THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, March 3, 1995 TAG: 9503030508
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines
Is Jeff Gordon taking over where Rusty Wallace left off?
That will be one of the things to watch for as the NASCAR race weekend at Richmond International Raceway gets under way today with pole-position qualifying for Sunday's Pontiac 400.
Wallace, who had won the 1993 and 1994 Goodwrench 500s at Rockingham, went to the sidelines early with a broken engine as Gordon dominated last Sunday's race.
Wallace is traditionally strong at Richmond, with back-to-back victories in the fall race in 1992 and '93 and back-to-back seconds in 1993 and '94 in the Pontiac 400.
But Gordon finished third at Richmond last March and second in September, and he's the hottest driver thus far in 1995. Gordon had one of the strongest cars at Daytona, winning a Twin 125 qualifying race and running strong in the 500 before a fouled pit stop put him out of the running.
And given the fact that he's driving the new Chevrolet Monte Carlo, which seems to have an edge over the Fords, Gordon seems ready to take over the role as the strongest challenger to Dale Earnhardt for the Winston Cup championship.
``You just can't win one race and then all of a sudden say we're going to go after the championship,'' Gordon said. ``But if the momentum stays the way it's been and we keep running the way we have and we can find that consistency, heck yeah, we're going to find ourselves in the championship hunt.''
The only hunt Wallace is undertaking after his lowly 24th-place finish at Rockingham is the one to diagnose why his Ford Thunderbird engine burns itself up.
``We've got to find this problem before we go to Richmond, because it's the same problem that haunted me for about three races at the end of last year and helped me lose the championship,'' he said Sunday.
No matter who wins Sunday's race, it will be the 400's third different winner in three years.
Davey Allison won in 1993. It was his last victory. And Ernie Irvan, still recovering from injuries he received last August at Michigan, won the Pontiac 400 last year.
Forty-nine cars have entered the $1,055,061 race, meaning at least 10 drivers will be going home early. Thirty-four cars, plus as many as five provisional starters, will take the green flag at 1:15 p.m. Sunday.
The last tickets to the 400 were sold on Feb. 5, making this the earliest sellout for the March race in the track's history.
But the weekend's activities also include the $235,608 Hardee's 250 for Grand National cars at 1:15 p.m. Saturday. Fifty-one cars will battle for 36 starting spots (plus two provisionals) in that race.
Winston Cup practice starts at 11:30 a.m. today. First-round Winston Cup qualifying is at 2:30 p.m., immediately followed by Grand National qualifying.
Tickets for Friday and Saturday are general admission. It costs $5 for adults on Friday and $30 Saturday. Children 12 and under are admitted free Friday and Saturday if accompanied by an adult.
Sunday's race will be televised live on WTBS. TNN will telecast Saturday's race live. by CNB