THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 21, 1996 TAG: 9608211203
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: NASCAR NOTES
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 57 lines
Only time will tell whether Indy car driver Robby Gordon can successfully make the switch to the Winston Cup series without the benefit of having raced extensively in NASCAR.
Steve Kinser and Davy Jones were flops. John Andretti and Wally Dallenbach have struggled. Tim Richmond and Jeff Gordon made it.
It's not impossible, but Robby Gordon will be trying to learn how to tell his crew to make improvements to a Pontiac Grand Prix that has been largely uncompetitive this year.
On top of that, he's trying to learn a new style of racing and figure out how to drive an unfamiliar group of tracks.
The odds are against him.
``I figure the first year, we're going to be here learning,'' Gordon said Tuesday. ``I've got a lot to learn. I'm going to struggle for awhile. It's going to be a frustrating year.''
That seems to be a given, so the real question will be how much frustration Gordon and car owner Felix Sabates can take.
Gordon, renowned more for his fire than his patience, spoke of having fun in his previous racing efforts, but also conceded that one reason for the switch to stock car racing was that ``I didn't think I could go another bad year'' in Indy car racing.
SAUTER AGAIN: Jim Sauter, who pleased Sabates with his steady, trouble-free drive to 21st place at Michigan, remaining on the lead lap all day, will again substitute for Kyle Petty at Bristol this weekend.
``Kyle is still hurting pretty bad,'' Sabates said. ``His stomach is swollen, his pancreas is inflamed and his liver is inflamed. Jim Sauter did a pretty good job for us as an old man, so we're going to put him in the car this week.''
Meanwhile, Dale Earnhardt, injured at Talladega last month, plans to go all the way at Bristol.
``In fact, right now he's out on his tractor on his farm, working in the hay field,'' assistant business manager Ty Norris said.
TWO TEAMS IN 1998: Sabates said ``the only way to survive and be competitive'' is to have two teams in the Winston Cup series.
So in 1998, ``most likely we will be a two-car team,'' said. If so, the driver won't be Jay Sauter, the driver of Sabates's part-time NASCAR truck effort.
``He's going to be going to the Childress truck next year,'' Sabates said. ``Jay did such a good job, Childress hired him to replace Mike Skinner. Skinner becomes the driver of Childress's second Cup car.
TWO TEAMS IN 1997: While Sabates plans to expand the season after next, car owner Larry McClure is busy expanding to two teams for net year.
Morgan-McClure Racing is building a new shop for Sterling Marlin and the No. 4 Chevrolet Monte Carlo team about two miles from the existing shop in Abingdon, Va. The old shop will be for the second team.
``We're just putting things together,'' McClure told Chevy's Ray Cooper.
``We're talking to sponsors right now, and we're going to wait until we get everything put together before we make any announcements.'' by CNB