ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, October 16, 1996 TAG: 9610160040
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: AUTO RACING NOTES
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
Joe Gibbs Racing has scheduled a news conference at the team's race shops at 6 p.m. today, reportedly to announce a switch from a Chevrolet Monte Carlo race car to a Pontiac Grand Prix beginning with the 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup season.
Team officials would not discuss the subject of the conference, but the switch to Pontiac was confirmed by a couple of sources who declined to be identified.
The switch was not totally unexpected. Both manufacturers are subsidiaries of General Motors, and the team built a Pontiac this year and tested it at Pocono.
The switch may be the boost the Gibbs team needs after a flat 1996.
After Dale Jarrett left at the end of the 1994 season, Bobby Labonte won his first three Winston Cup races of 1995 in his debut year with the team. But Labonte is winless this year and is tied for 15th in points with Jimmy Spencer.
Gibbs' timing may prove to be propitious. The Grand Prix is showing some competitiveness after a horrid debut that began at Daytona.
Labonte, crew chief Jimmy Makar and team members were busy Tuesday practicing at North Wilkesboro Speedway, primarily working on their Phoenix car, but also ``testing stuff for Rockingham,'' said Jimmy White, the team publicist.
DOVER BITES A BULLET: Dover Downs International Speedway has shortened its fall race - but only its fall race - from 500 to 400 miles.
The Dover race Sept.15, 1997, will be the MBNA 400. But the Miller 500 on June 2 will remain a 500-mile event.
``There's a good chance that a 400-mile race at Dover Downs could deliver one of our best races ever, and I think the time has come to give one a try,'' said track president Denis McGlynn in a news release. ``Many fans have suggested we do this, and we see our job here as giving the fans what they want.''
Mike Helton, NASCAR's vice president of competition, said in the same release, ``Other tracks have gone to the 400-mile format with success, and there's every reason to believe the quality of racing at Dover will not only not suffer but will be enhanced.''
Ticket prices for the fall race will be $1 less across the board than for the spring race, said track spokesman Al Robinson.
GORDON TIRE TESTING: Could there be a better way to prepare for the Winston Cup stretch run than a couple of freebie days of testing Goodyear tires?
That's what Jeff Gordon did this past week at Phoenix International Raceway.
``It was a tire test, but for the most part, I felt it was real good for me to get a lot of laps there,'' Gordon said. ``The first day I made over 200 laps. I made about 200 laps the second day, too.
``It was good for me to make those laps, especially those 50-lap runs [he also did 10-lap runs], because every lap I'm adjusting my line, doing different things on the race track to find out what's going to make it go faster. Now I've just got to remember those things when we go back to race'' Oct.27.
NEW FORD CHIEF: After deftly handling a temporary assignment that turned into a four-year stint, Dan Rivard is calling it quits as director of Ford's worldwide motorsports efforts, the auto manufacturer announced.
Bruce P. Cambern, who most recently was director of engineering for Ford's Commercial Truck Center, will replace Rivard, who has agreed to stay on for several months to help in the transition.
Rivard was asked to come out of retirement in November 1993 to head the motorsports program upon the resignation of Michael Kranefuss, who became a NASCAR Winston Cup car owner.
Although it was a temporary position, Rivard immediately asserted a strong presence and was not shy about taking his case public when he felt the need. He aggressively debated GM's Herb Fishel last year on a teleconference, but also had the personal touch to play a key behind-the-scenes role in Ernie Irvan's comeback from near-fatal injuries in 1994.
LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) B. Labonteby CNB