THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc. DATE: Thursday, March 23, 1995 TAG: 9503230681 SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER LENGTH: Medium: 51 lines
As the Winston Cup series heads to Darlington Raceway for Sunday's TranSouth 400, Dale Earnhardt seems bent on running away with the championship once again.
Earnhardt finished second at Daytona, third at Rockingham, second at Richmond and fourth at Atlanta. But he hasn't won yet.
Last season, Earnhardt broke into the winner's circle at Darlington with a 7.4-second romp over Mark Martin.
It may be harder for him this year.
If there is truth in the theory that Earnhardt is NASCAR's best driver because he can drive an ill-handling car and handle adverse racing conditions better than anyone else, then it holds that the new Monte Carlos at repaved Darlington will make it tougher for Earnhardt to win. Give his competitors great cars and a freshly paved track, and Earnhardt's edge disappears.
The Monte Carlo is so good, Atlanta winner Jeff Gordon said, ``It just kinda opened our eyes up on how badly we were getting beat last year with the Lumina,'' the Chevrolet the Monte Carlo replaced.
Pole qualifying for Sunday's race will follow Grand National qualifying, which begins at 2:30 p.m. Friday.
FORD VS. CHEVY: It's clear that the Fords are outmatched against the Monte Carlos, at least at the larger Winston Cup tracks. But one statistic shows that the advantage Chevy has this year is no greater than the one Ford had last year.
Going into Darlington this year, the Monte Carlos have led 1,145 of 1,420 total laps run. At the same time last year, the Fords had led 1,218 laps.
But the Chevys are undefeated this year. Last year, Ford was 3-1, having lost the Daytona 500 to Chevy driver Sterling Marlin.
ADIOS, ORANGE COUNTY: The 1995 Grand National season shrank by one race last weekend when NASCAR removed from the schedule the April 29 event at Orange County Speedway in Rougemont, N.C.
There now are 26 races on the 1995 Busch schedule, with a gap of almost a full month between the April 15 Sundrop 400 at Hickory, N.C., and the May 13 Chevy 250 at Loudon, N.H.
NASCAR dropped the Orange County event when owner Mason Day sold the track.
``We make our deals with the people who own the tracks,'' NASCAR's Kevin Triplett said, adding that the event will not be replaced on this season's schedule. by CNB