THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, July 1, 1995 TAG: 9507010344
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines
NASCAR today will issue a technical bulletin to the teams banning the use of rear sway bars beginning with next weekend's New Hampshire race.
Rear sway bars, if used properly with the springs and shock absorbers, can help prevent the car from rolling or swaying over onto the right-side tires in the turns.
A number of teams, including the Hendrick Racing teams, had spent a lot of time and considerable money getting the most out of sway bars in conjunction with shocks and springs. Their use became common in mid-1994 after Geoff Bodine introduced them at Charlotte.
``We've been looking at them for about a year,'' said NASCAR spokesman Kevin Triplett. ``We're trying to reduce corner speeds. These may not enhance speed, but they enhance handling, which enhances speed.
``While it's a relatively inexpensive part, teams have been spending a lot of time and money testing with them. And that's taking the teams with heavy resources and further separating them from the teams that don't have the same resources.''
``I don't like it, but it's done and that's it,'' said Ray Evernham, Jeff Gordon's crew chief. ``It wasn't illegal and we worked hard with it. But now it is. So we won't use it.''
Ricky Rudd said he used one last year in his New Hampshire victory and was planning on returning with the same setup. ``Now we've got to search some,'' he said.
SECOND-ROUND QUALIFYING: Chuck Bown led second-round qualifying Friday for today's Pepsi 400, staving off an early trip home with a lap of 188.127 mph, which gave him the 29th starting position.
Bown was 40th fastest after Thursday's first round of time trials with a speed that wasn't fast enough to make the field.
``That was a great lap for us,'' he told a track reporter.
Three drivers - Steve Seligman, Kenny Wallace and Delma Cowart - failed to make the race, while provisional starting spots went to five others at the bottom of the speed lineup: Bobby Hamilton, Ricky Craven, Ward Burton, Andy Hillenburg and Bill Elliott.
KRANEFUSS TO PONTIAC? In the wake of Ricky Rudd's rejection of Pontiac's recruiting effort, rumors surfaced that another possible candidate for the new Grand Prix might be former Ford racing chief Michael Kranefuss, who co-owns John Andretti's team.
``No,'' Pontiac motorsports manager Gary Claudio flatly said Friday when asked if he had talked with Kranefuss.
Kranefuss said he has had no communication with Pontiac, but certainly left the door open.
``I am interested in staying with Ford, but on the other hand, this is a business and we have to look at all possibilities,'' he said.
Claudio, meanwhile, said the new Grand Prix will not be a stepsister to the powerhouse Chevrolet in the General Motors heirarchy.
``That's just not going to happen and (GM motorsports director Herb Fishel) can't afford for it to happen,'' Claudio said. ``Business-wise, he has been told in no uncertain terms that it's got to be a good race car. He's pledged to us that it's going to be equal to, if not better than, the Monte Carlo.''
MARY McREYNOLDS DIES: Larry McReynolds's mother, Mary, died at 1:45 a.m. Friday in Mooresville of liver cancer, about an hour after her son reached her bedside.
McReynolds, the crew chief for Dale Jarrett and the Robert Yates Ford team, left here late Thursday night after Jarrett qualified seventh for today's 400. It was uncertain Friday whether he would return for the race.
MORE SEATS AT RICHMOND: The Henrico County Board of Supervisors Wednesday approved a development plan for Richmond International Raceway that includes expansion to as many as 125,000 seats.
The track currently has about 82,000 seats and plans to expand to about 105,000 by September, 1996.
``It's just the growth of the sport, and 125,000 is all I feel like we can comfortably handle,'' said track president Paul Sawyer, who is here for the race.
ESPN SIMULCAST: Today's race, which starts at 11 a.m., will be ESPN's first NASCAR simulcast.
While the regular telecast will be featured as usual on ESPN, the ESPN2 network will broadcast the race entirely through the use of in-car cameras and team-driver radio transmissions.
Cameras will be in the cars of Dale Earnhardt, Mark Martin, Ted Musgrave, Ken Schrader, Morgan Shepherd, Bobby Labonte and Jeff Gordon.
ESPN coverage begins at 10:30 a.m. with a 30-minute special. by CNB