THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, February 17, 1995 TAG: 9502170674
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DENISE MICHAUX, LANDMARK NEWS
DATELINE: DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines
It just hasn't been Rick Mast's week.
After blowing four engines last Friday and Saturday, Mast finally thought he had a good one for Thursday's Twin 125s. But on the fourth lap, that familiar puff of smoke erupted from his Ford and engine No. 5 was gone.
Mast will use a provisional to start from the 41st spot in Sunday's Daytona 500.
``It all goes back to our testing in January,'' Mast said. ``We had run so bad this last year and a half down here and at Talladega that we came here in January and tested and felt like we found what was wrong. Then we get down here and blew up everything we had.
``We put this motor in today and it was running good and it just busted.''
But there is one thing Mast is keeping in mind: ``Bobby Allison one year went through four or five motors and broke a car and ended up winning the so that's what I'm looking at now.''
NEVER AGAIN: ``I don't ever want to be in another race at Daytona like that,'' Jeff Burton said Thursday after his qualifying race. ``That was the hardest race I have ever run in my life.''
Burton, from South Boston, Va., squeezed into the show by finishing 14th in the second Twin 125. He will start 28th on Sunday.
``If it had been too much longer of a race, we definitely wouldn't have made it,'' Burton said.
Burton spent most of the race fighting to stay ahead of the bubble spot - 15th place. Morgan Shepherd was running 15th.
``I just kept looking at Morgan, wondering who was behind him,'' Burton said. ``It was a bad deal because the car was pushing so bad, there wasn't but so fast I could go. But we missed three wrecks and had to do some pretty nifty deals to miss those wrecks.''
BOILING POINT: It wasn't just the 80-degree heat that had John Andretti hot when he got out of his car following his qualifying race.
The second race had come down to a five-lap dash after a caution period. Coming out of turn 4, Andretti was outside Ricky Craven coming down the frontstretch and ended up riding the wall hard.
After the race, Andretti ran up to Craven's car to share his displeasure.
``I just felt like I had to say something. Everybody makes mistakes, and hopefully he can learn something from it,'' Andretti said. ``I know I've made my share, and I've apologized for every one of them.
``I guess I'm disgusted because he had nothing really to gain except for one spot maybe, and he had a whole lot to lose and he cost us a lot. This one could have cost us a Daytona 500, and it definitely cost us a better starting spot.''
Andretti will start 38th Sunday. Craven will start 14th.
Said Craven: ``I got sideways off of four and tried to collect it and got into the 37 (Andretti). I thought someone got into the back of me, but maybe the air was just pulled off my spoiler. I never did anything intentional. I'm a racer and I'm not going to stop racing.''
Still, Andretti tried to see the wreck as a positive. ``The crew is really digging in,'' he said. ``They'll probably give me an even better race car for Sunday. They're even madder about it than I am.''
MARCIS' RECORD: Dave Marcis has trumped the king.
Marcis made the Daytona 500 lineup for the 28th consecutive time, breaking the record he shared with Richard Petty. Marcis finished 10th in his 125-mile qualifying race and will start 19th on Sunday.
``Knowing I'm going to be in the race is like having 28 tons off my shoulders,'' Marcis said. ``I don't want to take anything away from Richard Petty, because I don't think I can do that. Dale Earnhardt has said it many times: Richard Petty is the king, and we all know that.''
Marcis, the oldest driver in the field at 53, has led the 500 for a total of five laps. His best finishes were sixths in 1975 and 1978.
GOING HOME: Shawna Robinson failed to make the field and become the first woman since Janet Guthrie in 1980 to start a Daytona 500.
Patty Moise was the last woman to compete in a Winston Cup event at Daytona. She ran the 1988 and '89 Pepsi 400s.
TODAY'S EVENTS: The 17th Florida 200 NASCAR Goody's Dash series race gets under way at 11 a.m., and round one of the Dodge IROC XIX will take the green flag for a 100-mile race at 1:30 p.m. by CNB