THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 5, 1994 TAG: 9408050732
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: INDIANAPOLIS LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
For two solid hours Thursday afternoon, Rick Mast's wife, Sharon, and their 11-year-old son, Ricky, sat in A.J. Foyt's suite in the condominiums just outside turn two of Indianapolis Motor Speedway and waited.
At 3:31 p.m. local time, Mast had established the top qualifying speed for the Brickyard 400 at 172.414 mph in his Ford Thunderbird.
After that, however, the Masts and other guests had nothing to do but wait and watch while 57 other drivers did their best to beat him.
And a few minutes after 5 p.m., when Jeff Gordon went out to qualify after establishing the fastest speed in morning practice, ``I was just about to have a heart attack,'' Ricky Mast said.
``My stomach still hurts,'' Sharon Mast said long after it was over.
``When Gordon came out, we all held hands,'' Ricky said. And after Gordon's run, it took a few seconds for his time and speed to be posted.
``I was saying, `C'mon, c'mon, show the time!' '' Ricky said. ``And then they showed it and we all started screaming and jumping up and down.'' They knew that no one after Gordon posed much of a threat.
So they went back to the garage, only to be stopped by one of the scores of yellow-shirted Indy ``Safety Patrol'' guards posted everywhere around the famous track.
Children are not allowed in Gasoline Alley, and it didn't seem to matter that Ricky was the son of the first stock-car pole winner in Indy history.
``The one guy who wouldn't let me in was the one guy in charge,'' Ricky said.
``We finally had to go get (NASCAR pace car driver) Elmo Langley to go out and get him and bring him back in the pace car,'' team publicist Brian Buchauer said.
RELUCTANT HOOSIER USER: Although he may be changing his attitude, Mast has never been a whole-hearted user of Hoosier tires. But his team owner, Richard Jackson, calls the shots.
Throughout the day Thursday, the left shoulder of Mast's black uniform had a piece of black masking tape on it. When he pulled it back, there was a Goodyear decal under it.
TWO WRECKS IN PRACTICE: There were two crashes in practice Thursday morning. Tim Steele hit the wall between turns one and two, and Joe Nemechek pounded the wall in turn four. Neither were hurt. Both went to backup cars for qualifying. Steele was 42nd-fastest, while Nemechek was 21st.
NOT A RECORD: The 85 cars entered for the Brickyard 400 is the most for any NASCAR Winston Cup race, but it is not a stock-car record, according to racing historian Greg Fielden.
``The most cars ever entered was 110 for the race in Ontario in 1972,'' Fielden said. ``And that broke the record of 104 set a year earlier at Ontario.''
The 2.5-mile Ontario Motor Speedway was a carbon copy of Indy but was never a financial success. After hosting races through the 1970s, the track was closed after the 1980 season and later razed.
AWARD TIME: One of the many ways to tell the Brickyard 400 isn't your ordinary NASCAR Winston Cup race is the vast array of special awards. Among the qualifying and race-day awards:
The winner gets a $200,000 bonus.
The leader of the most laps gets $25,000.
The lowest qualifier to lead the race gets $25,000.
The leaders at 100, 200, 300 and 400 miles each get $20,000.
The fastest qualifier who doesn't make the race gets $5,000.
The top starting rookie gets $5,000.
The lowest-placed driver still running at the finish gets $5,000.
The leaders at laps five and 78 each get $5,000.
The driver who logs the most miles between pit stops gets $5,000.
The driver who demonstrates ``superior safe-driving skills'' (as voted by a panel) gets $5,000.
CORRECTION: In a story earlier this week, The Virginian-Pilot misconstrued the Wood Brothers family tree. Both Eddie and Len Wood are the sons of Glen Wood. Leonard Wood has a daughter, Beth, but no sons. We regret the error. by CNB