Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 23, 1994 TAG: 9403230055
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
NASCAR's move during the weekend to expand the short-track Winston Cup fields from 32 to 34 cars will improve the odds of qualifying, but a lot of teams still will be going home early.
Seven teams failed to make the race at Rockingham, nine went home early from Richmond and eight failed to qualify at Atlanta.
With 34-car starting fields at Bristol, North Wilkesboro and Martinsville, that means as many as 37 cars will start each race, since there are two provisional spots based on owners' points and one provisional for past Winston Cup champions (the so-called Petty rule).
Where will the additional cars pit at the short tracks?
North Wilkesboro, which has no backstretch pits, has the biggest problem. The track already has several of its 34 pits jammed onto the apron of the fourth turn of the five-eighths-mile track. And when the fields were expanded from 30 to 32 cars last year, requiring two more pits, track officials shortened each existing pit to squeeze in the additional two.
"We are trying now to find the best solution," track spokesman Don Wilson said Tuesday. "We're still working on it and we have not made any decision yet."
There has been speculation that two teams may have to use one pit, but that hasn't been done in the Winston Cup series in years.
Martinsville Speedway and Bristol International Raceway apparently will have no trouble accommodating the extra racers.
"We're adding two more and I think while we're building the two, we may add a total of four," Martinsville president Clay Campbell said Tuesday. "Our straightaways are so long, that gives us more pit-area opportunities. So, there's no problem adding two more.
"We really haven't determined exactly where we will put them, but if we can, we will add two on the front side. All it entails is extending the pit wall and painting another pit stall," Campbell said.
At Bristol, "we fortunately will not have to do any work because we already have that many pits [36]," said Ron Scalf, a track spokesman. If 37 cars make the race, "we've got two end areas in the infield we could utilize," he said.
To make sure all that excitement doesn't get out of hand, Bristol also is adding a fire truck and ambulance at each end of the track.
\ DRIVER ED: After his impressive fourth-place finish in the Purolator 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, rookie Jeff Burton emerged from his car with the big picture clearly in focus.
"Running fourth does not make me an experienced Winston Cup racer," said the 26-year-old driver from South Boston. "I still have a lot to learn and I know that."
Burton, who has a 20-point lead in the race for rookie of the year, said he was "having a ball" running with the leaders and leading the race, but "to me that's the way we're supposed to run. I'm not expecting to run like that week in and week out as a rookie, but in the future I will expect to run up front."
Burton then explained his reserved demeanor. "A lot of people think this is a glamorous deal and everything is always peachy," he said. "But it's not. And when you get real excited when the good times are here, then you get real down when the bad times arrive. So you've kind of got to keep your head level. It's a roller coaster and you've got to know how to hang on.
"We're just a rookie [team] and there's a whole lot more to learn. We're going to go to Darlington with the same philosophy we've had: just to try to make the race, and once we get in the race, spend all day Saturday just trying to get the car comfortable for us."
The first round of Winston Cup qualifying for Sunday's TranSouth 400 at Darlington Raceway will begin at 3 p.m. Friday. The race is 1 p.m. Sunday and will be shown live by ESPN. First-round qualifying for Saturday's Mark III Vans 200 Grand National race will begin at 3 p.m. Thursday.
by CNB