THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, April 21, 1995 TAG: 9504210646
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: GALAX, VA. LENGTH: Medium: 53 lines
Rusty Wallace has been peeking into NASCAR's crystal ball, and he sees help next month for the beleaguered Ford Thunderbirds.
``They said they'd probably make a change before the Charlotte race, so let's hope something happens,'' he told a group of employees at the Sara Lee Knit Products factory during an appearance in advance of Sunday's Hanes 500 at Martinsville Speedway.
Wallace said later that he doesn't know what NASCAR plans to do, but he thinks it may alter the spoiler on the all-powerful Chevrolet Monte Carlos to reduce rear downforce.
But the consensus in the garage in recent weeks has been that NASCAR won't take anything away from the Chevys, even though many Ford folks have been lobbying to return the shape of the Monte Carlo closer to the production model.
As the defending champion of the race, Wallace was tapped by Hanes for its annual pre-Martinsville plant tour. Wallace spent the morning touring the huge factory in Galax and another equally large facility in nearby Hillsville, Va., that produce Hanes products.
Workers at both plants were delighted to see him.
In Hillsville, where 650 employees turn out 160,000 T-shirts a day, he cheerfully posed for dozens of photographs as he wandered the aisles. The plant normally plays country music on the public-address system, but it played ZZ Top - Wallace's favorite rock group - on Thursday.
In Galax, a welcoming committee cheered as he arrived and then took him on a meticulously organized tour of the plant, which turns raw cotton into cloth.
Wallace, who himself sells hundreds of T-shirts each weekend at the track, was genuinely impressed.
``This is amazing,'' he said. ``I just can't believe that many people in the world need T-shirts.''
Wallace's Thursday came on the heels of an extraordinarily busy Wednesday. He taped four episodes of his new TNN show ``Win'' in Charlotte and then flew to Philadelphia, where he appeared on the QVC network until midnight. He was back home at 3 a.m. before flying into Hillsville at about 9:30 a.m.
But now it's back to racing. Practice at Martinsville begins at 11 a.m. today, and qualifying for the first 20 starting positions in Sunday's race is at 3 p.m.
``I've won three of the last four at Martinsville, so I've got to feel pretty good about that,'' said Wallace, who is winless this season, along with every other Ford driver. ``I've just got to believe that real soon we'll get going.'' by CNB