THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 25, 1996 TAG: 9601250537
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C8 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
This week, as the Ford Winston Cup teams searched for speed in practice at Daytona International Speedway, Ford's top motorsports officials haunted the garage.
The Ford racing brass, including director Dan Rivard, chatted with NASCAR officials in the garage, held private meetings among themselves, had dinner Tuesday evening with NASCAR President Bill France and at one point Wednesday even prowled the parking lot, looking at body styles of passenger cars and searching for ideas for their Winston Cup race program.
The Ford executives said they did not spend their time lobbying NASCAR for the aerodynamic changes they believe are necessary to make the Fords stick to the track and race as well as the Chevrolet Monte Carlos.
And it was probably a good thing, considering what the unheralded Jeremy Mayfield did on the track Wednesday.
In the early afternoon, Mayfield wheeled Cale Yarborough's No. 98 Ford onto the 2.5-mile track and posted the fastest lap of January testing - 188.960 mph. That topped Chevy driver Terry Labonte's lap of 188.166 on Jan. 17.
Mayfield's top speed was more than a mile an hour faster than any other Ford driver. John Andretti was second-fastest Wednesday at 187.780 mph, followed by Michael Waltrip at 187.600, Geoff Bodine at 186.150 and Lake Speed at 186.050.
Mayfield's lap did not make his fellow Ford drivers happy. Some thought that if NASCAR was contemplating giving any help to Ford, that went out the window with Mayfield's performance.
Mayfield did not apologize for his speed.
``I don't think it's fair for us if we come here and don't try everything we want to try and then a Chevy comes here and beats us out for the pole,'' he said. ``What if they beat us by one-tenth (of a second) and that's something we could have gained while we were testing here?''
NASCAR inspectors swarmed over Mayfield's Ford on Wednesday, curious as to why he was so fast. They inspected the car three times but found nothing fishy.
Despite Mayfield's lap, the Ford officials said nothing has changed to make them believe that a Thunderbird has a real chance to win the Feb. 18 Daytona 500.
``Fundamentally, nothing is different from 1995,'' said Preston Miller, Ford's NASCAR program manager. ``Why do we think we're going to do any better?''
Mark Martin, meanwhile, sees a repeat of 1995 looming next month when the Winston Cup series returns to open the season.
Ernie Irvan, driving Robert Yates' No. 28 Ford, will probably have a fast car and ``is going to have a huge shot at the pole,'' Martin said. ``And everybody's going to spend a week in a frenzy about how fast the 28 car, or maybe the 98 car, is going. And nobody is going to have any idea or any forethought of what it's going to be like to race these cars.
``By the time the 500 rolls around, you'll have your hands full with the Fords trying to race against the good-handling, good-sticking Monte Carlos. The guys in the Fords are going to be trying to get over and get out of the way without spinning out or sliding off the track.''
And what about the new Pontiac Grand Prix?
``Who knows what the Pontiac is going to do,'' Martin said. ``But it sure looks like a spaceship to me.'' by CNB