THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 4, 1996 TAG: 9610040729
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C8 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CONCORD, N.C. LENGTH: 71 lines
Joe Nemechek failed to qualify for Sunday's UAW-GM 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He did not have a provisional starting spot. He was destined to spend Sunday at home.
But in a slick move, Nemechek will be driving his own car in Sunday's race. Except that now it's a backup car with a different number.
``I'll do whatever it takes to race,'' Nemechek said as the garage closed at the end of afternoon. ``I want to drive. It's just unfortunate we didn't get to qualify.''
Nemechek's chance to race came after newcomer Robby Gordon withdrew. The complex chain of events that eventually got Nemechek into the race began Thursday morning when newcomer Robby Gordon crashed in practice after slipping in oil in turn 4.
Gordon hit flush to the wall with his left side. The impact momentarily knocked him out. Other than that, he was unhurt. The car was demolished.
Gordon had qualified 13th in Wednesday night's pole qualifying. He was driving a Teresa Earnhardt-owned No. 14 Chevrolet through an arrangement with his car owner, Felix Sabates. But there was no backup car available.
Gordon explored several options, but finally settled on taking over Nemechek's car as a backup car. Sabates announced Wednesday that he was purchasing Nemechek's team.
When Gordon took a couple of laps in Nemechek's car, he didn't feel right. ``I wasn't comfortable,'' he said. ``I've been in situations before where I wasn't comfortable and you can have a disaster.''
It might have been different with some practice Saturday, but Gordon had a commitment to run an off-road race in Nevada Friday and Saturday, so he withdrew.
``It's a major disappointment,'' Gordon said. ``But the off-road thing was already committed before I did this (Winston Cup) thing with Felix. We've won every race we've entered and I'm leading the championship. Also, it helps Joe out a bit with his (Winston Cup) points.''
To get Nemechek in the race, a deal was struck whereby Teresa Earnhardt would purchase Nemechek's car, change the number from 87 to 14, change the sponsorship decals and then use Nemechek as a substitute driver for Gordon.
LABONTE POLE SWEEP: Bobby Labonte won his second pole position of the weekend Thursday, taking the top starting spot for Saturday's All Pro 300 Grand National race with a lap of 174.272 miles per hour in his Chevrolet. Mark Martin took the outside pole with a lap of 174.036 mph, while Chad Little, Ricky Craven and Jeff Green also made the top five.
Sixty-three cars battled for the first 32 starting spots. That left a whopping 31 to compete in today's ``hooligan'' challenge race for the final 10 starting spots.
SECOND ROUND: If Nemechek found a a way into Sunday's race, others were not so fortunate. Those going home are Gary Bradberry, Dave Marcis, Robby Faggart and Delma Cowart. Provisional starting spots went to Robert Pressley, Darrell Waltrip (a champion's provisional), Kenny Wallace, Kyle Petty and Ricky Rudd.
John Andretti led the second round, going from 39th to 31st with a lap of 179.796 mph in his Ford.
ISC OFFERS MORE STOCK: Following the lead of Speedway Motorsports and Penske Speedways, the International Speedway Corporation is planning to sell four million shares of Class A common stock priced at $14 to $16 a share.
ISC, controlled by NASCAR president Bill France and his family, hopes to raise at least $55 million on the NASDAQ exchange in the next few weeks, according to a story in Wednesday's Florida Journal.
It will use about $32 million to build new seats, luxury suites, dining facilities and other improvements at its three main speedways - Daytona, Talladega and Darlington, according to a story in Wednesday's Florida Journal.
This is a different stock offering unrelated to the company's existing stock, which currently sells at more than $300 a share on NASDAQ's electronic bulletin board.
ISC had net income of $14.8 million on revenue of $72.9 million for the nine months ending May 31. by CNB