THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Thursday, January 4, 1996              TAG: 9601040503
SECTION: SPORTS                   PAGE: C2   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER 
                                             LENGTH: Short :   35 lines

PURVIS POSTS FAST LAP AS GM CARS LAUNCH WINTER TESTS AT DAYTONA SPEEDS ARE 2-3 MPH LOWER THAN A YEAR AGO, DUE IN PART TO NEW ENGINE RULES.

Speeds were 2 to 3 mph slower Wednesday from a year ago as NASCAR stock cars from the General Motors stable opened January testing for the Feb. 18 Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.

Most of GM's top drivers, including Winston Cup champion Jeff Gordon, took laps on the 2.5-mile, high-banked track Wednesday, but the top speed was posted by journeyman Jeff Purvis, who reached 187.075 mph.

Gordon was second-fastest at 186.939 mph, followed by Terry Labonte at 186.850, Dale Earnhardt at 186.204, Dave Marcis at 185.805 and two-time defending 500 champion Sterling Marlin at 185.647.

Darrell Waltrip, Steve Grissom, Robert Pressley, Joe Nemechek and Jack Sprague also practiced.

The cars were using the new, lower-compression 14:1 engines mandated by NASCAR for the big tracks, which undoubtedly led to the slightly slower speeds. Last year, when Fords opened January testing, Dale Jarrett reached 189.633 mph on the first day.

As usual, speeds are based on hand-timed laps, most of which are clocked by the emergency workers at the speedway.

The three-day test for GM cars concludes Friday. The Ford Winston Cup cars arrive Tuesday for three days of testing, followed by the Busch Grand National cars (all makes) Jan. 12-14. The GM Winston Cup cars return Jan. 15-17, and the Fords are back Jan. 22-24. by CNB