THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 31, 1994 TAG: 9407310193
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C11 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines
In six days, the greatest spectacle in racing will have a sister.
Forty-four NASCAR stock cars will roar down the frontstretch of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday afternoon to start the Brickyard 400, the biggest new sporting event of our time.
The Indianapolis 500, with a crowd that exceeds 400,000, has long been the largest single-day sporting event in the world. And the 2.5-mile speedway, with slightly more than 300,000 seats, is the world's largest stadium.
Every seat has been sold for the Brickyard 400, which means it already has become the second-largest sporting event in the world. Only the lack of an infield crowd (the speedway is not selling infield general-admission tickets) will keep the 400 attendance from matching that of the 500.
``The only other event you've seen in recent years with megabucks hype that took a short time to establish a tradition has been the Super Bowl,'' said NASCAR president Bill France Jr.
And just as football fans were intrigued with the showdown between the National Football League and the American Football League when the Super Bowl was created, racing fans are riveted by the intrigue of 3,500-pound stock cars racing on the greatest race course in the world.
One special attraction of any inaugural event is that no one really knows how it will all shake out. But a lot of racers want to be part of it. Eighty-four cars are entered.
The sensations, to be sure, are likely to be different - and memorable - for fans and participants alike.
``On race day, when you look up in the grandstands and see over 300,000 fans sitting around the race track, it will be exciting,'' said Dale Earnhardt. ``I'm sure the roar of all the cars will be something to remember.''
``The cars sound different there than at any other track we run,'' said Len Wood of the Wood Brothers team, which fields Morgan Shepherd's cars.
The railbirds at Indy haven't heard this kind of full-throated engine roar since the days of the old roadsters in the 1950s.
``I don't think anybody's going to realize what it's going to be like that morning when they say, `Gentlemen, start your engines,' and that whole place is filled with people,'' Roger Penske said.
``Typically, at a normal Winston Cup track, the stands are way away from the track. At Indy, everybody sits on top of each other.''
For drivers, one new sensation will be driving down a front straightaway with solid walls of people on both sides.
``It really reminds me of a video game, with all that stuff going by,'' said Darrell Waltrip. ``Pocono (also a 2.5-mile speedway) seems twice as big as Indy. But it just doesn't seem like Indy is that big because there is so much around you. It's like a video game.''
In recent weeks, however, the crews and drivers have set aside any wonderment in favor of the hard work of preparation.
Most of the regular Winston Cup teams have built new cars for the Brickyard 400 and have tested them at Indy at least once.
After going to Victory Lane at Talladega last Sunday with driver Jimmy Spencer, car owner Junior Johnson, who never shows much excitement about anything, was asked if Indy was on his mind.
``You can bet it is,'' he said. ``I would say we've put more work into Indy than any race team out there. We are taking new cars and we have spent several days testing. It will be our own fault if we don't do good there.''
One of the first official Brickyard 400 events also may be one of the most important. At 10 a.m. Thursday, the 84 teams entered in the race will draw for qualifying positions.
Every driver will be hoping for a high number, which will allow him to qualify at the end of the session, when the track probably will be cooler and faster.
``Qualifying is going to be interesting,'' Earnhardt said. ``If you go out and qualify and slip just a little bit, that will be the difference between making the show or going home. I have a feeling you're going to see some good team go home.''
For those who make it, however, the privilege of being in the first Brickyard 400 will be a career highlight.
As Penske put it: ``To go to the first Indy for stock cars, it's going to be unique for everybody that goes, even if you don't do well. And if you can do well in that race, it's going to really set you up for the long term, because of the credibility it gives you as a team and a driver.''
Waltrip put it more simply.
``This is the biggest thing I've done,'' the three-time Winston Cup champion said. ``If I could only win one more race in my career, I hope it's this one.'' by CNB