THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, March 9, 1995 TAG: 9503090536
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: GREENSBORO LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
The latest thing in the Winston Cup pits is satellite television.
The teams of Dale Earnhardt, Darrell Waltrip and Bobby Hamilton each had RCA's miniature satellite dishes attached to their rolling toolboxes last Sunday at Richmond.
Why?
``To watch television, of course,'' said Keith Waltz, publicist for Waltrip's team. He cited two benefits.
``One, if our car is in a wreck, they nearly always show that on television and you can see how much damage you have.
``Two, we monitor the sound and if they interview another crew chief late in the race about his pit strategy and he tells the truth, we know what they're going to do.''
Say goodbye to truthful pit interviews on television.
SOURCE OF TROUBLE: For all you true motorheads, Rusty Wallace has an explanation for the string of engine failures that plagued him in the last three races of 1994 and resurfaced at Rockingham on Feb. 26.
``What the problem ended up being was the wrong style head bolts and the wrong head gaskets,'' he said. ``We ended up changing gaskets and head bolts and had absolutely no problem'' with compression leaks at Richmond, where Wallace finished third.
NO GO AT SABCO: Robin Pemberton, Rusty Wallace's crew chief, has been crew chief for three teams - Sabco (Kyle Petty), Roush (Ted Musgrave) and Penske South - in less than a year. He was asked to compare them.
``Penske South so far is the best place I've ever been,'' he said. ``Those two places (Penske South and Roush) are comparable. They each have their own little things that are better than the other.
``As far as the Sabco thing goes, it was way different than any of these teams and I really don't have much to say about it.''
ATLANTA THE FASTEST: Pemberton notes that Atlanta Motor Speedway is the fastest track in the Winston Cup series.
``Talladega and Daytona have the potential to be the fastest, but with restrictor plates and 450 horsepower, the speeds we see are only 192 or 193 mph,'' he said. ``You go to Atlanta and there is a real opportunity that when you're entering the corner, you're approaching 200 mph. And you have more horsepower and more acceleration than you do at these plate races, so it is faster.''
FINE STICKS: A three-member panel of the National Stock Car Racing Commission has upheld a $5,000 fine against crew chief Jeff Hammond for having a piece of exotic heavy metal loose in Greg Sacks' car during the Busch Clash. Metal is used to make a car weigh the proscribed 3,400 pounds. But it must be lead in 5-pound increments and it must be secured. by CNB