THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 25, 1994 TAG: 9409250216
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C8 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MARTINSVILLE, VA. LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
Because there is no garage in the infield of Martinsville Speedway, where there isn't much room in the first place, one of the biggest challenges of a race weekend here is fighting the crowds in the pits and staying out of the way of the crews.
I was singularly unsuccessful in that effort Saturday. The first thing that happened when I went to the pits to do this story was that I got in the way of Mark Martin's Ford.
Suddenly I felt a spoiler in my forearm and a bumper in my calf and at the same instant heard: ``HEEEEEY!! Watch your back!''
Martinsville is more crowded than most tracks simply because it is so small. But the crowds have grown to where something had to give.
And on Saturday, it did. Eleven of the top 12 teams - more than ever before - roped off work areas behind their haulers to keep fans and visitors out.
``It's always been nice to let the fans get close and be part of what's going on,'' said car owner Robert Yates. ``But the crowds keep thickening. And you can have your hands full and people will still ask you to sign autographs.''
Of all the problems in the ever-more-crowded Winston Cup garages, autograph scrounging is one of the worst.
``If you've got to use the bathroom, it costs you 20 autographs,'' driver Mark Martin said. ``The only complaint I have about being at the racetrack is that it's becoming more and more difficult to race.''
Martin and other drivers believe that NASCAR should do something to control the fans who manage to get in the garages and pits.
Martin will not sign autographs if he's working on his car, talking to crew chief Steve Hmiel, eating or otherwise busy.
``I tell them they'll have to catch me later,'' he said. ``But we don't need to be in a position where we hurt people's feelings, reject them or make them feel bad. And if you hurt someone's feelings, later you feel bad about it, period.''
Said Martin's car owner, Jack Roush: ``I think the drivers should be protected from making the hard choice of saying `no' to fans. They want to be generous and warm, but they can't be that 24 hours a day.''
``It's getting more crowded,'' said veteran driver Dave Marcis. ``I get enough, and I can imagine it's terrible for guys like (Dale) Earnhardt and Rusty (Wallace) and Mark Martin. I bet if Earnhardt came out of his trailer right now, he wouldn't get 300 feet before you couldn't see him for the crowd around him.
``I'll tell you what. I'd like to see NASCAR give a $100 fine to any driver who got caught giving an autograph in the garage. NASCAR has got to help us. Maybe they could put a time for it. But they've got to do something because these people just walk right in.''
NASCAR spokesman Andy Hall said the sanctioning body is aware of the growing problem and is considering alternatives.
Some small steps have been taken to ease congestion. Martinsville is one of the few tracks in the Winston Cup series that opens the infield gates after a race to anyone who wants to visit. But the problems, including theft, became so severe that the speedway now waits at least 30 minutes after a race before opening the gates.
Yates remembers that Bristol International Raceway stopped opening the gates right after the race after he got into a fight with a fan in 1980, when he was working with Darrell Waltrip.
``The guy was drunk,'' said Yates, one of the mildest-mannered men in the garage. ``I take a lot, but he was bad mouthing Darrell and he shoved me and he shoved Jake Elder. And, finally, he threw a beer on the top of the hood.''
Yates beat him up.
It would be nice to say something that ugly couldn't happen today. But at Pocono, Ernie Irvan was standing on pit road when a man came up to him and said he hoped he crashed. Irvan took a non-violent approach and summoned a NASCAR official, who kicked the fellow out of the track. by CNB