ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, October 3, 1996 TAG: 9610030065
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: AUTO RACING NOTES
DATELINE: CONCORD, N.C.
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
NASCAR's silly season is coming to a conclusion the way it always does - with a blizzard of news conferences at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
There were supposed to be seven of them Wednesday, although Kyle Petty canceled his.
The biggest announcement was Ken Schrader's move to the No.33 Chevrolet Monte Carlo team, which is being sold by Leo Jackson to crew chief Andy Petree. Schrader spent the past nine seasons with Hendrick Motorsports.
``Rick Hendrick and I have a good relationship,'' Schrader said. ``I thought it was time to make a change. When the opportunity came up with Andy, it was time to go for it.
Of his departure from Hendrick, Schrader said, ``I can't believe it really happened. Nine years is a long time, but I'm relieved about it. This whole deal is chemistry. It's the communication between the driver and crew chief and how quick you can get that car to roll through the middle of the turn.''
Other announcements included new paint schemes for the No.29 Cartoon Network Chevy, the No.5 Kellogg's Chevy driven by Terry Labonte, the No.15 Hayes Modems Ford driven by Wally Dallenbach.
Petty said his conference was canceled because he's not ready to do it yet.
``I am pretty much there,'' Petty said of his plans to start his own team next year. ``I have a contract in my possession. Hopefully we're going to do something before the week is over.''
NEMECHEK TO SABCO: Although no news conference was held to reveal the details, the second most significant announcement of the day was car owner Felix Sabates' purchase of driver Joe Nemechek's team.
Nemechek will move into the Sabco shop in Mooresville and will have a new sponsor for 1997. Nemechek will drive the No.42 Chevrolet, while Sabates' new driver, Robby Gordon, will drive the No.40 Chevy. The team also plans to enter a third car in selected events.
``The only way you can survive today is having a multicar team,'' Sabates said. ``Nine of the top 15 teams are multicar teams. Rather than starting from scratch, I decided to do this.''
Said Nemechek: ``It's definitely going to make it easier for me to concentrate on racing. The cost of the sport seems to be going up and up and single-car teams have a harder and harder time. It's time now that I get hooked up with another team.
``For me to not have to concentrate on managing the team and just concentrate on driving, I think that's definitely going to help my driving.''
Nemechek currently is 34th in Winston Cup points, with two top-10 finishes in 1996. He failed to qualify for the Southern 500.
ISC OFFERS MORE STOCK: Following the lead of Speedway Motorsports and Penske Speedways, International Speedway Corporation is planning to sell 4 million shares of Class A common stock priced at $14 to $16 a share.
ISC, which is controlled by NASCAR President Bill France and his family, hopes to raise at least $55 million on the NASDAQ exchange in the next few weeks, according to a story in Wednesday's Florida Journal newspaper.
It will use about $32 million to build new seats, luxury suites, dining facilities and other improvements at its three main speedways - Daytona, Talladega and Darlington, according to a story in Wednesday's Florida Journal.
This is a different stock offering unrelated to the company's existing stock, which currently sells at more than $300 a share on NASDAQ's electronic bulletin board.
ISC had net income of $14.8 million on revenue of $72.9 million for the nine months ending May 31. For the same period a year earlier net income was $14.4 million on revenue of $63.3 million, according to the paper.
MATTHEWS DIES: Longtime NASCAR driver and car builder Edwin ``Banjo'' Matthews, 64, died Wednesday in a Hendersonville, N.C. nursing home after a long illness. Matthews drove from 1952-63. He won the first modified sportsman race at Daytona in 1959.
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