ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, February 4, 1996 TAG: 9602060010
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
IT'S GORDON vs. Earnhardt and Chevy vs. Ford - and Pontiac - all over again and the race is on for the championship.
As the 1996 NASCAR Winston Cup championship hunt gets under way, we pose the question: Can Dale Earnhardt beat Jeff Gordon?
It is a significant query, one asked frequently of late, because 1995 was quite a good year for Earnhardt, and Gordon still beat him.
The question also is significant because both Gordon and Earnhardt race Chevrolet Monte Carlos, and thus Ford and Pontiac are left out of the championship equation altogether, as well as Mark Martin, Rusty Wallace, Ernie Irvan and all of the other top drivers who race cars built by those two manufacturers.
As a force, the Ford drivers were invisible in the 1995 championship race. And judging from the way they talked during testing at Daytona in January, this year will be the same.
But first, Earnhardt and Gordon.
In losing the 1995 title, Earnhardt did not have a significant slump, as he did in 1992, his only other non-championship season in the 1990s. He won five races in 1995, including the Brickyard 400 and his first road-course victory, which came at Sears Point. He actually had a better average finish than Gordon.
But he lost. And at 44, the fact Earnhardt lost to a 24-year-old phenom triggered a number of stories suggesting the torch was being passed, that Earnhardt's long reign at the top of his sport was ending.
``They can kiss my [expletive],'' Earnhardt said. ``I'm telling you, when I get ready to start a race, I guarantee you there ain't another guy out there who is as excited about it as I am. Can't be. 'Cause if there is, he's going to have a heart attack.
``I think [car owner] Richard Childress will tell you, I'm a better driver
Actually, Earnhardt now admits what he wouldn't during the summer.
He raced hurt for a couple of months after his hard crash at Michigan in June.
``I cracked a vertebra in my back,'' he said. ``I couldn't lie on my left side for a long time. I couldn't drive good. Still, it's not an excuse. I didn't say nothin' about it. I didn't even go to the doctor for four weeks.''
He got well, but he lost the points race, and his performances at Michigan (35th and 35th) hurt him more than any injury.
Nothing lights a fire under Earnhardt as does losing. He showed that in the last race of the year at Atlanta, where he ran away with the show while Gordon struggled to clinch the title.
``I kicked some butt,'' he said. ``And I had a big time at it. And whether you write about it or not or whatever, I stole a little of his thunder.''
Earnhardt clearly relishes the opportunity to steal more thunder from Gordon this year.
Meanwhile, Gordon must face the pressure of being the top dog, as well as the reality that his crew chief, Ray Evernham, who gave him the best car in the 1995 field, has other management responsibilities this year within the three-team Hendrick Motorsports stable.
At Hendrick, a top priority this year is the rehabilitation of Ken Schrader, who has driven for Hendrick since 1988, but hasn't won since 1991.
``Really, [Evernham's] role has not been taken away from my car,'' Gordon said. ``I've seen the effort put into the [No.]24 car. Certainly, reviving the [No.]25 car [driven by Schrader] is there, and there's a lot of focus on the [No.]5 car [driven by Terry Labonte]. But there's a lot of focus at the 24 car, too.
``Ray, he really wasn't that hands-on with the 24 car. He organized people to get things done in the right way. He said he wanted to take this challenge. I can see him running all three teams. And as long as I have Ray on the weekends, that's where we click.''
Gordon sees room for improvement in his team. The results weren't all that spectacular during the stretch run, although he won at Dover in September. But he expects to win his share of races again this year and he doesn't see any reason why he can't.
In the Ford camp, they're not sure what to expect, but they're not expecting much. About 60 percent of the Winston Cup teams run Fords these days, but those teams only won about 25 percent of 1995's races.
Fords won eight times, while Chevys won 21 races and Pontiacs had two victories.
The Chevy camp insisted its success was a product of the work its teams did to catch up to the Fords. Still, there was no denying the imbalance of power.
What happened during the off-season was Ford asked for aerodynamic concessions and NASCAR gave them about 20 percent of what they wanted, which was next to nothing, as far as Ford officials are concerned.
``We're basically racing the same car we did last year,'' said Lee Morse, a Ford motorsports official.
Said Rusty Wallace, ``I've got two cars [for Daytona] and they're running exactly the same dang speed they did last year. So nothing has really happened.''
After the final race of 1995, NASCAR took the best cars of each make - Earnhardt's Chevy and Ernie Irvan's Ford - and put them in the wind tunnel. The tests showed the Chevy had an aerodynamic edge - that it was a sleeker car and cut through the wind better than a Ford of equal horsepower.
Ford, therefore, asked NASCAR to allow it to build cars with a roof height that was 11/4 inches lower than it was in 1995. NASCAR instead gave the Fords a quarter of an inch.
``We told them, `Lower your roof by a quarter of an inch and raise your spoiler by an eighth of an inch in the back to get more downforce and lower the front air dam a quarter of an inch,'' said Gary Nelson, NASCAR's Winston Cup director. ``Those are the three things Ford gained from Atlanta in November.''
Does Ford have as good a chance as Chevy to win the Daytona 500?
``Pretty close,'' Nelson said. ``It's not an exact science, and what we're trying to do, as best we can, is to make them equal.''
Says Morse: ``The quarter of an inch in terms of variability ... it's not even measurable in the wind tunnel. NASCAR is going in the right direction, but they're very much concerned with going too far.
``At the moment, I don't believe our guys can race as well as the Monte Carlo drivers can race. And the Pontiacs are unknown.''
Ah, the Pontiacs. Not even the five-car Pontiac camp knows how the new Grand Prix will stack up against its competitors.
The Pontiacs started slowly in testing at Daytona, but they were posting respectable speeds by the time it was over. The big unanswered question is whether they will race well in traffic.
``As much time as we've spent with the car in the wind tunnel, you're never sure where you are at until you get on the track,'' said Don Taylor, the NASCAR manager for General Motors.
Forty-one teams and drivers are prepared to launch a full-season campaign, with at least five others, including veteran car owner Bud Moore's team, still searching for a permanent driver and sponsor.
The 31-race schedule is virtually identical to last year's, although the sale of North Wilkesboro Speedway may mean a switch of the September race to New Hampshire or Texas.
But this undoubtedly will be the last year for this schedule. The 1997 schedule is bound to reflect new tracks and ownership changes.
LENGTH: Long : 134 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: DON PETERSEN/Staff. 1. Reigning Winston Cup championby CNBJeff Gordon has a giant bull's eye painted on him this season as he
looks to defend his title. 2. Dale Earnhardt won five races in '95,
but he played second fiddle to Jeff Gordon in the points standings.
color. KEYWORDS: AUTO RACING