THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 2, 1994 TAG: 9406020623
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940602 LENGTH: GREENSBORO
``I'm really just floored by the whole thing,'' Pemberton said Wednesday. ``It was a bigger surprise than you could ever imagine. It's just hard to understand.''
{REST} Sabates, citing management differences, fired Pemberton, 37, and his two younger brothers, Roman and Ryan, Monday afternoon. Roman and Ryan were crew members.
Robin Pemberton said he had a routine telephone chat with Sabates on Monday morning about the team's 26th-place finish in Sunday's Coca-Cola 600.
``We had trouble on the first pit stop and he wanted to know what happened,'' Pemberton said. ``We talked about the race and how some cars ran good and how bad others ran, and that was it. The next time we talked was about 3 o'clock that afternoon.
``Felix came in the shop and said he needed to talk to me. He said he wasn't happy with the way him and I were getting along. We didn't meet eye to eye on a lot of things as far as running the race team. The whole conversation took less than 15 minutes.''
Said Sabates, ``It's not my style to fire somebody over the phone.'' He added that he fired the Pembertons because the team needed more discipline.
``I don't want a country-club anymore,'' he said. ``Attitude is everything. If a general goes to war and tells the troops we're going to lose the battle, the troops are going to lose the battle.
``I think you're going to see a new Sabco racing team when you get to Dover. I don't think you're going to see any unshaven faces and no earrings, except for Kyle, and nothing but race uniforms at the race track.''
Sabates agreed that Petty's own style is laid-back.
``He has a right to do that. He's the superstar,'' he said. But the rest of the team needed to be more serious and focused, he added.
Sabates said some team members may have reacted to the news with disbelief, but he believes key members welcomed the change. The team has been in a mild slump this year, with only three top-10 finishes, but performance wasn't an issue, he said.
``I wasn't happy about letting Robin go,'' Sabates said. ``But I think the attitude of the team we have here today is a little different than last week. I walked into the shop this morning and this shop was spotless. I walked in today and everybody was wearing uniforms and I didn't see anybody with unshaven faces and messy hair.''
Petty could not be reached for comment, but he told television interviewers Tuesday that as team owner, Sabates had the right to make those decisions.
Said Sabates: ``I called Coca-Cola (sponsor of the No. 42 Pontiac) and I went to Kyle and both agreed that a change needed to be made, although I would have made it whether they agreed or disagreed.''
Pemberton said he was ``pretty crushed over the deal, believe me.''
``It just came so sudden. This is like my 16th season, and if you look at the overall picture of race teams. . . . sometimes (slumps) happen. You weather the storms and go on. But I had no idea that it would take on this shape.
``I got along better at that place than most any place I've ever been at. But with all due respect to Felix, he's not race-oriented. He has a harder time understanding some of the things we go through. It's not like a regular business, where he's been so successful.
``There's so many decisions that have to be made so quickly on race day. Sometimes you have to make three or four decisions in a matter of seconds, and a lot of times you can't be looking over your shoulder trying to please someone. You've got to do it instinctively. And sometimes we didn't do it instinctively because we might have felt some other pressures.''
Pemberton, one of the most highly regarded crew chiefs in the Winston Cup Series, said he and his brothers all have had inquiries about new jobs.
``It's been almost 48 hours now, and that's the longest time I've been out of a job since high school,'' he said. by CNB