NASCAR: Talladega pre-race notes

• Dave Rodman
• MNI - Motorsport News International
• Mon Jul 29 23:17:00 EDT 1996

DIEHARD 500 PRE-RACE NOTES

                               *** RACE FAN TRAFFIC NOTE    ***

TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY Public Relations Director Jim Freeman
requests that members of the media alert their listeners/readers
that they are advised to time their travel from the west on I-20 so
they are past Talladega Superspeedway prior to 8 a.m. Sunday. This
is being advised to prevent Olympic traffic from becoming congested
with Sears DieHard 500 traffic.

PAST WINNERS: Former DieHard 500 winners in the field include Dave
Marcis (1976), Darrell Waltrip (1979, '82), Dale Earnhardt (1983-
84, '90-91, '93), Bobby Hillin (1986), Bill Elliott (1987), Ken
Schrader (1988), Terry Labonte (1989), Ernie Irvan (1992), Jimmy
Spencer (1994) and Sterling Marlin (1995).

RACE RECORD average speed is 176.309 mph set by Ernie Irvan in
1992, driving the Morgan-McClure Motorsports Chevrolet.

HUMMINBIRD FISHFINDER 500k PRE-RACE NOTES

POSTED AWARDS for the Humminbird Fishfinder 500k are an event
record $456,634. That is the second-highest posted awards of the
season to date, trailing only the season-opening Goody's Headache
Powder 300 at Daytona.

DEFENDING RACE winner is Chad Little, the only former winner in the
field. The race record average speed of 167.472 mph was set by Ken
Schrader in 1994.

POINT RACE: David Green, a two-time winner this season, holds a 75-
point lead over Randy LaJoie in the NASCAR Busch Series points
coming into the race. LaJoie won the Series' most recent event at
New Hampshire International Speedway, his third victory of the
year.

TRACY LESLIE (No. 11 Komatsu Chevrolet) -- (Leslie has secured a
one-race sponsorship from Komatsu, a manufacturer of heavy
construction equipment.) This is the car we had a Daytona (that was
involved in an accident. We had hoped to get it back from the body
shop in May but we just got it back last Monday -- I guess they
figured they had a good bit of time to finish it! It's bad enough
when you only have two guys working on the car, but when we got it
back it had had front and rear clips and a new body put on -- it
was just like a new car. But, they did a good job with it.

RACE NOTES: The race is 500 kilometers, 311.22 miles, 117 laps
around the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway. Pit road speed is 65
mph. Caution speed is 70 mph. On restarts, lead lap cars line up to
the inside and lapped cars line up on the outside.

HUMMINBIRD FISHFINDER 500K RACE NOTES
Talladega Superspeedway, Saturday, July 27, 1996

MIKE HARMON (No. 24 MedPartners Chevrolet) -- Man, I couldn't
believe it! The car was running so great and I was really proud of
myself being the first time in the draft here at Talladega. Phil
(Parsons) said he got turned around by the 29 car and there wasn't
nowhere to go. I had my hand up waving and was slowing down when I
got hit from behind and got knocked into a couple of other cars. 
The track just plugged up and there is nothing you could do about
it. We just spun off the bank when that happened. The MedPartners
Chevrolet will be back and we're looking forward to many more
starts here. It's a shame it ended this way but when you're running
good and go out it's a lot better and we can live with that 'til
next year.

PHIL PARSONS (No. 10 ChannelLock Tools Chevrolet) -- I just watched
the video in the ambulance coming over here. I was passing the 29
car (Greg Sacks) and I wanted to stay pretty much clear of him
because he looked pretty wild yesterday in practice. I don't know
if he was trying to get in behind me or what but he clipped me in
the right rear corner, turned me straight into the wall and that
collected all the rest of the guys. I don't know what he was
thinking. I just can't believe it -- the ChannelLock Chevy was real
good. Michael (Waltrip) came up there and I let him lead a while.
We were just riding, because the car was so good we could lead
pretty easily. If we fell back to 10th I felt like we could get
back to the front. We just wanted to get to the finish and I was
trying to be patient. That's the breaks and I've probably made
mistakes, too.

