The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 49

Q20 THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR SjJNDAY, MAY 29, 1994 NASCAR's rising speeds fast becoming a safety concern Some tracks just aren't made for today's speeds, drivers say. By Uz Clarke KNIGHT-RIDDER NEWSPAPERS I Charlotte, N.C. To the world's best stock car drivers, can a race car go too fast? "you're only going too fast when you try to get stopped," says Richard Petty, the sport's best known driver, now retired with 200 career wins. Of 27 drivers who'll compete in today's Coca-Cola 600, 11 say the Winston Cup cars are flying too fast for some of the tracks on the circuit. Two drivers offered no opinion, and 14 said current speeds are fine, in an informal poll of the Winston Cup garage this week.

The issue of speed is getting new attention, with race cars breaking the 180-mph qualifying mark at Charlotte Motor Speedway last week. It's not so much a fear of going fast that has drivers wondering whether it's time NASCAR put the brakes on; it's an awareness that steadily escalating speeds simply raise the stakes of the game. "There are places that we certainly are going faster than the track is made to go," says Dale Jarrett. "That's just a result of technology, and everyone has to keep up. But a little tap will put "Bravery is not what wins races.

A smart race car driver wins races. You've got to be aggressive; but you can't be aggressive and stupid at the same time." Wallace made a speech to that effect after two drivers were killed at Daytona in February, but says his fellow drivers seem to have forgotten everything he said. Geoff Bodine, who starts third in today's 600, favors going faster at Daytona and Talladega, where NASCAR mandates restrlctor plates to keep speeds under 200 mph. Those tracks were built for fast cars, he says. But Bodine thinks cars could slow down at Bristol, Charlotte you out of control." Among the tracks causing most concern are speedways like Charlotte, Atlanta and Darlington, where corners get especially hairy; and short tracks like Bristol and Martinsville, where there's hardly room to move.

"I think we run too fast at Bristol," says Sterling Marlln, the current Daytona 500 champion. "It's like flying a Jet plane in an auditorium. There ain't no room. We need to cut the bank down to 20 degrees, where you can race side by side." Others say speed's not an issue. "What's racing about? Competition," says six-time Winston Cup champion Dale Earnhardt.

"That's what we've got the gas pedal for," says Bobby Hamilton. "It's there to push." Rusty Wallaqe says he worries more about stupid drivers than speed. "Speed doesn't bother me," Wallace "What bothers me when I'm In; the: corner at 200 miles an hour Is somebody driving into your quarter panel." If Wallace could change anything, he'd discourage drivers from racing three abreast a risky move that's guaranteed to bring fans to their feet. "I would try to get it so all the drivers who did that (race three abreast), the rest of the drivers would treat that driver like an outcast to try to straighten him out," Wallace says. some respect with easy victory was the last time you were seduced by sheer logic? ygZT' I hit Hiiioiiii ri.nn i ir 1994 XJ6 $54,330 Loaded wEquipment Including Sunroof and Memory Seats.

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"Fans wouldn't even know the difference if it was slower," Bodine says. "You don't have to go super fast to have a good show." Jeff Burton sees both sides. "We probably are going too fast at some race tracks, but I wouldn't know how to fix it," says Burton, 26, a Winston Cup rookie. "As a race car driver, when I race 180 miles an hour at Charlotte, that gets me excited. But do we really need to go that fast?" "Some drivers, out of pure macho-ism, I guess, will say 'Yeah, we want to go 200 miles an Sometimes, we need to be protected from ourselves." occurred in practice when the engine on board Jim Hettinger's car let go.

Hettinger suffered second degree burns on his leg. Drinan hit an unidentified crew member while slowing down under a red-flag condition following a five-car crash in Turn 3. There was no word on the crew member's injury-Anthony Lazzaro of Atlanta won the 30-lap support series race, the USAC-sanctioned Formula 2000 event. He passed last year's winner. Clay Collier of Sachse, Texas, on Lap 17 and drove the rest of the way with Collier on his rear wing.

The series utilizes flat-bottomed, rear-engine formula cars which, when run on IRP's half-mile oval, have the appearance of the Indy cars on the mile at Phoenix. The series included Johnny Rutherford IV, the son of the three-time Indianapolis 500 winner. Rutherford finished 10th in the second semi-feature and did not qualify for the main event. Associated Press had not won a Busch Grand Also having trouble was Grand National season points leader Kenny Wallace. He experienced engine trouble only 18 laps into the race and had to take his Ford behind the wall.

Wallace wound up last in the 43-car field and saw his lead over Ricky Craven drop from 98 points to 2. David Green, who had been in second place, finished 24th, 34 laps down, and fell to third place, 13 points behind Wallace. Meanwhile, Michael Schumacher gained his second consecutive pole position, posting the fastest time in qualifying for today's race. Schumacher, who has won the first four races of the season, covered a lap in 1 minute, 21.908 seconds, in a Benetton-Ford. Schumacher's time was more than 4 seconds slower than that of Alain Prost last year.

Damon Hill of Britain was second at 1:22.559 in a Williams-Renault. Finnish drivers were third and fourth. Mika Hakkinen followed Hill at 1:22.660, while Schumacher's teammate, J.J. Lehto, was next at 1 :22.983. couldn't roll out of the throttle and save the tires.

