THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 28, 1996 TAG: 9608280634
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 72 lines
Dale Jarrett will be racing for the Winston Million on Sunday at Darlington Raceway with a disabled crew chief.
Todd Parrott, Jarrett's rookie crew chief, tore cartilege in his already damaged left knee during the Goody's 500 Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Jarrett said if he's nervous about anything this weekend, it's how Parrott's injury will affect the team.
``Todd jumped off the wall to retrieve a tire headed back across pit road, actually a tire that was in front of my car,'' Jarrett said Tuesday. ``He slipped and tore the cartilege in his knee.''
Parrott's knee was operated on Sunday night at Charlotte Orthopedic Hospital. He will be on crutches for the next several races, ``but it shouldn't hamper us in any way and he will be there (in Darlington) and be a part of it.''
``Todd probably knew that some time in the future he was going to have to have his knee operated on, but he didn't know it was going to be before this Darlington race or even this year,'' said car owner Robert Yates.
``But Todd's a good leader. He's been doing a lot of phone calling right now. He'll be with them. I don't think that's going to keep them from winning.''
Jarrett's car should be no barrier, either. He ran well with it at Darlington in March and then dominated the Coca-Cola 600 with it in May.
``We want to be competitive,'' Jarrett said. ``We want to make sure the fans who are going to see history at least have the opportunity late in the race to say, ``Yeah, this could happen.' ''
THE FATHER-SON SHOW: Jarrett's well-known broadcaster father, Ned, said he'll probably call the last lap in the ESPN booth if Dale is leading the race Sunday, but ``I honestly want to get away from that.''
Ned, who called the last lap of both of his son's Daytona 500 victories, said he was given the opportunity at Michigan on Aug. 18, but declined.
``I want (Dale) to be treated just like anyone else,'' he said. ``I think that we've done enough of that. But in this situation, it will be a little different.''
NASCAR RULE CHANGES: NASCAR officials met with Winston Cup teams Saturday to discuss a Darlington rule change and anticipated changes for 1997.
To help the Chevrolet Monte Carlos at Darlington, NASCAR is allowing them to lower their air dams and raise their spoilers by a quarter-inch. Ground clearance on the air dam at Darlington will be 3.75 inches for the Chevys and 3.5 inches for the Fords and Pontiacs. Spoilers will be 6 inches high for the Chevys and 6.5 for the Fords and Pontiacs.
Probable changes for 1997 include:
An engine compression ratio of 14:1 at all tracks (used to be unlimited at most tracks).
Elimination of the rule that gives the reigning Winston Cup champion the first selection of pits. The selection will now be strictly by qualifying order, with the pole winner choosing first.
A rule that the weight of the driver affects the weight of the car. Weight will be added in increments, probably 10-pound increments, to equalize the weight disparity between say, a Mark Martin and a Jimmy Spencer.
Several car measurements will be standardized, including placement of fuel cells, size of the dashboard and the height of the chassis as measured from the bottom of the top roll bar.
A roll bar will be added in the center of the windshield.
Air ducts in the rear quarter panel must be used only to pull air in. Some teams had been experimenting with using them to suck air out on the notion that it would push the car down and improve aerodynamics.
ANDRETTI TO YARBOROUGH: Cale Yarborough Motorsports reportedly is set to announce that John Andretti had signed a 3-year deal to drive Cale's No. 98 Ford Thunderbird. by CNB