LARRY PEARSON (No. 92 Stanley Tools Chevrolet) -- My spotter was
yelling for me to go low and I was trying to get down low. In the
meantime Phil (Parsons) was sliding down the race track and I hit
him. There was nothing I could do... It was a typical Talladega
wreck. People get too anxious too quick and some drivers aren't
patient enough. Hey, the car was running great if I had somebody
behind me to give me a push. Son of a gun we were coming up through
there! I thought we were gonna have a pretty darn good run but it
wasn't meant to be.

MIKE WALLACE (No. 90 Duron Paints Ford) -- I couldn't see a lot, to
be real honest with you. Early in the race the 14 car was blowing
a lot of oil and it loaded my windshield up. That was why I fell to
the back of the draft. I needed to run to a caution because we
didn't want to pit under green. Everybody started to check up and
I got slowed down but it was a speedway wreck. Everybody's running
so darn close together that if anything happens it takes a fair
amount of cars out.

JOE BESSEY (No. 9 Delco Remy America Chevrolet) -- I saw the 10 car
get up into the wall and get ready to come back down the track. I
just moved down and I guess Mike Harmon caught me in the left rear
quarter and turned me around. Then two or three of them hit me on
the way by. The car's pretty bad -- it took both ends off of it.


RODNEY COMBS (No. 43 Lance Snacks Chevrolet) -- I cut a left rear
tire down. I felt it going and I was trying to get it whoa'ed down,
but it came around on the wheel and turned into the wall. It hit a
ton! It wasn't a good spot to be in because I had no control to get
it back down off the wall. It's a shame we collected some cars
there. We had an awful good car. We had come from 17th to third! I
was trying so hard for Lance and we had a car that was good enough
to lead this thing. We got caught by the ill-fated bad luck deal
with the left rear. We're fast -- we just can't get the finishes we
deserve. If they stick with us we'll get 'em a win.

HERMIE SADLER (No. 1 DeWalt Tools Chevrolet) -- I'm not sure what
started the whole thing -- I think maybe Rodney (Combs) cut a tire
or something and then everybody started slowing down and the race
track got blocked. I went up high and then came back down low.
Stuff like that just happens, especially on a re-start. When you
run so close together, like here at Talladega, there is nowhere to
go and you just have to be lucky. I haven't been lucky this year.

MIKE DILLON (No. 72 Detroit Gasket Chevrolet) -- The 43 car (Rodney
Combs) spun about mid-track. We caught it and had it clear, but I
don't know where the #96 car (Stevie Reeves) came from, but he
ended up beside me and somebody (spotter) must have 'cleared' him,
then he spun in front of me and I ran into him. We had the wreck
missed until that happened, but that's just part of it I guess. We
were in the back and missed the first wreck that happened up front,
then we got in the middle of the pack and then the wreck happened
in the middle. I don't think some people are able to see or they
are depending on their spotters too much.

DOUG HEVERON (No. 52 ACDelco Chevrolet) -- We were just coming back
through with Jeff Purvis after the re-start and I saw the #43 car
spinning down the backstraightaway> I was waving my hand and we
were trying to get slowed up and someone hit me in the back end and
got me spinning. It's too bad for the ACDelco car because it was
going good. It was probably the best car I've ever had at a
speedway.

STEVIE REEVES (No. 96 Clabber Girl Baking Powder Ford) -- It's a
real shame! The guys did a great job with a Roush motor to get us
in the show because the car wasn't really fast. On the first crash
we got away clean. On the second wreck somebody got spun out, I was
on the bottom and had nowhere to go. That caused a tire to cut down
and it hit pretty hard -- the brake pedal's up under the dashboard.

KENNY WALLACE (No. 8 Red Dog Ford) -- (Involved in accident started
by Combs.) I'm OK -- the car's not. They were just running all over
each other -- that's what I saw! It's real simple -- people don't
let off the gas. Everybody's runnin' so close... I don't know -- it
ain't nobody's fault -- just racin', I guess.

