ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, March 5, 1997 TAG: 9703050084
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: AUTO RACING NOTES
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
The controversy over Rusty Wallace's engine, team manager Don Miller said Tuesday, simply was a matter of going a little too far.
``We have to push everything right to the edge of the fence post,'' Miller said. ``If you're not 100 percent, you can't win anymore.''
Wallace's victory in Sunday's Pontiac Excitement 400 at Richmond International Raceway was in doubt for 24 hours after NASCAR Winston Cup officials found in a routine post-race inspection that his engine failed to meet its requirement of a 14.0-to-1 compression ratio.
Further tests Monday revealed the ratio was 14.011-to-1. NASCAR officials said that was close enough and let Wallace's victory stand.
``I think it's just unavoidable'' to have a problem like that, Miller said Tuesday during the weekly Winston Cup teleconference. ``We certainly wouldn't build one that we knew was going to fail, because NASCAR is more vigilant now than they've ever been.''
Engine builders set their engines to about 13.7-to-1 or 13.8-to-1 before a race because carbon buildup during the event will cause the compression ratio to increase to about 14.0-to-1.
``Ours was 13.72 when it left the shop, and we verify each engine,'' Miller said. ``We have no control on the carbon buildup you get during the race, and neither does NASCAR. I think probably one of the things that raised it more than two-tenths of a point was that we had that one long cool-down lap just running at idle as we were rolling around the race track.''
Miller said he does not expect to exceed the ratio limit again.
``I've had the guys take every engine we've got and recertify them before we go back to the race track,'' he said. ``And instead of building them to 13.7, we're going to build them to 13.5, because compression doesn't win a race for you. It's just another rule. If you reduce the compression ratio with a percentage point, you can make up the power loss by advancing the timing.
``It's not a deal where you're trying to go out and defeat the rule. You're trying to build right to the rule.''
Miller said more than half of the Winston Cup teams ``called our shop yesterday and asked to review with them what we're doing and what we think is safe. So we're all in the same boat. Unfortunately, we ran into this situation. We have to be the guinea pig. We have to live with that.''
ANOTHER FINE MESS: After announcing the ruling on Wallace shortly after 4 p.m. Monday, NASCAR officials turned their attention to a post-race incident involving Chad Little and Robby Gordon.
Little was fined $10,000 and Gordon was fined $5,000 for a car-crashing duel after the 400. Little hit Gordon first, charging that Gordon had needlessly put him into the wall while passing him on the last lap.
NO PROBLEM: There were no complaints from the camp of second-place finisher Geoff Bodine about how NASCAR officials handled the Wallace engine controversy.
``We're just ecstatic with our second-place finish,'' said team manager Lee Morse.
``Technically, [Wallace's compression ratio] was a little more than 14.0,'' Bodine said. ``You can look at that either way, but performance-wise, the 0.011 didn't help him one bit to win the race.
``My engine was real close, but it was legal,'' Bodine said. ``It was 13.98. I think the main thing is NASCAR is concerned about fairness and keeping everyone on equal grounds. That's what I like to see. If it means putting a hold on the finish until they're absolutely sure things are right, I think that's the way things should be done.''
LENGTH: Medium: 67 linesby CNB