DATE: Thursday, July 3, 1997                TAG: 9707030829

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C7   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BOB ZELLER

                                            LENGTH:   82 lines

NASCAR REPORT

Thriller at Talladega slowed the timetable for rules changes

As the Winston Cup series heads to Daytona International Speedway after a rare weekend off, NASCAR has no plans to change the aerodynamic rules for Saturday's Pepsi 400.

Even though NASCAR president Bill France said at Talladega to expect changes before the Pepsi 400, none has been made, NASCAR spokesman Kevin Triplett said Tuesday.

``We hope to finalize new rules for the July race in Daytona as well as the Talladega race in October,'' France said at Talladega on April 25. At the time, the primary option was to reduce the spoiler size and raise the front air dam height to reduce drag and down force, which would make the cars looser.

``By reducing the spoiler size, which is one option we're looking at, that probably won't keep as many of cars as tightly bunched together,'' France said. ``I'm counting on maybe a half-dozen cars staying together and getting away.''

``That was before the race,'' Triplett noted. ``And we were seriously considering it. But we were going to use the race as a gauge. And we did. And we couldn't make a change after running 500 miles at Talladega with no cautions and one of the most competitive races we've had all year.

``That race, and the way that race was run, forced us to take another look. It doesn't mean we won't make changes. We want to see more. And this weekend is more.''

Pole qualifying is today. The race is at 11 a.m. Saturday.

Andretti's team focuses on improved handling

John Andretti, who has shown unusual strength at the superspeedways this year, will come to Daytona with a new Ford Thunderbird built not so much for raw speed but for handling.

``The idea is to go to Daytona and try to get a little bit more air on the spoiler,'' he said. ``It probably won't be an all-out fast car. (Crew chief) Tony (Furr) says we will probably qualify between 10th and 15th.''

Andretti won the pole at Talladega in April and finished fourth in the race.

``With what we did at Talladega, yeah, I've got a huge amount of confidence going into this race,'' Andretti said. ``I expect the same group will be up front. They always are. I figure there are one or two wildcards a race, and for sure we are a wildcard at this race.''

Despite injury, Hornaday plans to do double duty

NASCAR truck series driver Ron Hornaday, who injured his ribs in a crash late in the race at Nazareth last weekend, will drive hurt this weekend in Milwaukee - and will do double duty to boot.

Hornaday was battling Chuck Bown for fifth place in the Nazareth race when he was hit from behind on lap 188 of the 200-lap race. ``I crashed hard,'' he said.

Hornaday tore the cartilage that connects his rib cage and sternum, and cracked a rib on the right side.

He plans not only race in the Sears 200 truck race on Saturday but also to practice and qualify Bobby Labonte's Busch Grand National car for the Sears Auto Center 250 Grand National race that Labonte plans to compete in on Sunday.

On GN tour, Todd Bodine is in it for the long haul

Seventeen races into the 30-race Busch Grand National series, championship points leader Todd Bodine is almost perfect in an important statistical category.

Bodine has completed 3,755 of the 3,765 miles run. He's missed only 10 miles. That's a completion ratio of 99.7 percent.

Bodine also has completed 99.2 percent of laps run. Of 3,398 total laps, he's run all but 28.

Bodine, however, is still looking for his first win this year.

Part-time competitor Mark Martin from the Winston Cup series still dominates the winner's list, with five victories. Martin also has led the most miles: 501.

Stat of the week

In 38 years of twice-a-year racing at Daytona, prior to 1997, the same driver has won both the Daytona 500 and the Pepsi 400 in a given year only four times.

The last such sweep was by Bobby Allison in 1982. Others who have managed the feat include Fireball Roberts in 1962, Cale Yarborough in 1968 and LeeRoy Yarbrough in 1969.

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