DALE JARRETT (No. 32 Band-Aid Ford) -- I wish I knew exactly what
happened. It started to miss, then I was just scrubbing my tires
off getting ready for the restart and it cut out. By the time I got
off of (turn) two it wouldn't fire at all. We think it was
something in the switch box. It's too bad. Everybody was doing a
great job and we were putting on a great show for the fans and
having fun.

MARK MARTIN (No. 60 Winn-Dixie Ford) -- I got caught up in somebody
else's wreck. Tony Stewart lost it. Well, I saw it happening but
there's not a lot you can do here. It was a real hard hit. We were
a contender.

TONY STEWART (No. 15 Ranier-Walsh Racing Pontiac) -- I was in turn
three and the car was getting loose. I slowly tried to catch it,
because if you over-correct too soon it's going to go on into the
wall. Basically, it just came on around and went to the bottom part
of the track, hit the flat and came back on the track. I was just
staying in line, trying to pick the fastest line when I could and
staying with some partners that I knew were going to go quick. It
seemed like I got to the front pretty quick, but it seemed like one
at a time that the Winston Cup guys were going with the Winston Cup
guys and I got hung out to dry.  There sure wasn't anyone helping
me out there -- I did it all on my own.

MIKE McLAUGHLIN (No. 34 Royal Oak Charcoal Chevrolet) -- It was
something in the driveline. I was trying to stay out of trouble and
use my head. Ron Hutter gives us great engines and Charlie
Brunnhoelzel gives us great bodies and we don't give them any
results. We have never been able to finish and that was my goal
today, to finish. I knew that if we could be there at the end we
would have something for them. One time I took a run to the front
and we ran there, but not having that much experience, I just
wanted to finish this race. I guess it just wasn't meant to be. We
finished in one piece so that's the only good part.

TODD BODINE (No. 81 Cape Canaveral Cruise Lines Chevrolet) -- It
was just typical Talladega racing. Randy and myself were drafting
to the front and we had a run on Greg Sacks. He pulled over to
block us. When he pulled over I had to turn and when I turned,
Randy ran into the back of me and just turned me sideways. I'm
fortunate it didn't barrel roll and do all of the crazy things.
That's just part of racing at Talladega. We had a good car -- maybe
a top five. It was nice to run up front and be on TV and do all the
things we came to do. It's unfortunate we got a junk race car.

POST-RACE NOTES

GREG SACKS (No. 29 WCW Chevrolet) -- It was a terrific car all day
long! The WCW Chevrolet, (crew chief) Sandy Jones, (team owner)
Gary Bechtel, all the guys -- what a great job! What a tribute to
them. When they talked to me about coming to this car they talked
about a race-to-race deal. I didn't care nothing about a contract -
- I just wanted to end up right here, in Victory Circle, and we've
done it!
     Sandy kept the brakes on me all day long. We would fall back
a little bit but we were never concerned. We had such a strong
piece, there (this car won the Goody's Headache Powder 300 with
Steve Grissom.). We knew we'd get toward the front at the end and
that's what we did.
     (ON LAST FEW LAPS.) It was pretty nerve-wracking! We came
around and Sandy let me know exactly what the situation was. When
we took the green flag on the re-start I knew there were four
racing laps to go and he said 'You do what you've gotta do --
you're the boss.' On the start I decided I wanted to be the rabbit,
jump out and let them come after me. They came pretty hard! Joe was
awful strong today and when he got to second I tried to play them
against each other for a turn to try to not let them get too much
momentum. (ON THE LAST LAP.) It didn't matter which way he (Joe
Nemechek) went, that's where I went. Joe knew it -- he gave me a
thumbs-up after the checkered flag.
     (ON ACCIDENT WITH PHIL PARSONS.) Phil and Joe got a run down
to the inside, going into turn three, and Joe lifted. I waved-off
to Joe to try to lift for Phil, but he came up a little quick and
we got together. It was tough break for Phil -- he had a real
strong car -- I'm just glad he wasn't hurt.
     (IS THIS HIS BIGGEST WIN?) I'd put this right at the top! It's
been so long since that last one -- wherever it was... I guess it
was another superspeedway, wasn't it (1985 Pepsi 400 at Daytona)?
It's so long ago this right here is the top. I'm just looking to
restart my career and this is a great jump-start right here. I was
never worried about doubters and never worried about proving
anything -- I just wanted an opportunity to get back in a car that
could get me up front and Gary Bechtel and WCW and Sandy Jones --
this whole Diamond Ridge team gave me that opportunity.
     (Following TV interview Sacks had a massive embrace with Sandy
Jones. Following media interview crew crawled across back of car to
douse Sacks with water and Gatorade -- Sacks leapt across trunk lid
of car and did a "leap of faith" into the crew's arms, behind the
car.)

