Kingsport Times from Kingsport, Tennessee • 19

Thursday April 6 1978 Kingsport Times 3C UTSHIAN MAKING COMEBACK BID New Owners Bringing About BIR Rebirth Many race fans had their doubts that Bristol International Raceway would ever lure the big crowds back for NASCAR Grand National racing The attendance for the two Grand National events each year had steadily declined There was a need for a shot of something to rejuvenate the interest but no one seemed to Denny Parnell On Racing LANNY HESTER co-owner RICHARD PETTY Mnx continue! GARY BAKER co-owner By DENNY DARNELL Assistant Sports Editor It's been a long drought for John A Utsman Early in the 1975 season the Utsman team had everything going right Utsman had won three of four races and finished second in the other Late Model Sportsman event Then the first disaster struck Utsman during practice for a race at Kingsport International Speedway was heading down the front straight at top speed When he let off the accelerator going into turn one there was no slowing down The gas pedal had stuck sending Utsman straight into the wall The car rammed the concrete full speed rode the wall into turn two and then flipped completely over Utsman walked away with only bruises and scratches but the Ford Fairlane was demolished That was almost two years ago and Utsman has yet to get back in the win column been second a few times but it" he said have to say it's been a long dry spell That was the first of two major problems that has plagued the team The second is the swift Chevrolet products that have dominated the LMS scene the past couple of years "We went to a Falcon in 1976 and '77 and ran faster than we ever ran with the Utsman said the car was no match for the Chevrolet products be able to come up with the right prescription Well the right prescription came along It was in the form of Lanny Hester and Gary Baker who purchased the track during the winter The pair brought a for to Bristol and immediately set out to solve the problems And to find the solution Hester and Baker went directly to the fans and ask what changes they wanted to see made at the track Sweeping changes have been made for the racing season at BIR and the approval of the fans is evident as a throng of 29000 was on hand Sunday for the running of the Southeastern 500 The feeling here is turnout is only the beginning at BIR Look for an even larger turnout for the Volunteer 500 set for Aug 26 That race will feature one of the sweeping changes the pair has Grand National racing Hester and Baker are making every effort to give the fans the best in racing with the most modern facilities available One of the most talked about features at the track Sunday was the electronic scoreboard erected this year Fans were able to keep up with the top five positions lap-by-lap throughout the race and knew exactly how far down each driver was in the field quite an improvement over the old board in the infield Overall the facilities were in top shape for the race and the pair are looking toward even greater improvements in the near future It can be said Grand National racing had a rebirth in Upper East Tennessee this past weekend Having a relief driver available at BIR has become customary in recent years The track called the toughest on the Grand National circuit has had few drivers stick with the 36-degree turns for the entire 500-lap grind There was a lot of joking going on in the pits prior to race especially in the Richard Petty stable When a reporter ask Petty who would be standing by to relieve him Petty replied are you going to be doing Sunday Petty had more to offer about finding a relief driver is the only track I know of where they don't have an exit tunnel from the infield but when you look to the pits to find a relief driver no one is around" he quipped find a driver mechanic or anyone If you happen to spot someone the next lap around be gone" The disappointment for the Petty team continued at BIR Petty went out early in the race in a continuation of what he called his luck" He did get back in the action relieving Lennie Pond in the WIN Chevrolet and kept the Herb Nab crew laughing with his comedy Petty offered this description of who produced the fourth caution of the day cat in car No Petty said after emerging from the Pond car "Some cat hit me in No 4 and I spun it out I decided two times was enough I gave the car back to Since Petty is much taller than Pond it was close quarters in the Chevy was all elbows arms and legs" he said the car got looser than I like to drive it But it was fun the longest I've stayed in a race at Bristol in a long time New Surface To Make Darlington Track