THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 20, 1996 TAG: 9610200170
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C9 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ROCKINGHAM, N.C. LENGTH: 69 lines
Mark Martin, who has not won a Winston Cup race in more than a year, passed Dale Jarrett for the lead with 15 laps remaining en route to his sixth Busch Grand National series victory of the season Saturday in the AC-Delco 200.
The win was the 26th of Martin's Busch career as well as the sixth in his last nine Busch starts at North Carolina Motor Speedway.
``I thought Dale had us there for a while,'' said Martin, who held off Jarrett by about two car lengths in the battle of Ford Thunderbirds. ``I'd say our cars were pretty even, and maybe his was even better than mine. But I got a chance to get by him, and I took it because I didn't know if I'd get another chance later.''
Jarrett, another Winston Cup regular, who will start from the pole in today's AC-Delco 400, said his car was ``a little loose'' at the end.
Martin led four times for 125 of 197 laps, averaging a track record 124.397 mph.
Ricky Craven finished third, followed by Mike McLaughlin and David Green, who chopped 17 points off his deficit in the series championship chase. He now trails Randy LaJoie, who was ninth Saturday, by 33 points with only the Nov. 2 race at Homestead, Fla., left.
GLOVER OUT: After learning that crew chief Tony Glover was definitely planning to leave the No. 4 Morgan-McClure Chevrolet and driver Sterling Marlin, owner Larry McClure wasted no time ending their 13-year relationship.
Glover was dismissed at the end of the day Friday, and McClure said he will serve as Marlin's crew chief in today's AC-Delco. Glover was not at the track Saturday.
``We found out a little more about the situation yesterday, and we felt like if you've got team members that are not going to be there next year, we needed to go ahead and make a change now,'' McClure said.
``We'll see how good this race team is now. I don't know if I'm going to get anybody (to replace Glover) or not. I'm not going to be a crew chief, but I've got some people here who have been racing for a long time who may be capable.''
FENNIG JOINS MARTIN: Jimmy Fennig, who left Bobby Allison's team after the Charlotte race two weeks ago, has joined Jack Roush Racing to be Mark Martin's crew chief.
Steve Hmiel, Martin's current crew chief, will stay as general manager of Roush's Liberty, N.C.-based operation. Hmiel will oversee the operations of Martin's Winston Cup and Grand National cars, as well as Ted Musgrave's Winston Cup car.
Fennig will take over the crew chief duties beginning with next weekend's event in Phoenix, although Hmiel will continue to work with Martin's team on race days.
``We're trying to add more human resources to the team,'' Roush said. ``We're trying to get smarter and faster.''
HOOTERS OUT: The Hooters restaurant chain, which won the 1992 Winston Cup championship as sponsor of the late Alan Kulwicki's car, is leaving the series. Hooters currently sponsors the No. 1 Pontiac Grand Prix driven by Rick Mast, but in 1997 it will limit its involvement in racing to sponsoring the Hooters Cup Late Model series.
ROUND 2: Bobby Hamilton led an active second round of time trials Saturday, securing the 26th starting spot with a lap of 155.129 mph. Had Hamilton run that lap Friday, he would have started 14th.
Provisional starting spots went to Ward Burton, Bobby Hillin, Morgan Shepherd and Joe Nemechek. Ed Berrier and Norm Benning were the only drivers who failed to make the 42-car field.
In the final Winston Cup practice Saturday afternoon, Bobby Labonte had the fastest lap, followed by Dale Earnhardt and Mark Martin. Dale Jarrett, who on Saturday morning blew the engine that had carried him to the pole position, was only 30th-fastest in the final practice. MEMO: The Associated Press contributed to this report. by CNB