THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 5, 1996 TAG: 9607050255
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER NASCAR NOTES
DATELINE: DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. LENGTH: 102 lines
Qualifying for Saturday's Pepsi 400 was rained out after only nine drivers made their runs at Daytona International Speedway on Thursday, but there was plenty of other news to keep things busy.
Bill Elliott is back, Kyle Petty is on his way out, and the sport's first trading-card company is struggling to stay alive.
On the track Thursday, Jeff Gordon staked his claim to a possible fourth pole of 1996 with a lap of 188.869 mph before persistent showers ended the day's activities.
Gordon was more than 2 mph quicker than the second-fastest driver, Darrell Waltrip, whose best lap was 186.776 mph. Jeff Purvis was third-fastest at 186.474, followed by Dale Earnhardt at 186.409 and Lake Speed at 186.100.
The rest of the field will take a shot at Gordon beginning at 9 a.m. today. Given the early hour, at least some drivers should have a good chance of beating Gordon.
There was no immediate decision on whether there would be one or two rounds of time trials today.
ELLIOTT RETURNS: It was not boredom that prompted Bill Elliott to return to his race car a month earlier than he had planned.
``I felt like if I stayed home much longer, I wasn't coming back,'' Elliott said Thursday. ``I was kinda enjoying staying home and not fighting the traffic.''
Elliott broke his left thigh bone just below the hip in an accident at Talladega in late April. He did not intend to begin racing until next month's Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis. But he has been healing faster than he had expected.
He was walking around the garage Thursday using a cane, and it didn't appear as if he needed that.
``My leg feels great,'' he said. ``I don't know, heat-wise, how I'm going to be able to take it Saturday, so I guess that's a question mark. But I feel great.
``The limp is from the lack of muscles in the leg. I told everybody, `The right leg is real strong, the left leg is real weak. I brake with my left foot, so you better watch out, guys, I'm going to run over you.' ''
Elliott said he had not lined up a relief driver and was unsure whether he would even do that. He spent much of the day Monday testing at Talladega and said he didn't have any problem driving.
Elliott said he was about three weeks ahead of his physical therapy goals and reached a point about a week ago where he could put his full weight on the leg without pain.
`The race is only 400 miles, so what's the big deal?'' he said.
Elliott said one thing he didn't do while recovering at home was watch a lot of racing on television. It wasn't exciting enough.
``When you see it on television, it's not what you see in a race car,'' he said. ``And all (television) covers is the guys in the front. It gets kind of aggravating from that side of it. So I'd usually just flip over and find me a good movie.''
PETTY TO LEAVE SABATES: Three years of bottom-dwelling was enough for Kyle Petty.
Petty and car owner Felix Sabates have announced that Petty will not return to the No. 42 Pontiac Grand Prix next season. Both said the split is amicable.
The announcement started a fresh wave of speculation about driver and team changes.
Car owner Gary Bechtel is looking for Steve Grissom's permanent replacement, while Grissom is looking for another ride. The rumors still persist about an Ernie Irvan/ Robert Yates split, although both deny it. And they persist about John Andretti and Robert Pressley, both of whom are said to be shaky in their rides.
What is Petty going to do?
``I don't know,'' he said Thursday. ``I don't have a clue. There's about 9 million rumors about 9 million drivers, 9 million sponsors and 9 million car owners. Just to keep this (split) from being a rumor, it's not a rumor anymore.''
But don't be surprised if Petty starts his own team with the notion of joining forces in a few years with the family firm, Petty Enterprises.
``I'm not above trying to find a sponsor and doing our own thing and combining in three or four years with Petty Enterprises,'' he said. But he said he was not interested in driving his father's No. 43 Pontiac because he has no intentions of unseating the happily settled Bobby Hamilton.
As for his record with Sabates, Petty said, ``At times, we've been like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. But I think at other times we've been like Abbott and Costello.''
Sabates was upbeat about the split. ``Kyle is my talent searcher,'' he said. ``This will be the first time in the history of racing where a driver will help hire his own replacement.''
MAXX IS BANKRUPT: Maxx Race Cards, the first company to produce regular issues of NASCAR trading cards, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and is seeking a buyer. A press release said Maxx's troubles were due to poor quality on two key 1995 sets of cards, which led to heavy returns.
WALLACE RE-UPS WITH FORD: Rusty Wallace and Ford announced that they've agreed to a three-year contract extension that will keep him in Ford Thunderbirds through the 1999 season. Wallace has won 13 of his 44 career victories since switching from Pontiac before the 1994 season.
HAMILTON CRASHES: Bobby Hamilton is still sore from a hard lick he took in a crash at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on June 26 after blowing a tire. The impact knocked him out for about a minute and he cut his chin when he hit the steering wheel. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Jeff Gordon, left, and Bill Elliott chatted before Thursday's time
trials at Daytona. Elliott, who had practiced Monday at Talladega,
says he's ready to drive in Saturday's Pepsi 400. ``My leg feels
great,'' said Elliott, who broke his left thigh bone just below the
hip in an accident at Talladega in late April. by CNB