby CNB