THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, April 10, 1995 TAG: 9504100119
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. LENGTH: Medium: 89 lines
As Dale Earnhardt ran away with the First Union 400 at North Wilkesboro Speedway, other drivers were forced to drive on used tires when NASCAR, fearing a tire shortage, implemented a stringent rationing program.
But the shortage never materialized because the second half of the race was run with only one yellow flag. And the teams that felt the brunt of the rationing program were not happy about it.
``We were running on tow tires. We couldn't get any tires,'' said Ricky Rudd, who finished 29th, eight laps down. Tow tires are the used tires that teams put on cars between races.
``Half the race we had to run on used tires,'' Rudd said. ``If you were two or more laps down, you didn't get tires. Our race was over right there.''
Randy LaJoie's team also had the same problem. He finished 23rd, six laps down.
``Penske's team (with driver Rusty Wallace) got three sets while we got zero,'' said crew chief Chris Hussey. ``Our guy stood there at the Goodyear building and waited for 200 laps. He said the (No.) 2 car got three sets while he was sitting there watching. And then with 30 laps to go, (officials) came by and asked us if we wanted a set of tires.''
``Some people had to run on used tires, possibly jeopardizing their cars and other race cars on the track,'' said Terry Labonte, who finished 16th, three laps down.
``OK, so they're giving them to the guys on the lead lap. That sounds good for them. But what about us guys trying to make a lap up?'' said Geoff Bodine, who finished 14th, two laps down.
Mike Helton, NASCAR's vice president of competition, said NASCAR began rationing tires after noticing that most teams had started the race with six sets and used five of them during the first half of the race. There were two caution periods during the first half of the race and three overall.
``At that rate of consumption during the first half, there was going to be a shortage,'' Helton said. ``So we began mounting tires based on the running order. There were priorities. Lead lap cars and those one lap down had priority. We did hold up guys more than one lap down until we got things sorted out.''
Helton said safety ``wasn't a concern. The tires were safe, just slow.''
Helton said he wasn't thrilled with having to ration tires, but ``I think it got us through the day.''
But even Wallace, who finished fourth on the lead lap, was unhappy about the tire rationing. Although he had plenty of tires, he said the rationing program led to a couple of slow pit stops when lug nuts fell off the wheels or became stuck in an air wrench.
``Well, NASCAR started rationing the tires out, and that was a really bad deal,'' he said. ``When they don't give you tires until you need them, you can't glue the lug nuts on and expect them to stay on. That was a really bad deal.''
MORE TIRE STRIFE: Geoff Bodine and his team were already upset about the tire situation before the rationing program was started.
Bodine said some of the top teams that have been loyal to Goodyear showed up here with eight or nine sets of tires already mounted. And he was suspicious about where they came from.
Tires are normally doled out to teams at the track, with each team receiving the same number of sets. But some teams arrived here with sets they said were left over from Richmond, since the same tire was used in both races.
But Bodine wasn't buying the contention that the extra sets were Richmond leftovers.
``You're going to hear them say they brought these from Richmond,'' Bodine said. ``Bull----. I've got a piece of crayon and I can mark `Richmond' on them, too. Some teams had eight or nine sets. We documented it. We had our spies out there this weekend. They didn't bring eight sets from Richmond. Maybe one or two, but not eight.''
Bodine, who was Hoosier's top driver during the tire war last year, said he suspects that favored teams were able to get tires in advance from Goodyear.
``If we call up to ask for tires, we don't get any,'' he said. ``We can't get the right tires to test with. We went to Martinsville to test with last year's tire. So now you get into a crunch. If you need some tires, you've got to stand in line and sometimes you can't get them, or they're the wrong stagger and you can't match them up.
``But these other guys who are getting them before the race, they're matching them all up. They're having that opportunity.''
Helton said the extra tires that some teams had were, in fact, Richmond leftovers. ``We checked the serial numbers,'' he said. ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Dave Marcis is turned around at the bottom as the field goes four
wide to try to get past in the First Union 400 Sunday.
by CNB