THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 21, 1995 TAG: 9509210541
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines
On Monday, a day before Ernie Irvan officially announced that he will return to NASCAR racing at Martinsville Speedway, his entry for Saturday's Goody's 150 SuperTruck race arrived unceremoniously in the speedway mailbox.
``Came in Monday afternoon. With his name on it as driver,'' said speedway president Clay Campbell.
``Naturally, it didn't hurt, with all the hype and all the interest surrounding the trucks,'' he said. ``With Ernie making his announcement, that's just extra publicity. I think it's great.''
Campbell said neither Irvan nor any of his associates made any appearance fee requests, as Irvan's business agent had done, unsuccessfully, at Richmond.
``He never approached us,'' Campbell said. ``And when he was here testing, we tried to show courtesy and we didn't ask him if he was coming. We tried to respect his privacy.
``If anybody wants to run here, they're welcome to do it. And what they see in the purse is what they'll get.''
Actually, Campbell made it possible for more truck racers to run at Martinsville Saturday. He added four starting spots to the field on Tuesday, increasing it from 28 to 32 cars (plus up to four provisional starters).
That's the promoter's option, although it will cost the speedway an extra $5,800 - which is the last-place purse ($1,450) quadrupled.
``We did that because we have 46 entries and NASCAR is telling us that's the most entries for any SuperTruck race,'' Campbell said. ``And we've got the 36 pit stalls, so we decided to add four more.''
SuperTruck practice begins at 8:30 a.m. Friday at the speedway, with Winston Cup practice starting at 11 a.m. The truck race is at 2 p.m. Saturday.
MORE SILLINESS: Although it's apparently not official yet, another piece of the silly season puzzle fell into place this week when Michael Waltrip was released from the Bahari Racing No. 30 Pontiac for 1996 and agreed to drive the Wood Brothers No. 21 Ford Thunderbird next year.
Sources said Waltrip's team was told Monday of the release and of his plans to join the Wood Brothers. Waltrip had been negotiating to drive Moore's No. 15 Ford.
That leaves Moore still searching for a sponsor and driver. Grand National points leader Johnny Benson is still rumored to be taking over for Waltrip in the No. 30, but team owner Chuck Rider said Wednesday, ``I just can't say anything.'' Rider said he couldn't so much as confirm Waltrip's departure.
In other developments, crew chief Barry Dodson and team member Jim Long resigned from the No. 42 Pontiac Grand Prix team, leaving an even bigger regrouping task for driver Kyle Petty and team owner Felix Sabates.
Engine builder Keith Simmons was appointed interim crew chief.
GORDON'S YEAR: There will be no justice if fate and the points system somehow conspire to deny Jeff Gordon his first Winston Cup championship.
It's not likely to happen, of course. Gordon has a 309-point lead over Dale Earnhardt with only six races remaining. And his victory at Dover last Sunday showed he's as strong as ever in the stretch run.
But the points race is the only thing that's reasonably close this year. Consider these stats:
With seven victories, Gordon has more than twice as many as anyone else (Earnhardt, Sterling Marlin and the Labonte brothers each have three).
Gordon has led more than twice as many miles as anyone else. He's led 3,360 to Earnhardt's 1,075. No one else has led 1,000 miles.
Gordon has led 2,514 laps. The next closest is Rusty Wallace at 970.
Gordon has led a lap in 24 of 25 races. The next closest is Earnhardt, who has led in 18 races. by CNB