NASCAR: Brickyard entry list details

• "Lee A. Driggers"
• MNI - Motorsport News International
• Sun Jul 28 23:32:20 EDT 1996

For Immediate Release

50 ENTRIES TO VIE FOR SPOTS IN THIRD BRICKYARD 400 FIELD

INDIANAPOLIS, July 27, 1996 -- Fifty NASCAR Winston Cup cars are entered
and will bid for starting spots in the third Brickyard 400 according to a
list of entries released today by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Drivers seeking to divide more than $4.7 million worth of posted cash and
prizes, and be presented with the winner's PPG Trophy, include 1994 winner
and 1995 Busch polesitter Jeff Gordon, 1995 victor Dale Earnhardt and
inaugural Busch Pole winner Rick Mast.

Fourteen of the last 16 Winston Cup championships are represented on the
list, including Gordon (1995), Earnhardt (1980-86-87-90-91-93-94), Rusty
Wallace (1989), Bill Elliott (1988), Darrell Waltrip (1981-82-85) and Terry
Labonte (1984).    =20

Practice starts Wednesday in preparation for qualifying Thursday and Friday
at the 2=BD-mile Speedway oval.  The race for the PPG Trophy is scheduled=
for
12:15 p.m. (local time) Saturday, Aug. 3, broadcast live by ABC Sports
television and the IMS Radio Network.

Thirty of the drivers listed on entries have made both Brickyard 400
starting fields to date.  The entries include 30 Fords, 15 Chevrolets and
five Pontiacs.

The fastest 25 qualifiers in Thursday's Busch Pole qualifying secure spots
in the field. Another 13 cars will be added after second-round qualifying
Friday.  Four additional starting spots are available through provisionals,
plus a 43rd spot, if needed, for a past Winston Cup champion who fails to
make the lineup through qualifying.

Several connections exist with the track's Indianapolis 500, led by A.J.
Foyt, the four-time "500" winner who will bid for his second Brickyard=
start.

Also on that list is John Andretti, the only driver to start both an
Indianapolis 500 and Brickyard 400 in the same year (1994).  Foyt is the
only other driver entered who has competed in both races at the Speedway.

Wally Dallenbach Jr., whose father competed in 13 Indianapolis 500s, is
entered.  The younger Dallenbach made the inaugural Brickyard 400 field in=
1994.

Ron Hemelgarn, whose car won the Indianapolis 500 in May with Buddy Lazier
aboard, and his Indy Racing League sponsor, Delta Faucet, will be associated
for the second straight year in the Brickyard 400 with the Spam/Melling
Engine Parts Ford driven by Lake Speed.  Cale Yarborough, owner of Jeremy
Mayfield's No. 98 RCA Ford, and Bobby Allison, owner of No. 12 Derrike
Cope's Badcock Ford, are both former Winston Cup Champions who have driven
in the Indianapolis 500.

With the inclusion of newcomer Eric Smith on the entry list, the Brickyard
400 field could have the first driver of that surname ever to make a
starting field at the Speedway.

Greg Sacks, who qualified 13th and 16th in the first two editions of the
race, has the fastest speed in testing sessions at 177.340 miles per hour,
followed by Derrike Cope at 176.915 mph.  The track record for Winston Cup
cars is 172.536 mph by Gordon a year ago.

			 ...BY96-07...