THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 14, 1994 TAG: 9408150182
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C8 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. LENGTH: Medium: 99 lines
Although he is 10th in Winston Cup points and has finished all but one race this season in Bud Moore's No. 15 Ford Thunderbird, Lake Speed wants more.
He confirmed Saturday at Watkins Glen International that he will not drive Moore's car next year.
``Maybe we can do like Ricky (Rudd) did,'' Speed said. ``I just want to run good. Nobody twisted any arms. Nobody forced anybody to go. We'll just have to wait and see what kind of options are available and make a decision.''
He was reluctant to say much more than that, but it seems clear that Speed has the itch to go it alone again. Since joining the series in 1980, Speed has alternated between fielding his own team and driving for others. His sole victory, at Darlington in 1988, was in his own car.
``It was just a situation where Lake wanted to get back out on his own and do his own thing,'' Moore said. ``In a way I'm sort of disappointed, but there's no hard feelings.''
Given Speed's performance, which includes five top-10 finishes, Moore said he was surprised at the decision but added, ``This is just what he wanted to do.''
As to his own plans, Moore said: ``Sometime next week we'll see what all is out there and see what direction we're going to take. But right now I have no earthly idea what we're going to do.''
VACANCIES: With Speed's announcement, Moore now joins Richard Petty and Kenny Bernstein as car owners with vacant seats for 1995.
But there are always more drivers than cars, it seems, and those without rides for '95 include John Andretti, Wally Dallenbach Jr., Brett Bodine, Speed, Bobby Hillin, Chuck Bown and an assortment of non-regulars trying to get back in, such as Rick Wilson, Phil Parsons and Joe Ruttman.
RAIN, RAIN: A steady afternoon rain washed out most Winston Cup activity on this 2.45-mile, 11-turn road course, including the second round of time trials. But the teams did get about 75 minutes of practice Saturday morning, which was enough time for Mike Wallace and his team to dig themselves an even deeper hole than they did Friday.
On the last lap of the Friday afternoon practice, Wallace blew his qualifying engine. The team didn't have another qualifying engine, so Wallace missed the first round of time trials.
Then, on the last lap of the Saturday practice, using an engine from Brett Bodine's team, Wallace crashed.
``I had a left front tire go flat, I guess, as I got to the top of the esses . . . and drove right into the fence,'' Wallace said. ``It was a hard hit. This car won't be fixed, I know that.''
Although Petty was willing to lend Wallace his backup car for qualifying, the second round was washed out. So that left Wallace out of the race, along with Loy Allen Jr., Jeremy Mayfield, Brian Bonner and Scott Gaylord. The provisional starting spots went to Rick Mast, who was 40th-fastest, and Greg Sacks, who was 42nd.
TEAMING UP: Dick Brooks and Felix Sabates confirmed Saturday that Brooks has become a partner in Sabates's No. 40 Pontiac Grand Prix, driven by Bobby Hamilton.
Although no money has changed hands, Brooks will be a 50 percent owner (as opposed to the 49 percent as reported in Saturday's editions).
There have been reports that Brooks will become the sole owner next year, will switch to Chevrolets and will move the team to his hometown, Spartanburg, S.C.
Brooks was non-committal on becoming sole owner and moving to Spartanburg. ``All that's a little vague yet,'' he said.
But Brooks, the former race driver turned broadcaster and auto dealer, indicated that he might well switch brands.
``We're kinda in the talking stages of Pontiac or Chevrolet,'' he said. ``I've got a couple of Chevrolet stores, so we'll have to see.
Brooks said his primary aim this year is to help get the car qualified in the first round of qualifying and finish in the top 20 on a consistent basis.
``We're going to sit down next week and see what part I can play,'' he said. ``I don't know exactly for sure what I'm doing.''
Brooks also said he's committed to be a Motor Racing Network pit announcer for four or five more races this year, but he doubts he'll do much radio work next year.
``I'd like to spend more time with the team on the track during the race,'' he said.
STRAIGHT TALK: Explaining why he joined forces with Brooks, the Cuban-born Sabates was remarkably frank about his own shortcomings as a Winston Cup car owner and how they have affected his primary car, the No. 42 Pontiac driven by Kyle Petty.
``I'm kinda hard-headed,'' he said, ``but I finally realized that the guys who win out here every week - these people are racers. I'm not a racer. I'm a businessman in racing.
``I don't know anything about cars, I don't know anything about tires, I don't know anything about setups, I don't know anything about driving. And with the problems we've had with Kyle's team this year, I asked (NASCAR president) Bill France what I needed to do to get better. And Bill said, `You need somebody to come in who knows about racing, because you don't.'
``I had talked to Jimmy Means about shutting down his operation and coming with me, but he wanted to keep on going on his own. And so that's the basic reason I've got Dick. A lot of things have happened this year with the 42 car, a lot of mistakes have been made, and I didn't know any better. Dick will be a lot more involved and he can help with the 42 car, too.'' by CNB