ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, September 20, 1996 TAG: 9609200036
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: MARTINSVILLE
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
RUSTY WALLACE IS IN the driver's seat when it comes to winning races at Martinsville Speedway.
Can anyone beat Rusty Wallace at Martinsville Speedway?
That's the key question as the NASCAR Winston Cup teams begin preparing for Sunday's Hanes 500.
For the past three years, only Dale Earnhardt and Ernie Irvan have wrested a Martinsville race from the grasp of Wallace. He'll be seeking his sixth victory in the past eight races at the .526-mile track.
Said Wallace, ``There are a lot of drivers, like Sterling Marlin, when he goes to Daytona or Talladega, he goes with an utmost level of confidence that if he doesn't win that thing, there is something wrong.
``When Rusty goes to Martinsville, if I don't win, there's something wrong.''
Wallace has won everything recently at Martinsville except the 1993 fall race, which went to Irvan, and the 1995 fall race, which was won by Earnhardt.
Irvan finished second to Wallace in the spring race at Martinsville and gives the nod to his fellow Ford driver.
``If you look over the records, Rusty obviously is the guy to beat,'' Irvan saidtold Ford's Jeff Owens. ``When I've won, he's run second. He's awful tough. He has come up with a setup ... ''
Wallace has not always dominated at Martinsville. Before 1993, he had won only a single race at the short track - the fall event in 1986.
Forty-three Winston Cup cars have entered the race and will begin competition for a maximum of 37 starting spots when pole qualifying gets under way at 3 p.m. today.
The Hanes 500 starts at 12:30 p.m. Sunday. The weekend also includes the Hanes 250 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at 2 p.m. Saturday.
There still are a few lower-row reserved seats available for Sunday's race priced at $35 each and, as usual, 8,000 unreserved seats on the backstretch go on sale for $30 each ($5 for children ages 6-12) at 7:30 a.m. on race day.
For ticket information, call (540) 956-3151.
LENGTH: Short : 50 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Wallace KEYWORDS: AUTO RACINGby CNB