DATE: Saturday, August 2, 1997              TAG: 9708020696

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C3   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BOB ZELLER

DATELINE: INDIANAPOLIS                      LENGTH:   82 lines

NASCAR REPORT

Car owner Robert Yates dug deep into the NASCAR farm system and recruited truck series driver Kenny Irwin Jr. to replace Ernie Irvan in the No. 28 Ford Thunderbird.

The announcement came at a breakfast Friday.

Irwin, whose 28th birthday is Tuesday, is a two-time winner on the NASCAR truck series this year, driving for Liberty Racing and former NBA star Brad Daugherty.

``To say that I'm the luckiest guy in the world, I don't think that's saying enough,'' Irwin said. ``Robert Yates and Texaco have given me the chance of a lifetime.''

``It's about opportunities,'' Yates said. ``I love challenges, and I think to bring a guy in who has been at the top of the mountain in all the other stuff that he has driven, to take him to the very top of this . . .''

Irwin was persistent in his desire to land the vaunted Yates ride.

Asked how Yates learned of him, Irwin said, ``It might have been the first 10 times that I tried calling him.''

To which Yates replied: ``I'll tell you what, if this guy hammers on the guy in front of him like he hammered on my telephone, they'll probably move over.''

Yates said he plans to put Irwin in a Winston Cup car this year.

``We have plans to have a very aggressive testing and race schedule to be coming soon,'' he said. Irwin said, however, that he would finish the truck season. He's currently ninth in points.

Irwin said he knows fans expect to see the No. 28 car running up front and winning races and he hopes ``they will give me a little time to work toward that.'' Todd's new deal

The McIlhenny Co., makers of Tabasco pepper sauce, announced Friday that they have signed Todd Bodine to drive their new Winston Cup car.

Bodine will drive the No. 35 Tabasco Pontiac Grand Prix at Charlotte and Atlanta this season. Then he'll embark on a full Winston Cup season next year.

The team is owned by an Indianapolis group, International Sports Management, and has leased a shop in Huntersville, N.C.

``I know this is the best opportunity I've ever had,'' Bodine said. ``I had some offers from some top teams - teams that if people knew (who they were), they'd think I was crazy for going with this one. But this group does nothing less than 110 percent.'' ESPN, Richmond re-up

ESPN and Richmond International Raceway have signed a multiyear agreement that calls for the network to televise the track's NASCAR races into the next century. Details were not available.

ESPN's NASCAR Winston Cup programming from Richmond includes pole qualifying, the final practice session and the race itself. The network also will televise support races, such as Busch Grand National and NASCAR trucks.

``We've been tremendously pleased with ESPN's outstanding televised coverage of our NASCAR races,'' track vice president Wayne C. Sawyer said. Hornaday wins truck race

Ron Hornaday, taking advantage of a late caution, outraced Jimmy Hensley over the last two laps to win the Cummins 200 Craftsman Truck Series race at Indianapolis Raceway Park.

Hensley, who started from the pole Thursday night, led every lap around the 0.686-mile oval until a three-truck accident brought out the caution flag on lap 193. That provided the opening Hornaday needed when racing resumed for a two-lap shootout.

Hensley, whose truck was slowing with a flat right-rear tire, tried to block the inside lane, but Hornaday aimed his Chevrolet into the high groove. Hornaday made the winning pass as the pack drove through turn 2, then beat Jack Sprague's Chevy to the finish line by 0.947 seconds.

Hensley held on for third, barely nosing out Joe Ruttman's Ford, which came from 22nd in the 34-truck field. NASCAR Busch Series regular Mike McLaughlin finished fifth in a Chevrolet.

The victory was Hornaday's sixth of the 1997 season and 16th of his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career.

Sprague's runner-up effort gave him the series points lead. He leads Bickle 2,386-2,376.

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