Florida Today from Cocoa, Florida • Page 8

ai winmmmi Mam FLORIDA TODAY, Friday. May 1, 1992 5C 1 Swervin' Irvan wins pole Buckley commands bucks in Green Bay AUTO RACING FOOTBALL in the second spot after running 192.657. Mark Martin is third at 192.506, while Martin is fourth at 192.027 and Ricky Rudd is fifth at 191.585. The Winston 500 is considered one of the circuit's top races. Many of the top contenders in the Daytona 500 race, including Irvan, Elliott, Martin and Dale Earnhardt, were damaged in the multi-car crash.

Qualifying results, 6C. By Don Coble FLORIDA TODAY TALLADEGA, Ala. A year ago, Ernie Irvan caught most of the blame for starting a 22-car crash while working his way to the front of the Winston 500. He shouldn't have that problem in Sunday's race, at least in the early stages, since he'll start the $854,256 event from the pole position. His Kodak Chevrolet Lumina won time trials Thursday at the 1 By Chris Havel Gannett News Service GREEN BAY, Wis.

The Green i Bay Packers can expect $1.1 mil- lion a year to be the starting point "1n their contract negotiations with Florida State cornerback Terrell Buckley, whom they took with the fifth pick Sunday in the National Football League draft Tract a v' osssd 1 1 Dyo dumps AD position FLORIDA TODAY Wires AUBURN, Ala. Auburn football coach Pat Dye said he is giving up bis job as athletic director, insisting his decision was not prompted by an NCAA investigation. Dye said he looks forward to concentrating on football and not overseeing the 18 sports programs in which Auburn competes. The decision, he said, "takes a tremendous amount of responsibility off my shoulders." He also said the decision "may be a year or two late," but did not elaborate. Dye, who has held both jobs since arriving at Auburn in 1981, will remain in both roles until a successor is named.

Dye, 52, has come under fire during the past year amid allegations that Auburn boosters and coaches paid a football player, Eric Ramsey, who secretly taped conversations with those helping him out financially. Dye denied personal knowledge of such alleged payoffs, but said he did a poor job if the claims were true. "Ramsey has got nothing to do with this," Dye said. FREE ROAD TEST! fifth choice, Los Angeles Rams cornerback 'Todd Lyght of Notre Dame, is -believed to have signed a five-iyear, $5.5 million deal, including a $2.3 million signing bonus as part of the pack Talladega Su-perspeedway with a hot lap of 192.831 mph. "The car is good," he said.

"We're making some gains on the Fords. They weren't better than me at Day-tona, so I wasn't worried about them here." MULII-PUINI I KANoMIOOlUN I Races at Talladega and Daytona the two quickest speedways on the stock car circuit are conducted with special carburetor restrictor plates to reduce the speeds for safety reasons. Irvan's pole speed was 20 mph slower than Bill Elliott's non-restrictor plate record of 2 12.809 mph. Irvan, of Modesto, seems to get in the most trouble on the race track while trying to work his way through the pack. During last year's Winston 500, he pulled between Mark Martin and Kyle Petty to go three-wide along the back-stretch.

The move stirred the air around the cars and started a chain reaction that ended up crashing more than half the starting field. Petty was the only driver hurt in the wreck, suffering a broken thigh. At Daytona this year, Irvan wedged his way between Elliott and Sterling Martin, leading to another multi-car crash. "We came here a couple weeks ago and practiced, and this is about what we've been running," Irvan said. He probably will be pushed by Davey Allison's Ford.

Allison will start Sunday's race (2 p.m., ESPN) BUCKLEY New Fluid ClaanSump Raplaca Gaakat Adjuat Bin Llnkaga Chock U-olnt Most Cars (0195; pT) WITH Vii THIS AD I IRVAN Serving Florida For 30 Yoart. CaN For An A FREE Towing WWi Mam Rata! NatonwMa Warranty Including Canada I "It was one of the things we liked. We looked at the top eight teams (in the 1992 NFL draft) and Green Bay was Terrell's No. 1 choice." A tax law attorney who has handled mergers and acquisitions, he said he thinks defensive backs are underrated and underpaid. "The last 10 to 15 years, there's never been a defensive back taken as the absolute first pick of the draft," Polston said.

"Yet I think it's clear they're the best athletes in football." He said it only makes sense that a player capable of shutting down the NFL's best receivers and quarterbacks should get paid what the NFL's best receivers and quarterbacks are getting paid. They're not. "Why, I don't know," Polston said. "But it's clear that to have a championship team, you must have a great defense. And that's true not only in football.

Just ask the (NBA's) Bulls and Pistons." Buckley said he perceived the Green Bay coaching staff as having "a win at all costs" attitude. "I really liked that," he said. FSU players sign on Three Florida State football players signed free-agent contracts with NFL teams Thursday. Linebacker Kirk Carruthers and nose tackle Joe Ostaszewski were two of the eight signees with the Miami Dolphins. Meanwhile, running back Paul Moore signed with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Transactions, 6C. Irvan's car at Daytona was knocked out by a wreck, one in which he again drew most of the criticism. Chevrolet has won two consecutive pole positions, but it is the only note worth celebrating for the car company. Ford Thunderbirds have won all seven races this year. "The Fords are strong, but we're as good as them here," Irvan said.

"My car has plenty of power." 440 N. COCOA BLVD. (U.S. 1) COCOA mUm at 520. bmtwmmn Jar.

Hani Imrtva I COCOA TITUSVILLE I MERRITT ISLAND MIMS I 639-0808 383-1748J age that averaged $1.1 annually, i Buckley's Houston-based agent, "Carl Polston, suggested $3 million as a ballpark signing bonus. "That's shooting off the cuff, though," he said. "I'm just basing 'that on what Lyght signed for last year." Green Bay chief financial officer Mike Reinfeldt has met with Polston for two consecutive days. He said the Packers would be I seeking a long-term deal for Buck- ley's services. "Obviously with the type of money you're investing in that high of a draft pick, you'd like as long a deal as possible," he said.

"We really need to see where they're at, though." The immediate priority is arranging a camp agreement so Buckley can attend the May 7-9 minicamp, said Reinfeldt, adding he doesn't anticipate any problem getting that done. "I think Green Bay has a quality management team," Polston said. mm wm ilm PUBLIX A A WIGHT srm irrlm Mm 0 4OO0 7 nm HOLMAN STADIUM DODGERTOWN YfC Vero Beach Dodgers 0 vs winter Haven Red Sox Publlx Invites you to an evening of exciting Florida State League baseball! CLIP SAVE Vero Beach Dodgers vs Winter Haven Red Sox VALID FOR UP TO 4 GENERAL ADMISSION TICKETS MAY 2, 1992 ONLY 5 The new restyled, refined 1992 Mercury Sable. All the room, comfort and luxury your family will ever need. Plus it comes with something Honda Accord and Nissan Maxima don't even offer.

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