ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, February 13, 1996 TAG: 9602140011
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: SPEEDWEEKS NOTES
BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DAYTONA BEACH, FLA.
So where's Jeff Gordon been this week at Daytona International Speedway?
The Winston Cup champion qualified sixth for Sunday's Daytona 500, but he was never really a threat for the pole. He finished ninth in the Busch Clash and was never a threat to win that.
``Right now, we're just OK,'' crew chief Ray Evernham said Monday. ``We've got to get better.''
Evernham said the car doesn't have quite enough speed and he thinks it may be how air is flowing through the cowl into the air cleaner and carburetor.
``I think aerodynamically we might be able to feed air to the motor better,'' he said. ``And I'm still working on handling. I think the new manifold combination [mandated by NASCAR] threw us off a little bit.''
Winston Cup teams had been using inserts in their manifolds to channel air to the engine more efficiently. In January, NASCAR ordered those removed.
Evernham said he's not sure how the 500 is going to shape up.
``This deal is going to be real weird,'' he said. ``Mark Martin, as slow as he was in qualifying [37th fastest], ran good in the Clash and ran good in practice this morning.''
Meanwhile, the gloomy mood around Martin's transporter over the weekend was much improved Monday.
``We're all right,'' said crew chief Steve Hmiel. ``We were willing to give up a little during the first weekend to be better during the second weekend, but not that much. We're just hoping we can find a happy medium before we go to Talladega.''
TOO MUCH DAMAGE: Brett Bodine said his primary Daytona 500 car, damaged in a fire that caused him to crash in practice Friday, was too badly damaged to fix in time for Sunday's race.
``We won't get it back in time,'' Bodine said. ``It bent the chassis. Our main concern right now is finding some speed.''
ROUND TWO QUALIFYING: Lake Speed led the second round of Winston Cup qualifying Monday with a speed of 188.159 mph, in his Ford Thunderbird which was more than two miles per hour quicker than his Saturday speed in time trials.
Elton Sawyer was second fastest in another Ford at 188.147 mph, an improvement of almost three mph. Bobby Labonte was third fastest at 187.438 mph in his Chevy, more than three mph faster.
Nine other drivers also participated.
The result of this session, and the third round today, is to put these drivers in a better position to make the race on their qualifying speed should they fail to make it in Thursday's Twin 125 qualifying races.
Starting positions three through 30 will be set in the qualifying races, and positions 31-38 will be given to remaining drivers based on their qualifying times.
BUSCH PRACTICE: The Busch Grand National cars were on the track Monday for the first time during Speedweeks as they prepare for Saturday's Goody's 300.
Sixty-five cars took laps on the track, and Joe Nemechek was fastest at 188.766 mph, followed by ARCA 200 winner Jeff Purvis at 187.445 mph, Phil Parsons at 187.301 mph, Jeff Green at 187.075 mph and Randy LaJoie at 186.904 mph. All five drivers were in Chevrolets.
TODAY'S SCHEDULE: In addition to practice, today's activities on the track include the third round of Winston Cup qualifying at 1 p.m., followed by qualifying for the first 25 positions of the Grand National race.
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Crew members push Rick Mast's Hooters Pontiac intoby CNBthe inspection area at Daytona International Speedway. color. KEYWORDS: AUTO RACING