THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 2, 1994 TAG: 9412020726
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
It's party time in New York City for Dale Earnhardt and his team as Earnhardt is formally crowned as the 1994 Winston Cup champion tonight at the annual NASCAR Winston Cup banquet at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.
The banquet starts at 7 p.m. and ESPN will provide live coverage beginning at 9 p.m.
Earnhardt's season winnings of $3,400,733 includes a $1.25 million bonus from R.J. Reynolds for winning the title - his record-tying seventh.
Bill Elliott was named the most popular driver for the ninth time Thursday during a pre-banquet press conference, while Ricky Rudd's crew chief, Bill Ingle, was named the winner of the $50,000 UAW Teamwork Award on behalf of the crew.
Rudd's team was selected by a secret panel as having shown the most outstanding teamwork and leadership during the season.
And Todd Bodine was selected as the wildcard pick to take a starting spot in the 1995 Busch Clash on Feb. 12 at Daytona International Speedway.
The 1995 schedule was released. There are no significant changes from 1994.
OFF SEASON? The latest proof that there is really no off-season in NASCAR racing was provided by Dale Jarrett and the Robert Yates Racing team.
They've been busy the past two weeks tire testing for Goodyear at Richmond International Raceway.
The tire test, which was scheduled several months ago, before Hoosier's end-of-season announcement that they would not return in 1995, started on Nov. 16. But the next two days were rained out, so Jarrett returned with the No. 28 Ford Thunderbird on Nov. 28, 29 and 30. Rain also washed out the Nov. 28 session.
The Yates team, meanwhile, lost a veteran member when Joey Knuckles announced he was leaving to become Jeremy Mayfield's crew chief on Cale Yarborough's No. 98 Ford Thunderbird.
AUSSIE RACE: Jimmy Hensley is one of four drivers headed to Australia next week for the USA-vs.-Australia NASCAR 200 race under the lights Dec. 10 at the 1.1-mile Calder Park Thunderdome Raceway.
``I'm really looking forward to it because we've never been out of the country before and have heard a lot of good things about Australia,'' Hensley said in a news release. I hear the track is kind of rough and we certainly have some tracks in this country like that. We'll just try to get the car handling as well as we can on rough pavement.''
Hensley will drive for Australian car owner Denzel Mead.
Joining Hensley will be Morgan Shepherd, Tracy Leslie and Brad Noffsinger.
Shepherd, who ran in a 1988 Australian stock-car race, said on that trip that he ``learned things I had never thought about,'' such as the fact that water swirls to the left in an Aussie sink. by CNB