DATE: Saturday, November 15, 1997           TAG: 9711150405

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C2   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BOB ZELLER

DATELINE: HAMPTON, GA. LENGTH: 93 lines

NASCAR REPORT

Atlanta qualifying washed out; they'll try it again today

Wet weather kept the cars off the track most of the day Friday at Atlanta Motor Speedway, but the press conferences continued unabated, with a flurry of announcements of new teams and plans for 1998.

The first round of qualifications for Sunday's NAPA 500 was rescheduled for 10:30 a.m. today. There will be a single round of time trials for the 50 teams entered in the race.

The NASCAR Winston Cup teams did manage to practice for an hour and 20 minutes Friday afternoon, and Terry Labonte was fastest, reaching 195.193 mph in his Chevrolet Monte Carlo.

``I think the rain is a big setback because it washed all the rubber off the track,'' Labonte said. Today's ARCA race should put more rubber down, and ``that'll help us in the last practice,'' he said.

Ward Burton was second-fastest in a Pontiac Grand Prix at 194.179, followed by Todd Bodine in a Pontiac at 193.717. Kenny Irwin Jr., Jeff Gordon, Geoff Bodine, Joe Nemechek, Mark Martin, Bill Elliott and Kyle Petty also were among the 10 fastest drivers in practice.

``The speeds are faster than we've seen at any other track,'' Labonte said. ``It's going to be hard to pass here. But I really feel like the groove is going to move up, and that will make it a better place to race. But it's going to be a Daytona and Talladega deal where you've got to be careful. We won't have any problem running two-wide here because won't be able to do it.''

A yellow flag flew after Gordon's car began to smoke, but team members said Gordon's Chevy just overheated and the ``smoke'' was steam from the radiator overflow.

Elliott teams with Marino

Bill Elliott became the latest car owner to expand to two teams, joining forces with NFL quarterback Dan Marino to field a Ford for rookie Jerry Nadeau.

The Elliott-Marino Motorsports team will be sponsored by FirstPlus Financial, Inc.

``Dan and I became friends over the past several months and as that friendship grew, our mutual interest for a joint effort in racing emerged,'' Elliott said.

Added Marino: ``I've been a fan of NASCAR for a long time and wanted to get involved in the sport at a very high level.''

Amoco sponsorship

Car owner Bill Davis announced that Amoco will sponsor his No. 93 Pontiac and driver Dave Blaney in a three-year program starting in the Busch Grand National series.

The team, headed by veteran crew chief Gil Martin, will run a limited Busch schedule next year (21 races), a full Busch schedule and a limited Winston Cup schedule in 1999, and a full Winston Cup schedule in the year 2000.

Amoco will also become an associate sponsor in 1998 and 1999 of Davis's existing Winston Cup team: the No. 22 MBNA Pontiac driven by Ward Burton.

Blaney, 34, a native of Ohio, leaves a successful career in the World of Outlaws sprint-car series.

Pressley signs

Robert Pressley has signed to drive the No. 77 Jasper Engines Ford next year.

Pressley has been in the car since the New Hampshire race in September. He finished 13th at Charlotte.

``I think it's just great,'' Pressley said. ``Everything is coming together.''

The team plans to run the new Ford Taurus at all the tracks except Daytona and Talladega, where they will use this year's Thunderbird.

Family Channel signs off

Primestar, the nation's second-largest provider of digital satellite TV entertainment, will become the primary sponsor of Ted Musgrave's No. 16 Ford next year. Primestar had been a co-sponsor of the team with The Family Channel, which departs as sponsor.

Steele withdraws

Tim Steele was more seriously injured than first reported after his crash in practice here on Nov. 5.

His sprained left ankle was actually ``more or less crushed,'' Steele said. ``Instead of a major break that would show up on most X-rays I have several thin fractures.

``But the biggest problem is four broken ribs. One of them was very close to puncturing a lung.''

Steele was not cleared to race, so he's sitting out both today's ARCA race and Sunday's Winston Cup race, for which he had hoped to qualify.

During a brief ARCA practice Friday, C.W. Smith crashed coming out of turn 4 and his car exploded in a ball of fire. Smith escaped unhurt.

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