Tough Look for the Nab-Pond team to claim its first win of the season within the next few weeks The team is just beginning to jell A good bet would be a Pond victory in the Virginia 500 at Martinsville Nab has a fantastic record at Martinsville In the last 11 Winston Cup events run at Martinsville Nab prepared machines have led 3130 of the 5154 laps run Nab has produced four winners at the track including the last three races The team came close to a win at Richmond early in the season and has never been out of the top 10 cars always did run good at Martinsville" Nab said just something I learned there I think Lennie will do a real good job there His style of driving is the kind that gets you around the a a a a Jack Man" Ingram a frequent visitor to Kingsport International Speedway on the Late Model Sportsman circuit has lost 30 pounds over the winter and the former LMS champion says he feels great because of it Ingram is expected to be making several of the races at KIS this season Volunteer To Run Saturday John A Utsman once a Ford favorite has been forced to switch to a Nova to stay competitive finished second in the Southeastern 500 last weekend is among the entrants in the race that is expected to attract 60000 spectators Other top drivers in the race include defending champion Darrell Waltrip Richard Petty David Pearson Cale Yarboroughand Donnie Allison who finished second last year Qualifying for the first 12 positions was to begin at 2 today Twelve more spots will be decided Friday and the remaining cars will be chosen Saturday The Rebel qualifying record of 155 433 miles per hour was set by Pearson in 1975 BULLS GAP Volunteer Speedway lauches its weekly racing program here Saturday night with competition in three classes On tap will be a pair of 10-lap heat races and a 50-lap feature in eight-cylinder competition a 35-lap feature and a pair of 10-lap heats for the sixes plus a 20-lap Bomber race Volunteer Speedway opened last week with a 100-lap six-cylinder special won by Bob Street of Jonesboro This race will launch the season's weekly program which will be held on Saturday throughout the season Qualifying is slated for 7 with racing scheduled to start at 8 pm Volunteer Speedway is located just off 1-81 at the Bulls Gap-Greeneville exit DARLINGTON SC (UPI) When qualifying for the $165000 Rebel 500 begins at Darlington Raceway today top drivers will find a few changes have been made in the track A new surface has been applied at the first and fourth turns where drains were installed to help eliminate a water problem The drains were filled with crush rock covered with asphalt and then sealed Buddy Baker who rented the track recently to test his cars thinks he may have an advantage over the other drivers because he has tested the new surface soon as the track opens for practice and qualifying the cars will quickly cut through the sealer and the speeds will gradually he said you could run three days and qualify you could set all kinds of records I want to see the expression on their faces the first time they go out and practice It's going to be a very interesting qualifying Baker said the fourth turn is as as a piece of oiled someone doesn't bust his tail coming off that turn I'll be he said "It was so slick when we first got here that I spun out my family ear" The winner in the 36-car field Sunday will collect more than $18000 Benny Parsons who holds the lead in the Winston Cup Grand National point standings and JC Boys Win JOHNSON CITY Preseason Big Seven favorite Science Hill ran its record to 5-1 with a 7-2 tennis win over cross town rival University High Wednesday It was the play of No 1 seed Jim Shulman that kept the junior Bucs afloat He scored victories in both doubles and singles competition The only JC loss came at the hands of Vrginia High The Toppers host Central today Science Hill 7 University High 2 Singles Jim Shulman (UH) over Andy Loitenen 5-7 6 4 6 4 Kevin Kusock (SH) over Wolter Williams 6 16 1 Greg Eckfe'd (SH) over Bobby Gordner 6-3 6 3 John AAorsholl (SH) over Don Horris 6-3 6-3 Tote Jacobs (SH) over Bill Haynes 6-1 6-0 Chris Robinson (SH) over Perry Warden 6-2 63 Doubles Shulmon Willloms over Loitenen Kusock 9 7 Robinson Morshall over Diddle Worden 6 3 6 3 Greer Poole over Daigneault Miller 6-1 6-1 track record at KIS was 14 99 when we were running the Fairlane We were able to do much better than that in the Falcon but the track record now is 14 52 and a good many of the Chevrolet products are down around that mark We just couldn't compete with them in the Falcon The small block Chevrolet engine was introduced to Grand National racing in 1974 and great