THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, January 21, 1997 TAG: 9701210370
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. LENGTH: 52 lines
Rookie Robby Gordon continued his domination of General Motors testing at Daytona International Speedway, but his top speed is still a mile per hour shy of the best Ford Thunderbird speed of the month.
Gordon opened the final three-day GM test with a top lap of 188.182 mph, slightly faster than his previous best of 188.107 on Jan. 8.
Two-time Daytona 500 winner Sterling Marlin, who is something of a performance gauge for Daytona, topped 188 mph for the first time this month with a lap of 188.088 mph just before the track closed.
Dale Earnhardt edged closer to the top of the GM pack Monday but he was still behind teammate Mike Skinner, who was third-fastest Monday with a lap of 187.492 mph. Steve Grissom was fourth-fastest at 187.406, followed by Earnhardt at 187.126.
It could have been worse. He could have been driving a Pontiac Grand Prix. Derrike Cope had the fastest Pontiac at 186.575 mph, but it was only 10th overall.
Behind the scenes among the GM teams, there was grumbling about the speed of the Fords. John Andretti has the fastest lap of the month, reaching 189.458 mph on Jan. 15. But the average overall speed between the Fords and GM cars was almost precisely the same as of Monday afternoon.
RELIEF FOR BURTON: Tracy Leslie was behind the wheel of Bill Davis' No. 22 Pontiac Grand Prix, subbing for Ward Burton, who is recovering from sinus surgery.
``I think it was a bigger deal than he thought it was going to be,'' Davis said. Burton's surgery occurred around the time of the first test, and he was not expected to attend this session, either.
Davis said he is confident the team can make a comeback from a dismal 1996 season.
``We proved what we could do as a team at the end of 1995,'' Davis said, referring to Burton's victory in the fall Rockingham race. ``Everybody just has to keep their confidence and that will happen again.''
Leslie was 25th-fastest Monday.
FIVE DAYS OF GOLF: Jeff Gordon was in Daytona Beach after spending five straight days playing golf in the Bob Hope Desert Classic in Palm Springs, Calif.
``I've never played golf for two days in a row, much less five,'' Gordon said. ``I was playing with Vince Gill and Amy Grant, and we had a different pro each day. We played with John Cook (who won the tournament), Tom Kite, John Daly and Peter Jacobsen.
``Daly was amazing. He normally hit his two-iron off the tee and he hit it 280-290 yards. But when he pulled out the driver. . . .''
STRUGGLING: Among those struggling Monday were Kyle Petty (22nd-fastest at 184.892 mph in a Pontiac), Bobby Hamilton (27th at 184.526 in a Pontiac), Darrell Waltrip (28th at 184.136) and rookie David Green (36th at 181.759).