The car was virtually driving on Its own. "It was so good," I he said. "I was driving (into the corners) so deep and I could tell the other (drivers) were backing off. If (my crew) had told me I was pulling away at the end, I would have slowed up a little. "It was that easy." Hines, who started 10th, collected $5,000 2 times more than the usual USAC midget payoff and five times what a Speedrome winner receives.

Page Jones won $2,500 for finishing second before an estimated 14,000 spectators and a national television The victory was the first national midget victory for Hines, whose father, Jim, won one. Ted had finished third and fifth in the two previous midget races held at IRP this season. Stewart, who had sailed along In the lead on Laps 10-40, felt a tightening of his motor two laps before Hines came up from behind. Before long, he heard a pop Parsons puts frustrations behind him Associated Press Concord, N.C. Phil Parsons broke a 12-year winless drought on the Busch Grand National circuit by overcoming trouble on a late-race pit stop and passing Mark Martin to win the Champion Spark Plug 300 Saturday.

Parsons overtook Martin with 18 laps left and bolted to a 10.84-second victory on Charlotte Motor Speedway's 1 '2-mile tri-oval. "This is the biggest moment of my career," said Parsons, whose only other victory on the circuit came at Bristol, on March 13. 1982, a span of 83 races. The victory, worth $35,050. also was Parsons' first in NASCAR competition since winning the 1988 Winston 500 at Talladega, Ala.

Parsons led laps 140-158 in his Chevrolet before Mike McLaughlin's splnout on the fourth turn brought out the race's sixth and final caution. When the leaders pitted. Parson's crew had trouble with an air wrench and couldn't get off his right rear tire. By the time Parsons' crew got another air wrench and changed the tire, Martin had retaken the lead and Parsons was fifth. Martin got a good Jump on the restart on Lap 164 and quickly built a two-second cushion.

But Parsons worked his way through the pack and caught Martin on Lap 181. One lap later, Martin slid up the 24-degree banking as the two exited Turn 4. Parsons ducked low, completed the pass before they reached the start-finish line and spent the rest of the race pulling away. Defending race champion Michael Waltrip. driving seven days after fracturing his right shoulder I' mmm Hines wins By Curt Cavin STAR STAFF WRITER Clermont, Ind.

For three races In the early 1960s and one in 1979, the prestigious Night Before the 500 midget race was held at the Indianapolis Speedrome. In 1980. the U.S. Auto Club moved it to Indianapolis Raceway Park. Driver Ted Hines is thankful.

A three-time champion in the Speedrome's midget series, the Indianapolis resident is trying to shake the image of a short-track, Speedrome expert. He wants victories at bigger tracks with bigger payoffs. In short, he wants respect. Saturday night, he got it. Having the quickest car In the second half of the race, Hines roared to victory in the 49th annual Night Before the 500.

He swooped past national points leader Tony Stewart in the first turn of Lap 41 (of 50) and never looked back. So smooth was the car that he 1 i i'ir rw m-, 1 -J L- CLX AWAY a pan of the DataTimes country and around the access to The Star and The Parkway Oklahoma City. OK 73134 405(751-6400 If bbi ssBi mm in Turn 2 and was coasting by Turn 3 with a disabled V6 engine, the one designed by Ralph Potter. Stewart coasted in to finish 14th in the 24-car feature. The 21 -year-old holds a 2-point lead over Andy Michner, who finished fifth in Saturday's event.

"It was going good while it lasted," said Stewart, who had to miss Saturday's USAC Western States5 midget race at Ventura, Calif. He is the season points leader there, too. "There was not much I could do about what happened." Same could be said for Kenny Mike Bliss and Danny Drl-nan, the polesitter. Irwin, who led the first nine laps, had a motor let go and was in the middle of a front-stretch mess which knocked Bliss Out of the race. Drinan had a malfunction, too, and bailed out on Lap 8.

Jimmy Sills, who captured Friday night's Hulman 100 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds (USAC Silver Crown series), finished third in the IRP feature. The night's only driver injury BACK ON TOP: Phil Parsons National race since 1982. blade in a Winston Cup crash, was third. Roy Payne, in fourth place, was the only other driver on the lead lap. Harry Gant appeared to be the class of the field early, leading three times for 33 laps.

But he fell off the pace while leading on Lap 87 and pulled his Chevrolet behind the wall. The problem was diagnosed as a broken oil pump, ending Gant's day. be necessary when the driver had fully recovered from the shock of the accident. Montermini went into the wall at the beginning of the straightaway to the start-finish line, the fastest section of the circuit. The practice session was stopped lm-medlately.

Montermini was making his first Formula One start as a replacement for Roland Ratzen-berger of Austria, who was killed during qualifying for the San Marino Grand Prix April 30 at Imola, Italy. Three-time Formula One champion Ayrton Senna of Brazil was killed the next day during a crash at San Marino. V. j'-L. Join the team of business leaders who are helping their employees learn how to prevent HIV and AIDS.

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The Indianapolis Star the indianapolis news Available online via Associated Press Barcelona, Spain As drivers, team officals and the sport's governing body continued to discuss new Formula One safety measures, another driver crashed at the Spanish Grand Prix Saturday. Andrea Montermini of Italy crashed heavily during a warmup practice, fracturing bones in both feet. Dr. Raul Muniz of the General Hospital of Catalunya said the 29-year-old Montermini was in stable condition and a scan showed there was no brain damage. But Muniz said that an operation on Morter-mini's left foot would most likely DstaTrimos1 A World of information 14000 Quail Springs.