improvements followed immediately to increase the horsepower While General Motors was making plenty of advancement Ford was dropping all efforts in racing completely "That's the whole story right Utsman said "We tried but we were fighting a losing battle We just couldn't compete with the Chevrolet products So the logical choice for Utsman was to join the Chevrolet ranks And that's what the former KIS champion did Utsman is piloting the Ed Whitaker Nova this season in LMS competition as well as a Whitaker entry in races on the Grand National circuit had our problems this year but they are things that we think can be worked Utsman said car hasn't been handling well at all and even if it were handling well we haven't been getting the horsepower necessary to run with the front runners certainly not satisfied with the way running It just takes time We feel close to being able to run with the local drivers as far as speed goes We just have to get the car handling in the turns" One of the problems the team is trying to solve is the type of springs used in the Nova always ran leaf springs in the Ford products" Utsman said "Now we're using coil springs on this car We were able to make the leaf springs work so we think we'll be able to solve the problem we re having right now with the coil springs While Whitaker handles the engine building for the team Cecil Utsman is at work on the chassis to solve the handing woes Both have made progress and Utsman feels it's just a matter of time until the team gets the car running competitively past week I think we were farther off than we'd been the week before" Utsman said "But we were running on old tires We bought new tires for the 150-lap race but dropped out early We decided to use the tires last week knowing we couldn't run up front hope to get everything worked out and offer a challenge like Bob Pressley and these other front runners to at least know we're out there We think come in the next few weeks hard at work trying to get to the point of being competitive" The Utsman Nova is sponsored by Lady and Son Auction and will be on hand Friday night at KIS for the Winston weekly racing series The Utsman team is hoping they've made the right changes this week to earn a top finish in the field The racing program at KIS Friday night includes a pair of 10-lap heats and a 75-lap feature for the LMS division plus a pair of eight-lap heats and a 30-lap feature for the Street Stock class Qualifying is set for 7 with racing slated for 8 o'clock New Ford Econoline Van Designed for move-around room Comfortable Built Ford tough Ford Vans are priced for immediate delivery! Parsons Increases Point Lead Bobby Allison the only tones so far this season driver to notch two vie- with $94655 BEST V-8 GAS MILEAGE RATINGS IN A PICKUP BEST 6 GAS MILEAGE RATINGS IN A PICKUP FORD TOUGH TRUCKS WITH THE BEST GAS MILEAGE RATINGS 2617 MPG MPG HWY CITY Ford F-100 with 5 a litr (302 CID) V-6 and manual transmigaion 2819 MPQ MPQ HWY CITY Ford F-100 with 4 9 litra (300 CID) Six and manual tranamiaaion ft Natural Rebel Lures in stock Crappie Color Natural Ike Lures in stock Al Good selection of colors Johnson Century Reel MORE ABOUT MILEAGE RATINGS EPA astimstas Your actual milssge may vary dapandir on your vahicla condition optional aquipmsnt and how and whara you drtva (Comparison abova axcluda car-trucks and diasai) DAYTONA BEACH Fla Darrell Waltrip became the fifth different winner in six races on the 1978 NASCAR Winston Cup Grand National circuit with his victory Sunday in the Southeastern 500 at Bristol International Raceway Waltrip put his Gatorade Chevrolet into victory lane at the conclusion of the $100000 500-lap event and thus added his name to the list of 1978 inners so far on the Winston Cup tour Benny Parsons' second place finish enabled him to increase his lead in the Winston Cup point standings and he now leads defending Winston Cup champion Cale Yarborough by 30 points Parsons has 999 points to Yarborough's 969 Rounding out the top-10 in the points chase are Dave Marcis with 926 points Bobby Allison 863 Richard Childress 784 Lennie Pond 784 Dick Brooks 768 Buddy Arring ton 764 Sip Manning 709 and Ulrich 706 Yarborough continues ti lead in the money-won category with $99220 for the season and needs only $13944 to become the second driver in NASCAR history to win $2 million in Grand National competition Following Yarborough on the money-wor list is Zebco 33 Reel Rj Good Selection of Turkey Calls ji Accessories for Turkey jjj Season to your adVANtage to see all the Ford Vans now at your local Ford dealer At Ford the better ideas keep coming and keep giving you an adVAfitage.