THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 11, 1996 TAG: 9608110235
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. LENGTH: 80 lines
While Dale Earnhardt was figuring new ways to overcome his pain and stay in his race car this weekend at Watkins Glen International, Bill Elliott was discovering that it hurt too much to drive.
Elliott, who broke his left leg at Talladega in May, on Saturday named road racer Dorsey Schroeder as his replacement driver. Schroeder will start the race and run the entire event.
``The ovals haven't bothered me and we go to Michigan next week and I want to run well there, so why not give up here to go run well there?'' Elliott said. ``The first two laps I ran yesterday, it really bothered my leg.
``Here, you brake so hard and you shift so much. And when you turn to the right here, it lays on my hip, and my muscles are a little weak. That's the worst part. I have to change my braking point and everything I do, and that kind of screws my timing up.''
Elliott said he was surprised that his leg hurt as bad as it does.
``I thought it would be fine here,'' he said. ``I didn't believe how bad it was. But when I made the first two laps, I called them on the radio and said, `Man, this is tough on my leg.' ''
Schroeder, who won the Serengeti Eyewear SCCA Trans-Am race Saturday at Watkins Glen, will start from the back of the field.
``Well, there's only one way to go from back there,'' Schroeder said. ``The McDonald's car is really awesome. My realistic goal is to bring him home the best finish I can and not tear up the equipment. The worst thing you can do when you're trying to help a guy out is to tear up his race car.''
Schroeder was 15th-fastest in the final Winston Cup practice session.
EARNHARDT TALK: Earnhardt's remarkable qualifying run was still the talk of the garage Saturday.
Earnhardt won the pole Friday, less than two weeks after breaking his collarbone and sternum in a wild crash at Talladega.
``I got hurt a couple of times on the farm as a kid, and I know it hurt to just get out of bed,'' Sterling Marlin said. ``To see a man get up and practice a car and qualify like that, it's amazing. He can't hardly move, and he's out here banging around these corners. It's incredible.''
Added Ken Schrader: ``You've seen him do too many things too many times to be surprised about anything he does.''
``He's the man,'' said Ray Evernham, Jeff Gordon's crew chief. ``Whenever something like that happens to him, he's going to show everybody he's the man. Until you can do what he does, you're second. He makes his statement, and that's it. Right now, the rest of us, as far as I'm concerned, are just wanna-bes.
Said crew chief Jimmy Makar, ``He told me he wasn't getting out of the car under green Sunday. He said it was going to be under caution or when he passes out.''
ROUND 2: Ford driver Bobby Hillin Jr. led the second round of time trials Saturday, securing the 26th starting position with a lap of 118.443 mph around this 2.45-mile road course. Hillin would have qualified 23rd had he run that lap on Friday.
Eight drivers participated in the session to fill out the 36 regular starting spots. Grand National regular Mike McLaughlin was the only driver who failed to qualify for the event. He was not eligible for a provisional starting spot. Those went to Morgan Shepherd, Dave Marcis and Ricky Craven.
Craven is having a miserable weekend. He crashed his primary car in practice Friday, then spun off the course in his backup during qualifying. On Saturday, engine trouble kept him from taking his qualifying lap.
FASTEST IN PRACTICE: Mark Martin, who is trying to win his fourth straight Bud at the Glen, was the fastest driver in Saturday's final practice session.
Martin's best lap was 119.498 mph. Jeff Gordon was second-fastest, followed by Rusty Wallace, Terry Labonte and Robert Pressley.
Pressley, however, spun off the course and smashed up the back end of his Chevrolet during the session. And Kyle Petty's car blew an engine while it was being driven by Todd Bodine, Petty's designated relief driver.
NASCAR TRUCKS: Mike Skinner survived two accidents and a two-lap shootout with Mike Bliss at the end to score a 0.453-second victory in Saturday's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Stevens Beil 200 at the Flemington (N.J.) Speedway.
The victory was the fifth of the season for the defending series champion, who vaulted past Ron Hornaday Jr. into the lead in the driver standings by six points. Hornaday finished sixth.
Bliss got a final chance to pass Skinner when the race's 10th caution flag was thrown on lap 199, when Bob Brevak's Ford hit the wall between turns 3 and 4. Skinner, however, pulled away to score his 15th career victory.
Skinner averaged a record 84.812 mph for the 127.5 miles. Rich Bickle was third, Dave Rezendez fourth and Jack Sprague fifth. by CNB