ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, November 10, 1996 TAG: 9611120030
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-9 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: HAMPTON, GA.
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
TERRY LABONTE'S CREW is leaving nothing to chance in their quest to win the Winston Cup points championship.
On the verge of winning the Winston Cup points championship, Terry Labonte and his team just about emptied their parts room to ensure that he'll finish today's season-ending NAPA 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway no matter what.
``We brought sheet metal, fenders, front facias, suspension parts, rear clips, a rear clip with a fuel cell in it, we've got a frame-straightening fixture, a front snout and pieces to a front snout if we have to whack a piece out,'' said Gary DeHart, Labonte's crew chief.
``You've got to try to do everything you can to at least finish every lap you can.''
Racing with a broken left hand, Labonte need only finish eighth or better to clinch his second championship, no matter what teammate Jeff Gordon does. Labonte, who won his first title in 1984, has a 47-point lead over Gordon and is 99 points ahead of Dale Jarrett.
It's Labonte's title to win or lose. His strong suit is consistency. He has five top-five finishes in a row. But he has stumbled twice during the stretch run, finishing 26th in the Southern 500 at Darlington and 21st at Dover.
But it's so far, so good for Labonte here. He qualified third and was fastest in final practice Saturday with a lap of 183.043 mph. He took only nine laps.
But as Gordon can attest, a racer's luck can turn bad even when you're at a peak.
With four races to go, Gordon had the championship well in hand. He had finished second, first, second, first, first and first in the previous six events. Then he went to Charlotte.
``Every year at Charlotte in the fall, we lose momentum,'' crew chief Ray Evernham said Saturday. ``We had that engine problem at Charlotte. And we shot downhill. At Rockingham we were off and Phoenix we were off.
``That's my responsibility. Probably one of my worst, or best, traits is second-guessing myself. And it's my responsibility to find out why. You always hear that you can't be perfect. Like, who says? Why can't you be perfect all the time? You hate to call it racing luck. That sounds like an excuse. But that's part of it.''
Evernham was doing all the talking for Gordon on Saturday. Gordon was not available for interviews at all on Saturday, and was available for only a short time Friday after qualifying.
``We've had trouble here in the fall,'' Evernham said. ``When he's getting pulled in a lot of different directions with interviews and things, it's very hard for him and I to communicate. When he's just thinking about the car, his mind is very clear and focused.''
In a Thursday press conference, Gordon said his problems at Atlanta in the fall (he's finished 32nd, 15th, 24th and 24th in the past four races) was the primary reason his team tested here for two days.
``It's been a downfall for us every year, this race at this point in the season,'' Gordon said. ``For whatever reason, we've blamed it on everything but ourselves. We're coming back to try to change that this time. We know we've got a problem that needs to be worked out. That's why we came and tested for two days.
``One thing I did learn when I was testing here, there's a lot of things I might not be real comfortable with the car entering the corner or something, but I'm just going to have drive it in the corner and [assume] it will stick. A lot of times, you've got to take that car to the edge to get that comfort to know it's going to stick.''
Outside of the championship battle, one of the biggest stories this weekend was how hard it was to make the race.
Ricky Craven led the second round of time trials with a lap of 183.878 mph, but no less than five full-season competitors went home early.
Those who failed to qualify were Jeremy Mayfield, Ron Barfield, Dick Trickle, Kenny Wallace, Derrike Cope and Kyle Petty. The provisional starting spots went to Ken Schrader, Jeff Burton, Jimmy Spencer and Morgan Shepherd.
In final practice, Billy Standridge crashed in the first turn. He took a hard hit in the head, but was otherwise unhurt. The team, however, does not have a backup car and was scrambling to try to find a replacement. Standridge had qualified 22nd.
The race starts at 12:30 p.m. and will be televised live by ESPN.
LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines KEYWORDS: AUTO RACINGby CNB