ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, February 14, 1997 TAG: 9702140071
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: AUTO RACING NOTES
DATELINE: DAYTONA BEACH, FLA.
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
A winter of work unlike any he had ever known gave way to one day of stomach-churning tension and, ultimately, exhilaration for Kyle Petty on Thursday at Daytona International Speedway.
He qualified for Sunday's Daytona 500 by finishing 14th in the second Twin 125 qualifying race. It was the last transfer spot. The fellow who finished behind him, Gary Bradberry, is going home.
As a new car owner, Petty has no provisional starting spots. His qualifying speed would not have earned him a starting spot. He had to make it through the qualifying race.
Petty finished 14th, even after surviving a wild ride through the trioval during a four-car incident on lap 10 of the 50-lap race.
``It's an incredible, incredible sigh of relief,'' he said while sitting at the back of his transporter. He poured a dash of water over the front of his Hot Wheels driving uniform, still trying to cool himself after 125 miles of racing on a warm and humid afternoon.
``I thought I had made it through the wreck, and somebody hit me in the rear and sent me spinning toward the grass,'' he said. ``All I was thinking about was trying to go down to the flat not at an angle so I wouldn't mess up the front of my car. We were blessed that we didn't tear anything up.''
``I guess that seven-night minimum on the hotel room paid off,'' he said. ``Prayer always helps. I'm a firm believer in prayers. I've been praying for six months now for the Lord to get this thing into the Daytona 500. I was in the bus throwing up and praying before the race started. This was tough for us.''
After the first race, Ward Burton had experienced much the same relief as Petty upon finishing ninth to make the 500. ``I'm going somewhere and we're going to have us a couple of bottles of champagne,'' he said.
For 10 other drivers, there was nothing but the emptiness of a futile effort.
``Everybody talked about how I'd qualify and make all these races, and right now, that's a joke,'' rookie David Green said. Green's car was a turtle. It had been one of the slowest since January testing, and nothing changed Thursday, even after his team installed a motor borrowed from Richard Childress.
Rick Mast's fate was particularly ironic. Last year, he had managed to do just a little better in Richard Jackson's Ford than Morgan Shepherd did in Butch Mock's Ford. They switched rides during the winter, and when the Twin 125s ended Thursday, both found themselves needing a provisional starting spot to make the Daytona 500.
Because of Mast's 1996 performance, the final provisional starting spot went to Shepherd.
``Circumstances all worked against us,'' Mast said.
A ROUGH START: Chesapeake, Va., auto dealer Joe Falk, who started Speedweeks as the sole owner of the Spam Ford Thunderbird, found out quickly how tough it is to make it in the Winston Cup series.
His driver, Mike Wallace, failed to qualify for the 500 after finishing 20th in the first Twin 125 on Thursday. Wallace was too slow to make it on qualifying speed and his new team has no provisional starting spots.
``I feel like I've been run over by a train,'' Falk said outside his transporter after the races. ``We did the best we could. We ran a good race until we ran into the back of Derrike Cope and messed up the front end.
``But there's a lot of people with a lot more experience and a lot more money who are going home.''
Falk, who had been a part owner with Ron Neal and Tom Hanley, said he took over sole ownership about a week-and-a-half ago. The former Langley Speedway champion said he hopes eventually to put his son, Jeff, or a nephew, Albert, into the car.
As for the rest of the season, he said: ``It's tough. We're still looking for associate sponsors. We're planning everything out now. It takes so much advance planning. But we're committed to Hormel Foods to run every race.''
MARCIS MAKES 30TH 500: Running with a Richard Childress engine, 55-year-old Dave Marcis qualified for his 30th consecutive Daytona 500 by finishing 11th in the second Twin 125 qualifying race.
``Richard put a fresh engine in our car yesterday,'' Marcis said. ``Where can you find somebody to do that for you? I knew I could finish where I needed to today as long as I could get someone to run up high with me. A few people did, and I was able to hang on.''
BONE MARROW DRIVE: NASCAR president Bill France Jr. and some of the top drivers and car owners kicked off a bone-marrow drive Thursday on behalf of ailing car owner Rick Hendrick, who is battling leukemia.
A bone marrow transplant is the only hope of a cure for about 2,000 people diagnosed with leukemia every year, France said, and the drive is designed to call attention to the disease and to expand the national marrow donor program, which already has 2.3 million registrants. A small blood sample is required of registrants.
The odds of matching a registrant with someone who needs a transplant are slim, and Hendrick does not match with anyone currently registered, said broadcaster Dr.Jerry Punch.
``If more people get typed and crossed, there is a better chance of finding a match for Rick and others,'' Punch said.
For more information, call 1-800-MARROW2.
LENGTH: Long : 103 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. 1. The car of Ricky Craven (25) gets sideways duringby CNBthe second 125-mile qualifying race Thursday at Daytona
International Speedway. Chad Little (left) and Lake Speed (right)
were involved in the mishap, but no one was injured. 2. The
checkered flag reflects in the sunglasses of Dale Earnhardt on
Thursday after he won his eighth consecutive 125-mile qualifying
race for the Daytona 500.