DATE: Wednesday, July 9, 1997               TAG: 9707090586

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C4   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   47 lines

CARBURETOR TINKERING COSTS ANDRETTI'S CREW CHIEF A $50,000 FINE NASCAR SAYS TONY FUHR WAS ATTEMPTING TO CHEAT AT SUNDAY'S PEPSI 400.

In an oh-by-the-way postscript to John Andretti's victory in the Pepsi 400, NASCAR announced at 5 p.m. Tuesday that it had fined winning crew chief Tony Furr $50,000 for attempting to cheat in the race.

He didn't get away with it, and Andretti's victory at Daytona International Speedway Saturday was not tainted, but Furr was given a major finefor the attempt, NASCAR officials said.

In pre-race inspection, NASCAR officials found that the carburetor mounting studs on Andretti's No. 98 RCA Ford Thunderbird ``had been designed andconstructed to move,'' which is a rules violation, a NASCAR statement said.

The studs were designed so that the carburetor itself would move, creating a more optimum air flow through the small holes of the carburetor restrictor plate.

``We felt like there would be an advantage'' with the devicec, NASCAR spokesman Kevin Triplett said late Tuesday. ``We took it in pre-race inspection and they replaced it with acceptable mounts. What they replaced it with met every specificiation. And the post-race tear-down was very thorough in its own right.''

NASCAR did have the option of disqualifying Andretti before the race, but it decided to go with a monetary penalty. Triplett said NASCAR did not immediately announce the fine because ``with it being only about half hour before race, and us not really knowing what we had and what it did, we simply took it and made them replace it with an acceptable part.''

``If it was on, I don't know when it was on, because I didn't feel any difference,'' Andretti told the Indianapolis Star Tuesday evening. ``I think we're getting a big fine for something I didn't even notice. All I know is we had a great race car all week.

Andretti did notice the rather meticulous post-race inspection.

``Two hours after I left victory lane, I walked by the tech line and my car was gutted,'' he said. Among other things, NASCAR reportedly X-rayed engine parts.

The record NASCAR Winston Cup fine is $60,000 against Jeff Gordon's crewchief, Ray Evernham, for using unapproved wheel hubs at Charlotte in May, 1995.

``We felt like this fine went along the line of other engine-related infractions,'' he said, citing the $45,100 in total fines against Junior Johnson at Daytona in 1995.

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