THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 8, 1997 TAG: 9702080663
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. LENGTH: 74 lines
The dawn of a new NASCAR Winston Cup season broke over Daytona International Speedway on Friday with a special glow for the Ford Thunderbirds, which became stronger and faster as the day's practice session wore on.
And a final late-afternoon burst of speed from Rusty Wallace put him on top of the chart with the only lap of the day above 189 mph. Wallace reached 189.187 in the best of his 17 practice laps during the afternoon session.
By the end of the day, the fastest seven cars were Fords, and only two Chevy drivers, rookie Mike Skinner teammate Dale Earnhardt, managed to crack the top 10. Naturally, this evoked some tart comments from the the bow-tie brigade.
``To whomever it may concern, whoever thinks we have a level playing field, look at the top 10 practice speeds,' Skinner said. ``I'm just a rookie (former) truck driver and I can see that.''
Said veteran Chevy owner-driver Darrell Waltrip, ``The Fords have got us by 20 horsepower.''
John Andretti was second-fastest Friday at 188.826 mph, followed by Dale Jarrett at 188.766 and 1995 Daytona 500 pole-sitter Loy Allen at 188.580.
Dick Trickle was a big surprise in fifth at 188.332, followed by Ernie Irvan at 188.178 and Greg Sacks at 188.107. Skinner, in the fastest Chevy, was eighth at 187.993 mph, followed by Geoff Bodine at 187.986 and Earnhardt at 187.915.
Derrike Cope was 14th-fastest in the best Pontiac Grand Prix at 187.465 mph.
Wallace managed to turn the fast lap despite trouble in the morning practice session.
``We warmed the car up and pulled it out and I put her in high gear and I got all the way into turn 3 and it broke a U-joint in the drive shaft and slung the drive shaft off the rear end,'' Wallace said. ``But it didn't get out from underneath the car. It didn't even tear the transmission up. It just broke the yoke in the front and sent up a helluva vibration.''
The team changed the drive shaft, and Wallace went right back out and hit 188.5 mph.
``I absolutely have a shot at the pole,'' Wallace said. ``I have never in my life come to Daytona and felt as confident as I am right now. We've got this unbelievable fire inside of us that we are trying to harness and control, and we're doing good right now.''
Ninety more minutes of practice remain today before the Daytona 500 pole qualifying session begins (2 p.m., ESPN2). Each driver will get two laps on the track.
``Nothing means anything until tomorrow at 2 o'clock,'' Waltrip said Friday. ``When you come out of that (inspection) room and you go out on that racetrack and you go back to your stall and you're OK, that's when we'll know the real world.
``That time on Rusty - he was drafting,'' Waltrip said. ``I sat there and watched him. He was about (188.1 mph) on his clear lap.''
Still, the Chevy drivers were all but conceding the 500 pole to a Ford.
``Ford had seven more horsepower when (NASCAR) checked on the dyno after Talladega last year. I'd say they've got more than that now,'' said Chevy driver Sterling Marlin, who failed to crack the top 20. ``Every Ford down here is running. We haven't made a qualifying run yet, but I'd say the Fords will beat us by half a second.
``Rusty had a heck of a lap, and he's usually not even in the ballpark here. The handwriting is on the wall.'' ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Dale Jarrett talks with crew members during Friday's practice
session. The 1996 Daytona 500 winner was third-fastest at 188.766
mph.
Photo
``I absolutely have a shot at the pole,'' said Rusty Wallace after a
lap of 189.187 mph.