THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, June 19, 1996 TAG: 9606190540
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 62 lines
Three of the top five drivers in Sunday's UAW-GM 500 at Pocono International Raceway had season-best finishes - Ricky Rudd second, Geoff Bodine third and Bobby Hamilton fifth.
Chesapeake's Rudd, who always has been a good points racer, has managed to do well enough to be fifth in points while only having one top-five finish before Pocono.
Rudd said his team's biggest problem in 1996 has been new crew chief Richard Broome's problems in adapting to Rudd's existing cars and equipment.
``Richard stepped in and inherited what I would call homemade race cars,'' Rudd said Tuesday during the weekly Winston Cup teleconference. ``It's been a real struggle trying to get those cars to be competitive. We tried to do that working off last year's notes, but every time we tried, we had disastrous results.
``This car at Pocono is the first one built from the ground up with Richard Broome's specifications, and it was very competitive. This run at Pocono was by far the best run we've had all year as far as being competitive on the race track.''
Bodine said his biggest problem has been the lingering aftereffects of his divorce last year.
``That really almost destroyed my career and my business, but we've made it through,'' he said. ``Now I'm back to enjoying who I am and what I am and the results are showing on the track.
``That's the best race I've driven since I lapped the field at North Wilkesboro (in 1994). I'm going to take the blame for what happened last year. I was the problem. I just didn't do a very good job driving.''
RULES CHANGE ANALYSIS: Bodine, meanwhile, said the Pocono race and its Chevy-Ford-Ford-Ford-Pontiac finish didn't yield definitive answers on the question of Ford-Chevy parity and the effect of the NASCAR spoiler and air dam rule change for Chevy.
``What we saw at Pocono the other day, I don't know what that means,'' Bodine said. ``Chevy won, the Fords were running good and the Pontiac didn't run really good.
``The thing at Pocono is that it's probably the best surface we have in racing right now. That asphalt had a tremendous amount of grip. And when conditions are really good, differences in aerodynamics and horsepower don't show up as much as when things are really tough.''
Bodine said things looked good at Pocono, ``but will we go to Michigan and will a car dominate. I don't know.''
Pontiac driver Hamilton, meanwhile, told Pontiac's Brian Hoagland after the race that his manufacturer is getting the short end of NASCAR's stick.
``The Pontiac teams don't raise much cain,'' he said. ``In traffic, we were moved around quite a bit, and it didn't look like the Fords and Chevrolets were. They gave Chevrolet something and I don't even think they were deserving.''
AWARD CEREMONY: Paul Sawyer and H. Clay Earles were the co-winners of this year's Bill France Award of Excellence from Pocono Raceway.
Sawyer, owner of Richmond International Raceway, and Earles, owner of Martinsville Speedway, are among the few remaining old-time NASCAR promoters.
Martinsville President Clay Campbell accepted the award for his grandfather, who was not up to the long trip for the Saturday evening banquet at Mountain Laurel Resort. And Rose Mattioli, who owns Pocono with husband Joe, accepted for Sawyer, who was busy promoting a USAC race at RIR. by CNB