THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 17, 1994 TAG: 9406170697
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK VEHORN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940617 LENGTH: Long
Keeping confidence in him?
{REST} It wasn't that hard to do.
Anyone who watched the clean-cut kid with the bright smile from Chesapeake tearing around Langley Speedway in the early 1980s would never doubt his ability to win at any level of stock-car racing.
It was just a matter of time, we all thought, when he left Langley after winning three straight Late Model Stock Car titles in 1985 that he would become a winner on the Busch Grand National circuit.
So what if it took a little longer than anyone expected?
Sawyer, 34, collected that first Grand National victory last Saturday at Myrtle Beach, S.C.
``Lots of things I've done in racing have been really special,'' says Sawyer, a former three-sport star at Great Bridge High School, ``but getting that first Grand National victory tops everything.
`` It was a long time coming. But I never gave up, and the long wait makes me more appreciative.''
By all rights, Sawyer's first Grand National victory should not have taken so long.
In 1987, in only his second season on the tour, Sawyer was headed for victory on the final lap of a race at Indianapolis Park when he came off the fourth turn and was pinched against the wall by a slower car. Sawyer lost that race by a half-car length.
Then, there was the race at Martinsville when a NASCAR official made a mistake by leaving on the caution lights that took Sawyer out of the lead and cost him another victory.
For a split second last Saturday, Sawyer could visualize another defeat being snatched from the jaws of victory. He had gotten a lap down after being penalized for an illegal pass, but had come back strong to make up that lap and built a good lead to take into the final lap.
But while looking for the checkered flag to wave for him, Sawyer saw Doug Heveron's car spinning in front of him.
This time, though, Sawyer had a wide enough lead that he could lift off the throttle to avoid Heveron and still win by a two-second margin.
The victory labels Sawyer as the comeback kid on the Grand National circuit this season. For the previous two seasons, Sawyer tried to put other drivers in victory lane as a mechanic for Bill Davis' team which fielded a Grand National car for Jeff Gordon in 1992 and a Winston Cup car for Bobby Labonte in 1993.
It wasn't what Sawyer wanted to do, of course. But, he was determined not to jump into any race car again without a chance of winning. And he made the most of being away from the steering wheel by learning what it takes to be a winner from Davis and others, like veteran Winston Cup crew chief Tim Brewer.
``Brewer told me that I didn't need to get into another car to just make laps, that I needed to be in one that would sit on poles and win races,'' Sawyer recalls.
That situation began to develop at the end of last season when Georgia auto dealer Brad Akins and Bob Sutton, a former mechanic for Darrell Waltrip and Ricky Rudd, began a new NASCAR team.
``It is easy to say this now, I guess, but I knew this was going to be a winning situation,'' says Sawyer. ``The team had really good cars, good people working on the cars, and good financial support.''
Sawyer was so excited and optimistic heading into the season that he predicted the new team would win the Grand National championship.
But, after competitive runs at Rockingham and Richmond, a major weakness surfaced at Bristol, and a couple weeks later at Loudon, N.H., when the motors weren't strong enough to get Sawyer into the starting fields.
``We hit rock bottom,'' says Sawyer. ``Sometimes you have to do that before realizing you have a problem and doing something about it.''
The new team found a perfect solution to the problem by getting Keith Dorton, a respected mechanic in Winston Cup racing for many years, to build the team's engines.
``The car has been strong ever since we made the change,'' says Sawyer.
``When I tested at Myrtle Beach, I knew I had a chance of winning there. It was the same kind of track that I had grown up on, and the car felt good.''
Sawyer says the victory took a ``tremendous amount of self-imposed pressure'' off his shoulders. He felt the difference when he went to the shop on Monday morning.
Sawyer's Thunderbird is sponsored by Ford Credit Company and Red Carpet Lease.
The team owners and sponsors are planning to move up to Winston Cup racing in a couple years.
``Hopefully next year we can run five Winston Cup races, but that depends on what Ford wants to do,'' says Sawyer.
``Right now they are all pumped up and excited because they are seeing results on the track and from dealer participation.''
When Sawyer is not at the track or in the shop, he is constantly on the go, making personal appearances at Ford dealerships and being involved with the media.
``There probably are only a few Winston Cup drivers whose schedules are as busy as mine,'' says Sawyer. ``This really is like a mini Winston Cup deal.''
Sawyer would like to stay with the team and move on up to Winston Cup racing with it.
``Everyone works so well together, and that is what it takes to be successful,'' he says. ``When we had our motor problems, no one started pointing at the other. We sat down, discussed it, and came up with the right solution.''
by CNB