Austin American-Statesman from Austin, Texas • 67

Austin American-Statesman Sports Saturday, August 3, 1996 E7 lira i "'V 't-Li fx I 7 fa i L. 1 i.i i 1 'V-'V: J1 I 1 I i Tom RussoAP Jeff Gordon, who won the Brickyard 400 in 1994 and has won both poles since, grew up in Pittsboro, in the racetrack's backyard. Just another brick in the wall? Eichelberger's par chip preserves 1-shot lead BELTON, Mo. Dave Eichel-berger saved par with a 20-foot chip on the final hole for a 6-un-der-par 64 and a one-stroke lead after the first round of the VFW Seniors Championship. Eichelberger, 59th on the money list with $127,361 in 23 starts, had six birdies and 12 pars on the Loch Lloyd course for his best round of the year.

"It's been a real struggle for me," said Eichelberger, 52, who won the 1994 Quicksilver Classic. "My best round before today was a 68 or 69. This was the best round I've had in quite some time." Jim Colbert, the tournament winner in 1991 and 1994 and runner-up in 1992 and 1995, was a stroke back along with Frank Conner. Colbert, who was raised in the area and attended Kansas State, also got a break on the par-4 18th. His drive appeared to land in a water hazard, but splashed into casual water and rolled out onto the grass.

"It was a huge break," Colbert said. "It jumped up like it was on a tee. If it had gone another foot, it would have been in grass that was about 12 inches high." Heavy. rains the previous 24 hours made the course play unusually long. Former Longhorn follows 65 with 64 for two-shot edge Associated Press GRAND BLANC, Mich.

If Justin Leonard doesn't break through for his first tour victory this week, somebody might have to shoot an all-time record to beat him. Leonard, a 24-year-old University of Texas product, backed up his first-round 65 with a torrid 64 on Friday and posted a two-shot lead in the Buick Open. Leonard, whd.began the round a stroke behind Rick Fehr, had a 15-under 129 total on the Warwick Hills course. Fehr followed his opening 64 with a 67 to fall two shots behind. "It's been awhile since I've led at the halfway mark," said Leonard, the 1992 U.S.

Amateur champion and 1994 NCAA winner at Texas. "I've played in the last group a couple of times, but I didn't have the lead." Leonard, who lost in a playoff to Phil Mickelson in the Phoenix Open in January, started on the back nine and birdied three of the first five holes. His only mistake came at the 431-yard, par-4 second when he pushed his drive between the nearby 11th green and a television stand. After a drop, Leonard hit a tree and settled for his only bogey of the round. But he birdied two of the next three holes, then finished with three straight birdies, rolling in putts of 10, 40 and 12 feet.

Low scores are not uncommon at Warwick Hills. Robert Wrenn's 26-under 262 in 1987 came within a stroke of the tour record shared by Ben Hogan and Mike Souchak. At his current rate, Leonard would finish 30-under. "Tin not going to shoot 30-un-der," Leonard said. "That's mind-boggling.

But it's a lot of fun to play like I did today. I had forgotten a lot of those shots." Each of the first two rounds was delayed by fog. The second got eight different corners," said Larry McReynolds, crew chief on Emie Irvan's Ford. "Each of the corners here have two parts to 'em. Certainly the set-up is critical, and there's a fine line between putting a lot of (aerodynamic) drag in the car vs.

having the right amount of downforce to get through the corners." All of which, Jarrett added, Jeff KowalstyAP Former Longhorn Justin Leonard, trying for his first pro win, rolls in a birdie on his way to a 64 and a two-shot lead at the Buick Open. Elsewhere Thomas Bjorn's strong drives pulled him to a three-stroke lead with a 68 in the second round of the Scandinavian Masters during a windy day in Kungsbacka, Sweden, that had weaker drivers struggling to make par. Santiago Luna, who started the day even with Bjorn, shot a 71 and was three strokes behind at 138. Russell Claydon held the third slot by himself with 139. John Daly shot a 71, leaving him seven strokes back of Bjorn.

Continued from El that good, I'm a little worried. It's almost like you want to have a good race car and a good qualifying car, and it's hard to get both. I felt all along that we had a good race car, so we'll have to see what happens. I'm pretty excited about Saturday." Come 12:15 p.m. today, Gordon and the rest have to put visions of the $4.5 million purse, the nlus trackside fans and the cham- pagne showers on noia ana remember: This is one of the hardest races on the Winston Cup circuit: One driver, Mike Skinner, champion of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in its '95 inaugural season, is bearing several pickup loads of pressure, possibly the most a relief driver has experienced.

