THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, April 6, 1995 TAG: 9504060489
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines
The results of NASCAR's first comparative wind-tunnel tests have to rank among the best-kept secrets ever in the Winston Cup series.
Crew chiefs and drivers alike were in the dark about the results last weekend, and some spoke of getting no information out of engineers who were at the tests - engineers they've known for decades.
Two rumors began circulating at Bristol. One was that NASCAR planned to go back to the tunnel with the cars of the very best teams. The other was that NASCAR would return to the tunnel to test proposed changes for one manufacturer or another.
``I wouldn't expect it,'' Winston Cup director Gary Nelson said of both reports. He did allow that ``it would be nice'' to return to the tunnel to test proposed changes.
Nelson said NASCAR ``definitely found something'' in the tests. He wouldn't say what it was. But some were willing to speculate.
``I think what they'll find, more or less, is that the Chevrolet Monte Carlo has more rear downforce and the Ford has more front downforce and the Ford has more drag,'' said Chevy car owner Richard Childress.
LESSONS LEARNED: David Green will be standing by at North Wilkesboro this weekend in case Bobby Labonte needs relief, but Labonte's plans, as of midweek, were to qualify the car and run the entire race.
``He's going to go all the way. That's his plan,'' Green said Wednesday.
Green, who relieved Labonte after 118 laps at Bristol, said he learned much in his first Winston Cup ride with an experienced team, even though Dave Marcis took him out on lap 151, leaving him with a crippled car.
``Jimmy Makar (the crew chief) made me feel like I'd been there forever,'' Green said. ``What I learned last weekend probably would have taken me a year to learn on my own.''
REBUILDING TIME: Kyle Petty's best run in 1995 ended with his worst finish.
Petty wound up 35th in a 36-car field at Bristol after getting bumped and crashing into the fourth-turn wall. But it was an encouraging weekend for a team on the rebound.
``Like we've said pretty much all year, we're not a championship-caliber team at this point in time,'' Petty said. ``We can be one, but we're not one right now. We're just really trying to rebuild.''
JUNIOR'S BLUES: To say Junior Johnson is not happy with NASCAR management in the wake of his $40,000 fine for cheating would be an understatement. But he's sticking it out.
``Just because we've got a crummy bunch of people running the sport don't mean the sport ain't a good sport,'' he said at Bristol last weekend. ``They have nothing equal or fair about the way they do business. Something you've got to understand is the people you're dealing with is that kind of people, that's all.'' by CNB