THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, April 19, 1996 TAG: 9604190679
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MARTINSVILLE, VA. LENGTH: Short : 49 lines
Rusty Wallace, who has won the last three spring races at Martinsville Speedway, says one of the secrets to mastering the short track is preserving the brakes on his Ford Thunderbird.
And to do that, ``you've got to work like crazy,'' he told Ford's Wayne Estes. ``Whenever you've got enough distance that you can breathe the brakes, you've got to do it. It's not technology. It's driving style.
``If there aren't any cars right on your trail, you've got to get off the gas at the start-finish line and start coasting in. And when somebody gets on your butt, you take off again. I do that all the time.
``Brakes are important, but driving style is more important,'' he added. ``You cannot go out there and run as hard as you can every lap. You've got to get out of the gas and coast that thing in the corner. That's how you've got to drive the place.''
Of course, Wallace won't be coasting into any of the turns during the first round of qualifying for Sunday's Goody's 500, which begins at 3 p.m. today. The pole position and first 25 starting spots will be decided during the session.
If there is any chink in Wallace's armor, it is qualifying. He often has trouble getting the lap speed he thinks he should be capable of. And it doesn't take much to be slow.
``I was listening to Terry Labonte on the radio recently and he said, `I can go out now and qualify on the pole or qualify 25th and can't tell a bit of difference in the car,' '' Wallace said. ``But this qualifying thing is just getting to be a killer. I'm a notoriously bad qualifier, and I'm working really hard on that. But the race set-ups are usually pretty good.
``At Martinsville, track position is very, very important. So you've got to get a good pit spot on the front straightaway - and get good pit stops. But above all, you've got to have a car that handles good.''
Reserved seats, mostly on lower rows, are still available for the Goody's 500, which begins at 1 p.m. Sunday. They cost $35 and $40, depending on location. As usual, the track will put several thousands unreserved backstretch seats on sale for $30 each at 7:30 a.m. Sunday.
Tickets for today's events, which include a 30-lap Allison Legacy car race, are $10 each, with children under 12 free when accompanied by a paying adult. by CNB