Skinner is to substitute for Dale Earnhardt hobbled by fractures of the collarbone and sternum that he suffered Sunday in a DieHard 500 crash at Talladega (Ala.) Su-perspeedway. Earnhardt winner of the 400 in '95, will start the Chevrolet to maintain his chance at a record eighth Winston Cup championship. Earnhardt, lining up 12th, trails leader Gordon by 23 points and second-place Terry Labonte, another Gordon teammate, by 14 going into the 19th of the season's 31 races. A driver starting a car is credited with the points earned in a race, although he may drive only one lap. The distinct flat, four-cornered speedway, as opposed to the more high-banked, oval-shaped turns of most of the Winston Cup tracks, is a challenge that most drivers and crews don't have to face every week.

It requires extra preparation. "We almost approach it like it's the Buick Open to practice for next week's PGA Championship. Some of those who did come to Warwick Hills struggled. Mickelson followed his opening 73 with a 69. Mark O'Meara was at 139, Fred Couples at 141 and Payne Stewart at 143.

Ernie Els had a 70 for a 136 total and defending champion Woody Austin shot a 65 for a 137. round was held up 1 hour, 30 minutes, forcing those playing in the afternoon to finish in the long shadows of twilight Jim Carter, whose only professional victory came in the 1994 Nike New Mexico Charity Classic, was three back after a 67. Wayne Levi and Jeff Sluman were four back at 133. Levi shot a 65 and Sluman had a 67. Many big-name stars bypassed Australia's Webb weaves 68 for 4-shot lead in du Eiaurier Classic doesn't make it any easier to get to the front V'You have to look at the points oh the racetrack where you might be able to pass, and that's where you want to try to make your car good.

"Obviously, getting off turn 2 and turn 4 (and into) the long straightaways are the best chance to pass," he said. "Occasionally on the short chutes, you get a chance to pass if you get a good run off of 1 and 3, but the better places are off of 2 and 4. If you don't get through the corners, it doesn't matter how good an engine or car you have, you're not going to get down the straightaways." And, noted Howard chief on Ted Musgrave's team, whatever adjustments your car needs, you'd better make them before 12:15. "It's only 400 miles, and they go by pretty fast around here," Com-stock said. "You'd better be ready when the race starts.

Typically, you don't see a lot of cautions here, so starting the race with a good set-up is critical. "I think we'll go through a couple of periods of green-flag pit stops, so if you don't have your car set up right and you lose track po-'. sition, you're not going to be saved by a "When they drop the green flag, you'd better be pretty close." This article includes material from The Char-" lotte Observer. 2 crashes in practice, After two days with no real problems on the track, there were two hard crashes Friday at the In-' dianapolis Motor Speedway. Bobby Hillin Jr.

sustained a bruised left foot and chest when he blew an engine and slid though his own oil, crashing in turn No. 1 during the morning practice. The other accident came in the final practice before today's race, with Bobby Hamilton slamming into the wall between turns No.3 and 4. Hamilton came away with a bruised right leg. Both drivers were cleared to drive and will start the race in backup which means they will be moved to the rear of the 40-car field after the cars roll off the grid.

Foyt slows, misses spot in field No. 6 and in the sand at No. 7. "I hit eight greens on the back nine and six on the front" said Webb, who has won twice in her rookie season and leads the LPGA in earnings. "On the back, I just started hitting it a lot closer," the reward being birdies on Nos.

13, 15, 16 and 18. She played a bogey-free back nine despite a swirling wind. "I don't mind playing in the wind," Webb said. "It's just that when you don't know which way it's coming, it's hard to stand out there and feel confident over your shot" Mallon eagled the par-5 first and birdied the treacherous par-4 seventh after hitting out of deep rough. "My driver was as a wild as I can get, but I really recovered well," Mallon said.

"I even had to hit a left-handed shot. I've never had to do that before." Mallon completed a 5-under front nine with a 25-footer for birdie. "After my putt on No. 9, 1 told John: 'I'm trying to catch your wife It's a good day for him his player and his wife are playing well." Webb said she's not used to leading tournaments in the early rounds and planned to relax before the final two rounds. Associated Press EDMONTON, Alberta Karrie Webb of Australia shook off two early bogeys to shoot a 68 on Friday and expand her lead to four shots in the $1 million du Maurier Classic, the last of the season's major championships for women.

Webb, 21, completed two rounds at 133, 11 strokes under par for the Edmonton Country Club course. Meg Mallon shot a 65 Friday, matching Webb's opening-round score, and was at 137 after 36 holes. Dana Dormann, who is married to Mallon's caddy, John Dormann, was at 5-under 139 after a round of 70. Joining her were Nancy Lopez, who rallied after an early struggle to shoot 71, and Pat Hurst Annika Sorenstam of Sweden, the two-time U.S. Open champion, was at 5-under for the tournament and 4-under for the day after 17 holes when play was suspended because of a thunderstorm.

