DATE: Monday, September 29, 1997            TAG: 9709290160

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C4   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: MARTINSVILLE                      LENGTH:   59 lines

HANES 500 A WASHOUT, WILL BE RACED TODAY IT'S THE SECOND RACE THAT HAS BEEN POSTPONED THIS YEAR. EXPECTED STARTING TIME IS 11 A.M.

For the first time since 1992, a NASCAR Winston Cup race was rained out at Martinsville Speedway.

And if the recent past is any indicator, today's Hanes 500 might be remarkably trouble free.

The race is rescheduled for 11 a.m. today after rain fell periodically throughout the day Sunday at the half-mile track just south of here. NASCAR officials called the race shortly before 3 p.m.

The National Weather Service forecast for today calls for partly sunny skies and warmer temperatures, with the mercury reaching the mid-70s.

The Hanes 500 was the second race this year to be postponed by rain. On April 27, the Winston 500 at Talladega Superspeedway was rained out. An effort to run the race the next day also failed, although the skies cleared shortly after NASCAR officials called off the event.

The Talladega race was eventually run on May 10, and Mark Martin won a race that was run without a single yellow flag.

The last time that happened before Talladega was also the last rainout. The North Wilkesboro race in the fall of 1992 was postponed a day because of rain. It was won by Geoff Bodine and also was run without a single caution period.

The fall Martinsville race in 1992, which was a week before the North Wilkesboro event, also was rained out. And Bodine won it, too.

The only postponement between those two weekends and this year's Talladega race was the Atlanta race in March 1993, which was postponed six days by the late-spring blizzard that weekend.

Despite the rain, some folks got work done.

``It was actually a pretty productive day,'' said Jeff Burton. ``We do a lot of talking on days like this, talking about the car, talking to our sponsors. It's a lot more productive than you would think.''

Since the rain washed off most of the rubber laid down Friday and Saturday, the drivers will face a green track when the green flag falls this morning.

``The track is going to be different for a while until we get some rubber built up in the groove and run some laps,'' Jeff Gordon told Chevy's Ray Cooper.

``Rain probably affects Martinsville more than most tracks,'' said Joe Nemechek. ``A couple of years ago, we had a rain delay, and it was the most slippery thing I'd ever been on for about 100 laps. Everyone will have to have patience when we start the race on Monday. Normally, when it rains, the outside groove is the place to be for a while.''

One function that will be disrupted is the annual open house at Dale Earnhardt Chevrolet in Newton, N.C., which is scheduled for today.

``They're expecting somewhere in excess of 15,000 people,'' said Steve Park, who drives Earnhardt's Grand National car. ``We're all planning to go there. But it'll be a Dale Earnhardt Chevrolet open house with no Dale Earnhardt or Steve Park for some of the day. I know it's important to him. That's all he's talked about for the last couple of days.'' ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS

A few fans decided to wait out the rain at the Hanes 500 on Sunday

only to hear the race called off shortly before 3 p.m.

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