THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, March 4, 1995 TAG: 9503040554
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines
It's bad enough when a NASCAR race weekend starts with rain, but you know you're really in trouble when it snows all day.
The snow didn't stick at Richmond International Raceway, but it set the tone for what may be a long, wet Pontiac 400 weekend.
NASCAR officials late Friday canceled practice and qualifying for today's scheduled Hardee's 250 Grand National race and said they'd try to have a single round of Winston Cup qualifying for Sunday's race.
Actually, the Grand National cars squeezed in about 30 minutes of practice beginning at 8 a.m., which was long enough for rookie Jerry Nadeau to back his Ford into the outside wall of this 3/4-mile track.
``The track was still slick, and this was my first time in a Busch car,'' Nadeau told a track reporter. ``I just carried too much speed into the turn.''
As the team packed up, the snow began to fall.
And shortly after 3 p.m., the word was broadcast from the NASCAR trailer: ``Gentlemen, today has been canceled.''
Today's forecast calls for a 70 percent chance of snow and rain with the high in the lower 40s. Sunday's forecast calls for morning drizzle and a 30 percent chance of a shower late in the day. The high will be in the mid to upper 40s. Showers are also forecast for Monday and Tuesday.
Today's schedule was left unchanged, with gates opening at 8 and Winston Cup practice from 9 to 11 a.m. Qualifying is scheduled for 11:30 a.m., but spokesman Kevin Triplett said NASCAR may start qualifying earlier, if possible.
If today's activities also must be canceled, NASCAR will set the starting field for Sunday's race in the following fashion:
Positions 1-30 would be set by the current car owner points standings, which would put Dale Earnhardt on the pole and Mark Martin in the second starting spot.
Positions 31-34 would be set by postmark dates on entry blanks, with any ties broken by current car owner points standings.
Positions 35-38 would be provisional starting spots, which are doled out in order of 1994 car owner points. There's also room for a 39th starter if a champion's provisional is necessary for Bill Elliott, who as a new owner doesn't have 1994 car owner points.
This was essentially the method used to set the 38-car field for today's Grand National race. Chad Little and Terry Labonte are on the front row for the 250-lap race.
TWO MORE FOR HENSLEY: Jimmy Hensley will be in the No. 32 Active Motorsports Chevrolet this weekend and again at Atlanta.
After that, the ride may belong to Chuck Bown, if he's able to race.
``We knew that to start with,'' Hensley said. ``If it doesn't work out for Chuck, I'll keep the ride. Hopefully, we'll run good enough to do that.''
Bown, who has suffered from double vision and jumpy vision since he suffered a concussion in a crash at Pocono last year, said his vision seemed fine when he ran 12 laps here last month. But before he takes over the ride, he has a test session planned at Bristol on the Tuesday after the Atlanta race.
``I figure that's the best place to test my eyes,'' Bown said.
ILLEGAL A-FRAME: Even with the rain, the Winston Cup cars went through pre-practice inspection Friday. And as we've come to expect, NASCAR inspectors found something out of the ordinary.
That something was an A-frame piece from Kyle Petty's car that reportedly was too long. The piece was confiscated, but no fine or penalty was assessed.
FORD CHANGE: Although the Ford teams haven't complained publicly to any great extent about the powerful new Chevrolet Monte Carlos, NASCAR earlier this week granted the Fords a small concession on their bodies.
The sides of the Ford bodies, which had been bowed in slightly at the doors, now will be straight.
``It reduces the difficulty of making the bodies, which takes away fabrication time for the teams,'' NASCAR's Triplett said. ILLUSTRATION: TODAY'S RACE
What: Busch Grand National race, 38-car field set by season
points and other factors after qualifying snowed out.
Where: Richmond International Raceway
When: 1:15 p.m.
TV: TNN, 1 p.m.
Radio: Motor Racing Network (live)
by CNB