THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, April 26, 1995 TAG: 9504260578
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK VEHORN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines
Elton Sawyer's budding Winston Cup career will be moving at a considerably quicker pace this week as he goes from the circuit's slowest speedway to its largest and fastest oval.
Sawyer, a Chesapeake native and former track champion at Hampton's Langley Speedway, said Tuesday that he has agreed to drive the No. 27 Ford Thunderbird owned by Junior Johnson in Sunday's Winston Select 500 at the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway.
Sawyer made his Winston Cup debut with the team last week at in the Hanes 500 at the 0.522-mile Martinsville Speedway. He qualified ninth and finished 20th after losing two laps because of a mechanical malfunction during a pit stop.
``We were excited and pleased with the job Elton did at Martinsville,'' crew chief Mike Hill said, ``and we're glad he is available to drive the car again this week at Talladega.''
Sawyer is not sure when or if he will drive the car again after this week. He is a regular on NASCAR's Busch Grand National circuit, driving for the Akin Sutton race team.
``I was fortunate that this opportunity (with Johnson's team) came during a three-week break in Grand National racing,'' Sawyer said. ``It gave me time to go help Mike and get some good experience while not putting my Grand National team and sponsor in jeopardy.
``My first priority has to be to Akin Sutton, who gave me the chance to get back behind the steering wheel again two years ago when I was carrying tires for Bill Davis' team.''
Sawyer, 35, worked as a crew member on Winston Cup and Grand National teams while waiting for a chance to return to driving.
Sawyer, who now resides in Greensboro, expects to be racing about 100 mph faster at Talladega than at Martinsville, where he qualified at 92.915 mph.
``There is all the difference in the world between the two tracks,'' Sawyer said. ``Martinsville is one of the roughest tracks, while at Talladega you often see 20 cars running bumper-to-bumper in a tight draft at almost 200 mph.''
Sawyer finished 18th in his only previous start at Talladega, in a Grand National race last summer. But he has competed in several Grand National races at Daytona, which is similar in size and speed to Talladega.
``The speeds are a little faster at Talladega, but it is an easier track to drive than Daytona, where the handling of the car is more critical,'' Sawyer said. ``Still, I am going to need some quick lessons in drafting.''
Sawyer described his first Winston Cup ride last Sunday as a positive experience: ``Running 350 laps doesn't make you a Winston Cup driver, but I learned a lot about driving the heavier cars that have a lot more horsepower.''
Sawyer also was impressed by how competitive Winston Cup racing was throughout the field: ``Those guys ran hard every lap. Most of the time you see that in the top 15 positions in a Grand National race, but they don't race quite as hard back in the field.''
With the next Grand National race scheduled for May 13 at Loudon, N.H., Sawyer said he is available to drive for the Johnson team again on May 7. But because that race will be at Sonoma, Calif., the team probably will recruit an experienced road racer for the event.
A three-week break on the Winston Cup schedule follows the Sonoma race, and Hill indicated he would like to have a full-time driver before the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte on May 28. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
Chesapeake's Elton Sawyer filled in admirably last week at
Martinsville, qualifying ninth and finishing 20th.
by CNB