THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 11, 1996 TAG: 9602110232
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C14 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. LENGTH: Medium: 53 lines
The 1996 NASCAR Winston Cup series opens today at Daytona International Speedway with little more than 15 minutes of racing.
It's time for the annual Busch Clash (noon, WTKR), a 20-lap race that serves to whet everyone's appetite for the real racing to come later this week, culminating with the Daytona 500 next Sunday.
The Clash this year features a record 17 drivers, all of whom will be driving their Daytona 500 backup cars. Rick Mast has the pole for the first 10-lap run. But starting positions mean little in this race because the field will be inverted after the first 10 laps.
``When you're in the Clash, that's a high-risk race,'' said Ricky Rudd, explaining why all the teams use backup cars.
``The tires are an equalizer in the Clash because it's such a short race. Anyone ought to be able to hang on for 10 laps. The grip of fresh tires will overcome many of the differences between the cars.''
Of all the cars in the race, Darrell Waltrip's might be the most interesting. It is more than a year old, having been built before the 1995 season, but it has never been raced.
It was Waltrip's backup car for both Daytona and both Talladega races last year, but he never needed to pull it off the transporter.
``We're not going to do anything wild and crazy,'' Waltrip said. ``We're just going to try to hang on. It's driving good, but it's just not very fast.''
The field consists of the 15 pole winners from 1995, David Green, the top pole winner in the Busch Grand National series, and Dave Marcis, who was selected in a wildcard draw in New York last December.
Starting next to Mast on the front row will be Bobby Labonte. They are followed by Waltrip, Sterling Marlin, Ted Musgrave, Rudd, Ken Schrader, Green, Marcis, Mark Martin, Terry Labonte, Dale Jarrett, Bill Elliott, Hut Stricklin, John Andretti, Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon, who led the Winston Cup series with eight poles in 1995 but drew the last starting position last week.
Earnhardt has won six of the nine Clashes he has entered, so he'll be the favorite. He's shown in the past that he can win from the last starting spot.
``There's 17 cars in it this time, so it's going to be tougher coming from the rear, the way the combinations are today,'' Earnhardt said. ``It's a carefree race because there's no points involved, but it's a go-for-broke race.''
The leader of the race after the first 10 laps wins $25,000. The second segment pays $45,000 to win. After the first 10 laps, there will be a built-in two-lap caution period. Those laps don't count. by CNB