TERRY LABONTE (No. 5 Actron Chevrolet) -- Well, we finished fourth.
We didn't wreck -- I guess that was the best part of the day.

MICHAEL WALTRIP (No. 12 M W Windows Ford) -- It was kinda wild. I'd
rather not even talk about the race.

JOE NEMECHEK (No. 87 BellSouth Mobility Chevrolet) -- It was a heck
of a shoot-out at the end. We kept getting hung out and the car was
really, really strong. I mean, we could definitely go to the front
when we wanted to, but we needed just one more lap. It took just a
little bit of time to get the momentum built up and Greg was in the
right place at the right time. (ABOUT TODD BODINE'S WRECK) All of
a sudden, the 81 car turned sideways and I couldn't really tell how
it happened. He just got sideways.

RANDY LaJOIE (No. 74 FINA Chevrolet) -- We finished third -- I'm
not quite sure how. I'm not sure what happened toward the end of
the race. I got a bunch of fumes in me and I'm not sure who was
driving the car at the end. I just looked up and I was second. I
thought, 'hey, this is pretty cool.' I hated I got in the back of
Todd. I got a good run and gave him a shot and we came down
underneath Sacks, but Sacks came down, Todd had to check up and I
just got in the back of him. The No. 95 car (David Green) was
behind us, so that had to help us in the points race.

DAVID GREEN (No. 95 Caterpillar Chevrolet) -- The biggest thing
that means a lot is this is the first time I've been running at the
end of one of these things (Humminbird 500k's) in a competitive car
able to race for the win. On that last restart Kirk (Shelmerdine,
team consultant/crew chief) coached me through that thing and he
said we were about the only ones who made a move. Nobody really
went with me, but we had a top five until we got to the trioval and
we had position on Purvis. I guess he didn't like it and he ran me
down through the apron. I thought I was gonna wreck right there and
wreck him, too. Somehow we didn't but I lost numerous positions.
That's Talladega, I guess.
     (ON THE POINT RACE.) This race can be the one that makes you
or breaks you. We hung right there and did what we had to do. The
main thing was we were competitive and we made a move at the end.
I feel pretty good about it. Randy (LaJoie) and I run side by side
for about 10 laps with 20 to go but he got in the right line and I
didn't. Every time I tried to go with somebody nobody would go.
You've got to be in this position numerous times, I think, and this
was my first time, so that's OK. I don't think all the pressure's
on my shoulder (because of his championship-winning experience)
because Kirk's got a wealth of knowledge. This is the first (full
season) go-round for these guys. Nobody thought Randy was gonna be
a contender, we got off to such a good start and now all I hear is
he's got the championship sewn up. I think for what we've done
people ought to take notice -- it's not a one-man job, it's a whole
team. The guys from the Cat team ought to hold their heads up high.

KEVIN LEPAGE (No. 88 Farmers Choice Fertilizer Chevrolet) -- This
is our fifth top 10 finish in 10 races (since joining Ridling
Motorsports at Hickory in April). Here at Talladega, we qualified
sixth and ran in the top 15 all day long. We didn't have a lot of
help out there. We got up to fifth one time, but this is only my
third time here and only my fourth superspeedway race. Maybe it's
because I don't have a lot of experience so I guess I can't blame
the guys for not running behind me or working with me. But, we
helped a lot of them get up to where they needed to be. I'll get
that respect. I'm real proud of the Farmers Choice boys. They
worked real hard this weekend and I'm excited.
     We think we can win a race before the year's over. When I took
this deal over in April, David (team owner, Ridling) knew this was
basically a rookie race team. We've decided to learn from all the
mistakes, experiment some and get after the championship in 1997.