THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, February 10, 1995 TAG: 9502100628
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DENISE MICHAUX, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines
As practice for Sunday's Busch Clash got under way Thursday afternoon, the two drivers who needed practice the most found themselves walking around the garage in street clothes.
David Green and Ward Burton were ready, but their cars failed to pass NASCAR inspection.
Green, who won the 1994 Busch Grand National series title, grabbed a spot in the 20-lap sprint race between last season's Winston Cup pole winners by claiming the Busch Pole Award for the Grand National series with nine poles.
Green will be driving a car owned by Ken Schrader. It is the same Chevrolet Lumina Schrader drove to a third-place finish in this race last season, but it is not exactly the car Green expected to have.
``We thought we would have a Monte Carlo,'' Green said.
With the return of the Monte Carlo for the '95 season, NASCAR made several rule changes affecting the body style of the cars.
Green and his Grand National car owner, Bobby Labonte, were promised the sheet metal on their Lumina would be redone to the new Monte Carlo specifications.
``It didn't get done,'' Labonte said.
So the car that was rolled into the inspection area had a frame that was legal for 1994, but not for 1995.
``People get too busy and things fall through the cracks,'' Green said.
Schrader and Labonte rolled up their sleeves and spent five hours behind closed doors fixing the car.
``It was just little things,'' Schrader said. ``We just about got it done.''
Today's practice is limited to Winston Cup cars, so Green will spend another day in the garage working on the setup and get behind the wheel for the first time on Saturday, just one day before he makes his Winston Cup debut.
``It shouldn't need much setup,'' Green said. ``It is just like he ran it in the Clash a year ago.
``We figure if we can spend the time today and an hour on the car tomorrow few laps, we are better off.
``When you do that you go out there and something isn't right, you don't just bend a fender, you destroy stuff.''
Luck of the draw put Green at the rear of the field, and that, coupled with the car troubles, had him more than a little tense.
``We don't have to qualify,'' he said. ``If we had had to qualify we'd have had a problem.''
NASCAR found problems with the air intake on Burton's Clash and Winston Cup cars. Instead of having cornered edges, the edges on the intake in Burton's car had been rounded off.
``It didn't have anything to do with the performance, they just didn't like it,'' said Burton, who just added the sponsorship of Newport News-based Ferguson Enterprises to his Monte Carlo. ``We found a machine shop that is going to work overtime on it tonight. We should be ready to go in the morning.''
Burton, of South Boston, Va., drew the 11th starting spot. He got in by winning the pole for the Mello Yello 500 in Charlotte last season.
``It's not the best way to start,'' Burton said. ``Everybody else got an extra day of practice, so yeah, it sets you back. It's not a good mental feeling either, but we'll get over it.''
Unlike Green, Burton will be able to get on the track today because he is a Winston Cup driver.
Green and Burton weren't the only ones with inspection problems. NASCAR forced a number of teams, primarily Pontiacs and Fords, to shave some of the fiberglass off their rear bumpers.
And inspectors confiscated the foam-rubber filling from the gas tanks on several cars, apparently because holes had been carved in the foam in an effort to allow more gas in the tank.
BODINE ON CLASH POLE: Geoff Bodine killed all the drama of the Busch Clash draw Thursday morning when he drew the pole on the first try. Dale Earnhardt will be on the outside of Row 1, followed by Ted Musgrave, Jimmy Spencer and defending champion Jeff Gordon.
SCHACHT TAKES ARCA POLE: Bob Schacht turned a lap of 194.305 mph to claim the pole for Sunday's ARCA 200.
Jeff Purvis was second with a lap of 193.769. MEMO: Staff writer Bob Zeller contributed to this report.
by CNB