She returned to play her last hole, the par-3 ninth, and double bogeyed to fall to 3-under for two rounds. "I struggled a little bit early. I didn't have a good rhythm and I misclubbed a couple times," said Webb, who bogeyed Nos. 6 and 7 after errant approach shots. She was past the green on pi 'I i Ray GiguereAP Karrie Webb rebounds from two early bogeys to shoot a 68 in the second round of the du Maurier Classic, going to 11 under par in the LPGA's final major of the Lone Stars rid themselves of Menace Associated Press INDIANAPOLIS A.J.

Foyt, a qualifier for the inaugural Brickyard 400 in 1994, failed to make the field for the second straight year. Foyt, 61, who retired from Indy-car racing just before the time trials for the 1993 Indianapolis 500, completed his qualifying lap at 171.608 mph on Thursday and slowed to 170.396 on Friday in the final round. "I'm very discouraged and disappointed," the four-time Indy 500 champion and seven-time ston Cup race winner said. "The car was OK this morning, but we lost about 3 miles per hour all around the track. "I just found out now that they had to raise up the front a half-inch following inspection.

So, that's what the difference was," he added. The slowest of 38 qualifiers in the race was Morgan Shepherd at 172.927. But that was faster than the record of 172.536 set last year by Jeff Gordon. Gordon upped the record to 176.419 Thursday. Ricky Craven and Dave both bumped out of the top 38 by faster qualifiers, were added to the rear of the field as provisional starters.

Forty cars will start the 400-mile race. (the' MEN'S CLUIll in overtime but Buseck met each challenge. In the 75th minute, Austin's Gabe Jones had a one-on-one opportunity but couldn't get the ball over the 6-foot-2-inch Buseck. "You're a little bit afraid especially when you're pushing so hard and having chances and chances," Lone Stars Coach Wolfgang Suhnholz said. "In the back of your mind you're always afraid of a breakaway which can turn the game around.

The second half we were all over them. It was a great goal." 11 (1(1 III i the wall, so he was sort of out of position," Veselka said. "I figured I'd just rocket it to the corner. Luckily it went right in." The Menace dominated play in the first half with a slight breeze at its back, but the Lone Stars controlled the second half and the overtime. Des Moines played the overtime a man down after midfielder Seth Modersohn was given a red card with 33 seconds remaining in regulation.

Austin had several opportunities to take the lead in regulation, big bucks clude Bowe, a Brooklyn native, from fighting again in New York state. Newman's company faces the permanent loss of its boxing license in New York state, as does Golota Manager Lou Duva, who was knocked to the ground in the brawl and spent a night in the hospital with chest pains. Duva was accused of charging and bumping referee Wayne Kelly in protest after Golota's disqualification. Bowe, Newman and Duva have 20 days to request a hearing on the charge, Austin advances to championship game on Veselka's shot in sudden death ByDanSilva Special to the American-Statesman OMAHA, Neb. Chris Veselka blasted home a free kick from 25 yards out to lift the Austin Lone Stars past the Des Moines Menace Boxing brawl Associated Press ALBANY, N.Y.

New York's athletic commission essentially has imposed a $1 million fine for boxer Riddick Bowe because of his handlers' actions during a July 11 post-fight brawl at Madison Square Garden. In addition, the boxing licenses of the management of Bowe and opponent Andrew Golota were temporarily suspended, commission spokeswoman Gwenn Lee said Friday. All have the option of requesting a hearing to change those pen alties, she said. 1-0 in sudden death overtime in the first round of the USISL Premier League playoffs Friday night The top-seeded Lone Stars advance to tonight's championship game against the Omaha Flames, a 3-1 winner over the Sioux City Breeze late Friday. Veselka's shot beat Des Moines goalkeeper Adam Buseck high to the right corner in the 101st minute of the match.

"I saw the goalie was setting up will cost Bowe The wild, chair-throwing melee started after Golota was disqualified in the seventh round of his heavyweight match with ex-phamp Bowe for repeatedly land-x ing low blows. Witnesses said a group of 20 people affiliated with the Bowe camp, including manager Rock Newman, flooded the ring. The athletic commission had temporarily held Bowe's $5 mil: lion purse to encourage his cooperation in its investigation. The commission has since released $4 million but recommended Bowe forfeit $1 million because of the failure to control his management, Lee said. She said the action will not pre I M9f" bi, of.

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