ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, February 13, 1997 TAG: 9702130045
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: AUTO RACING NOTES
DATELINE: DAYTONA BEACH, FLA.
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
Although two-time Daytona 500 winner Sterling Marlin was only 35th fastest in time trials, his yellow Kodak Chevrolet Monte Carlo still may be a factor Sunday in the Daytona 500.
Pole winner Mike Skinner says Marlin has been a good drafting partner in practice.
``Us and the 4 car seems to be a good combination,'' Skinner said Wednesday afternoon. ``We've been trying to pick some cars to draft with. Sterling and I were pretty quick, so I hope that works out.''
Said Marlin: ``I know some people have already counted us out, but they shouldn't ever count out ol' Yeller down here.''
What about his teammate, Dale Earnhardt?
``We haven't hooked up at this point in time,'' Skinner said. ``We're in different 125s, so there's no sense in us trying to work together right now. We need to get our two cars together Friday and see if we will work.''
Skinner is in today's first race; Earnhardt is in the second race. Skinner also said John Andretti is running well.
``That 98 car is awfully fast,'' he said. ``If he gets up front, he's going to be hard to pass.''
On the clock, Jeremy Mayfield was the fastest car in the afternoon practice, reaching 190.900 mph. He was followed by Wally Dallenbach, Earnhardt, Ted Musgrave and Andretti. Most of the teams worked on longer runs and drafting during the session.
In other auto racing news:
TIDE STICKS WITH RUDD: Ricky Rudd announced Wednesday that Procter & Gamble has extended its Tide detergent sponsorship of his car through 1999.
Tide became Rudd's sponsor when he joined Hendrick Motorsports in 1990 and stayed with him when he formed his own team in 1994.
``This is the earliest that we've ever been able to sign up a sponsorship agreement,'' Rudd said. ``We're really pleased about that. From an owner side, that really gives us a foundation to build for the future. It's hard to make investments and it's hard to make business plans when your sponsorship is not secured and squared away.''
FAST GRAY HAIR: A well-known fact in the NASCAR Winston Cup series is that it takes experience to do well among stock-car racing's elite.
Many of the sport's top drivers are in their upper 30s or 40s, which prompted outside pole winner Steve Grissom to say: ``It's hard to beat gray hair.''
BUSCH FIELD SET: A 45-car field that includes nine regular Winston Cup drivers has been set for Saturday's Gargoyles 300 Busch Grand National race.
Jeff Purvis led second-round qualifying, improving about one and one-half mph to 188.107 but only moving from 27th to 26th on the starting grid.
Fourteen drivers failed to make the field on their speeds, but seven made it into the race with provisional starting spots.
Those who are going home are Mark Day, Jimmy Foster, Kenny Irwin, Jr., Chris Diamond, Ron Barfield, Jeff McClure and Dennis Setzer.
HENDRICK DRIVE: Although car owner Rick Hendrick is undergoing chemotherapy treatments and is not planning to come to Daytona International Speedway this week, he is not being overlooked.
NASCAR's heaviest hitters, including president Bill France Jr., car owners Joe Gibbs and Felix Sabates, and drivers Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon, Rusty Wallace and others have called a press conference for 9 a.m. today to announce on his behalf a campaign to fight leukemia.
LENGTH: Medium: 67 linesby CNB