Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, July 11, 1994 TAG: 9407110104
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LOUDON, N.H. LENGTH: Long
"I might as well go race on dirt, so we know what we've got to do," said Ernie Irvan after crashing on lap 276 after dominating the race. "I just got in the marbles today and wrecked."
He finished 30th and lost the Winston Cup points championship lead to Dale Earnhardt, who leads by four points.
"Nobody raced today," Irvan said. "You just rode around and saw who could stay out of the marbles.
"We gotta go through this same [expletive] again at Michigan, unless they get that fixed, and I doubt it. Pocono was all tore to [expletive] when we left there, too. There's nothing you could do about the race track. It was tearing up from the start."
Jeff Gordon, after crashing out of the race on lap 160, said, "The race track is awful. It's 10 times as bad [as it was in practice and qualifying Friday]. They've got to do something about these tracks."
It would have been one thing if this was an isolated occurance. As many drivers pointed out, it seems to be happening almost every weekend this summer.
"If you just analyze the last several weeks, all we've done is fight track problems," said Darrell Waltrip, who finished 23rd. "It's awful. Charlotte, Dover, Michigan, New Hampshire. We need to do something about it."
\ ALLISON RELEASES BOWN: Bobby Allison released injured Chuck Bown as driver of the No. 12 Ford Thunderbird on Saturday night, unsure when Bown would be ready to return to the driver's seat after suffering a head injury at Pocono on June 12.
"He did a real good job for us, and if we had a sponsor now, I'm sure we'd be able to wait for him to recover fully," Allison said in a statement. "We feel it would be easier to go to a potential sponsor with a driver we know will be able to drive the car."
Tim Steele, the ARCA champion who has been driving for Bown, was announced as his permanent replacement.
"I'll survive," Bown said. "He's got to keep the team going, and money has been difficult without a sponsor. I feel like opportunities come along pretty often in Winston Cup."
Bown tried to race again in Portland, Ore., last weekend but continued to have double vision driving in the corners. He said he probably could have run the race but knew he wouldn't be able to do his best.
"This is the first time I've ever had to miss a race in 23 years of racing," Bown said. "I've raced with casts, stitches and leg braces. But you've got to have eyes."
Steele, meanwhile, crashed on lap 103 and finished 41st in a 42-car field.
\ A BLAST FROM MCREYNOLDS: Larry McReynolds, the normally diplomatic crew chief for Ernie Irvan, accused NASCAR of setting up the situation that led to Irvan's 30th-place finish.
He said he and team owner Robert Yates "begged all day long" for NASCAR to sweep the groove that Irvan was using to get around the track, but they wouldn't do it.
"I normally keep my mouth shut about our sanctioning body, but son of a gun if they didn't do everything in their power to tighten this points battle up today," he said. "We begged them to sweep down low, and they swept up against the wall. They got what they wanted, so we'll just have to work harder. It sure does get old, though."
During the final laps, McReynolds collapsed on pit road while trying to get Irvan's car repaired to a point that it could go back on the track.
"I couldn't catch my breath, and then I got a face full of ether and down I went," he said. "I'm beat."
The crew was using the ether to try to restart the car.
\ COPE ANNOYED WITH RUMORS: Tired of rumors that he's out as the driver of Cale Yarborough's No. 98 Ford Thunderbird, Derrike Cope fired back.
"This is very annoying," he said. "Cale hasn't told me anything. But I know some of my crew members are talking behind my back. All roads lead to something brewing."
Cope said he had seen his crew chief talking to Jeremy Mayfield, who has been rumored as his replacement. Mayfield's car owner, T.W. Taylor, said Mayfield has assured him he's staying put.
Before the season started, Cope said, "I sat in Cale Yarborough's office and talked. I had another ride signed up. And I said, `The only thing I ask from you is that I drive the race car for the full year.' And he said, `My word is my bond.' "
Cope, who has two Winston Cup victories and won the Grand National race here several weeks ago, said Yarborough has failed to deliver on his promise to provide the resources to win.
"Cale assured me that he was going to spend the money to do what it takes to compete on the race track and here we're teaching people how to work on race cars," he said. "You know what I mean?"
Cope did not have a good race Sunday. He crashed or spun three times and finished 35th, 54 laps behind the leaders.
Although the rumor mill also has had Cope replacing Wally Dallenbach in Richard Petty's No. 43 Pontiac Grand Prix, Cope said, "I have had no conversations whatsoever with those guys. I think Wally Dallenbach can drive a race car. I don't think that's the problem."
Dallenbach and Petty reportedly were to meet today to discuss the team's situation.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB