ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, February 13, 1997 TAG: 9702130042
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: DAYTONA BEACH, FLA.
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
Gentlemen, start your engines, and sportscasters, cue your video replay machines.
NASCAR has cooked up a recipe of Ford equals Chevy equals Pontiac at Daytona International Speedway, and the potential cumulative effect of such perfect balance may be akin to splitting the atom.
More drivers than ever are fearing pileups of nuclear proportions on the track at Daytona International Speedway today in the Twin 125 qualifying races for Sunday's Daytona 500. The first race starts at 12:30 p.m.
``It's going to get pretty heated up and pretty intense out there,'' said Ricky Rudd, who starts 11th in the first race.
``We're definitely concerned about what's going on out there,'' said Derrike Cope. ``I got hit this morning. I pulled out of a lot of three-wide situations out there ''
Morning practice claimed one car. Joe Nemechek was hit from behind by Ward Burton in turn 1 after slowing to avoid Hut Stricklin, whose car slowed after breaking a shock.
``We were all pretty much in a cluster,'' Nemechek said. ``Everybody was driving crazy. It just got out of hand.''
Nemechek will have to start his backup car from the rear of the field in the first 125-miler. He was already 24th in the 26-car field.
``I'm seeing real good, heads-up drivers making silly moves because it's so hard to pass,'' said Bobby Hamilton. ``It's a weird thing. It's just weird.''
Not everyone is complaining about passing. Rusty Wallace, for one, declared on Tuesday that the ``passing thing was malarkey. I didn't see any problem whatsoever with passing ...''
Wallace said the cars weren't passing in the Busch Clash on Sunday because there weren't enough of them on the track to get the air stirred up.
``Once we got a lot of air moving around out there, then they got going and there was a lot of passing,'' he said.
Rudd said he was able to pass other cars in practice Wednesday, ``but I didn't see anybody who looked particularly spectacular. It's basically a 40-car IROC field.''
NASCAR's new rules and tougher inspections seems to have eliminated the advantage that certain teams have had in the past, particularly the Morgan-McClure Chevrolet driven by Sterling Marlin and the Robert Yates Fords driven by Dale Jarrett and Ernie Irvan.
Rudd said one of the only ways to pass appears to be the use of the side draft, in which the passing car pulls up close to the car that is being passed, and then pulls back away. That move seems to give the passing car a boost.
Dale Earnhardt ``is probably as good as it as anybody has been in the past,'' said Rudd. It was discovered by drivers in the IROC series a few years ago, and about 50 percent of the Winston Cup drivers actually use it, he said.
To counter the side draft move, the driver that is being passed must go with the other car when it tries to pull back away. That could result in cars rubbing, touching, dodging and darting about.
``You're going to see short-track racing at Daytona International Speedway is what you're going to see,'' said Rudd. ``I've already gotten two donuts on the side of the car in practice.''
``Drivers are moving around, cutting people off. You're starting to see this constant shifting,'' said Jimmy Spencer.
``A lot of guys are doing this, and I'm telling you, we can't do what we're doing. It's going to cause a big pile-up.''
Starting positions three through 30 will be determined by the finishing order of the 125s, with the top 14 drivers in each race (excluding front row starters Mike Skinner and Steve Grissom) advancing. Positions 31-38 will be filled according to qualifying speeds for those who didn't make the top 14 in their 125. There also will be up to five provisional starting spots.
LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines KEYWORDS: AUTO RACINGby CNB