DATE: Wednesday, November 19, 1997          TAG: 9711190730

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C3   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE:    - BOB ZELLER

                                            LENGTH:   76 lines

NASCAR REPORT

Much has changed

for both Petty and Andretti since '94

Three NASCAR Winston Cup seasons have passed since the melding of the two biggest families in American racing. When John Andretti last drove for Richard Petty, it was 1994.

With the long-expected announcement that Andretti will return to Petty Enterprises for the 1998 Winston Cup season, the two will once again throw their fates together for the greater good of both the Petty legacy and the Andretti legacy.

Much has changed for both Petty and Andretti since Andretti left at the end of 1994 for a big-bucks deal with car owner Michael Kranefuss.

For one thing, both Petty (as a car owner) and Andretti have won their first races. Bobby Hamilton drove the No. 43 STP Pontiac Grand Prix into victory lane at Phoenix in 1996 and Rockingham last month. Andretti won for the first time in the Pepsi 400 at Daytona in July.

``I think now we can take advantage of the three years of experience that he's had, and the three years of experience that we've had,'' Petty said Tuesday during an interview in his spacious office at Petty Enterprises in Level Cross, N.C. ``It was a learning curve for both us.''

``You gotta figure that when he drove for us before, he was still a comparative rookie. And our cars are a lot better than they were then.''

Petty also thinks Andretti has benefited from his failure at Kranefuss and his struggles in general in Winston Cup.

``He's learned that these are 500 miles races, not sprint races,'' Petty said. ``When he drove for us, he'd go and burn himself out. He's learned that's not the way to race in Winston Cup.''

Petty said Andretti is more focused on racing now, as well.

``When he drove for us and we offered him a deal for the next year, all he talked about was money,'' Petty said. ``Before, he had a money mentality. Now he's got a racing mentality.''

Andretti and crew chief Robbie Loomis hit it off wonderfully in 1994, so there's no reason to expect that good relations shouldn't continue. Petty said Loomis has learned much from Hamilton that should benefit his new relationship with Andretti.

``We should be pretty good,'' Petty said. He thinks a top five in points is not out of the question.

``We're going to do a lot of early testing just to get used to each other again,'' he said. ``We'll go to Talladega January 1 or 2 and then Daytona. We'll do the heavy part of our testing right off the bat.''

Crash at Atlanta was

final straw for Bodine

A season's worth of frustration seemed to pour out of Brett Bodine at Atlanta Motor Speedway last Sunday after a crash with Buckshot Jones ended his year on a particularly sour note.

Jones was following Bodine when they collided in turn two on lap 39 and crashed.

``The car is junk but I'm all right,'' Bodine told his crew on the radio. Then he got out of his car, ran over to Jones and shouted at him through the window net.

Afterward, the normally mild-mannered Bodine lit into Jones when asked to describe what happened.

``That guy is ridiculous,'' Bodine said. ``In every division he's in, he wrecks people. All of the penalties and fines and everything in Busch (series racing) obviously didn't mean nothing to him, because he comes over here and does it again. We were back there at the back, just trying to put our time in and he just flat run all over us.''

Said Jones: ``I heard what Brett Bodine said. I was listening on the radio. I don't care too much about that. Everybody has the right to be out here. Everybody makes mistakes. I'm not saying I made a mistake, but you know, he says he doesn't have a sponsor and maybe he should watch what he says.'' ILLUSTRATION: John Andretti, above, is more focused on racing now,

says Richard Petty, with whom he's teaming up again.

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