The Charlotte Observer from Charlotte, North Carolina • 25

THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER Friday February 1 2 1993 5B MOTORSPORTS IROC lineup J- Damaged car is salvaged with help from some friends DAYTONA NOTEBOOK The lineup picked by blind draw for opening round of the 1993 International Race of Champions Series in which all drivers compete in identically pre-pared Dodge Daytonas: 1 Juan Manuel Fangio II Argentina IMSA sports cars 2 Alan Kulwicki Concord NASCAR stock cars 3 Davy Jones Zephyr Cove Nev IMSA sports cars 4 Davey Allison Hueytown Ala NASCAR stock cars 5 Al Unser Albuquerque IndyCar 6 Al Unser Jr Albuquer- que IndyCar 7 Harry Gant Taylorsville NASCAR stock cars 8 Ricky Rudd Chesapeake Va NASCAR stock cars 9 Jack Baldwin Marietta Ga SCCA Trans-Am 10 Bill Elliott Dawsonville Ga NASCAR stock cars 1 1 Arie Luyendyk The Neth- erlands IndyCar 12 Geoff Brabham Austra- lia IMSA sports cars torches drills and Sanders trying to get it right No one was sure what the patched-up hand-me-down car would do when Sauter turned his first lap at 185 mph It handled better than anyone dreamed Well enough in fact for Sauter to stay in the race and finish 17th start 39th Sunday in the Daytona 500 field of 4 1 next time just come and build the car Allen joked later bring a seat and a driver and car owner Jerry Mueller added Jimmy Means was released from Halifax Medical Center Thursday morning after being held overnight with a broken left shoulder blade and slight concussion suffered in a wreck during Winston Cup practice Wednesday sit out at least two weeks and as many as four Substitute driver Jimmy Hensley will start 38th in Daytona 500 in NAPA Ford Richard Petty is the featured guest on at 1 1:30 pm on ABC as anchor Ted Koppel explores corporate America's interest in motorsports Koppel will interview stock-car King live from victory lane at Daytona International Speedway where Petty is making his debut as owner of the No 44 Pontiac driven by Rick Wilson By LIZ CLARKE Staff Writer DAYTONA BEACH Fla They looked like ants crawling over Jim trashed and mangled Ford Twelve men sanding drilling welding and hammering in a frantic attempt to resurrect the wrecked heap in time for 125-mile qualifying race that determined who would run in the Daytona 500 Ford was among those involved in an eight-car pileup during practice Wednesday When the chain-reaction started Sauter spun 180 degrees slammed Labonte into Jimmy car and then into Bobby When it was over the underside of the nose was missing and the rear end demolished For the money teams like Darrell Waltrip and Michael Waltrip the wreck meant have to use back-up cars in Thursday races But for Sauter a father of 1 1 who owns a garage in Wisconsin and runs a handful of Winston Cup races each year it meant some tough fast decisions His sole back-up car sat in Random Lake Wis and no other driver had a car to lend It was either pack up and go home as fellow driver Eddie Bierschwale would or work through the night They started at 5 pm Sauter a first-rate fabricator set to work on the body and his seven crew members set to work Soon the donations started rolling in: a new deck lid from Robert Yates a fuel cell from team a tail from the Bobby Allison car Kulwicki offered everything in his said crew chief Terry Allen So did the Sabco guys from Felix teams Even NASCAR helped by keeping the garage well past 10 pm At 5:30 am Thursday they were back at work All they needed was to get the car to run one lap If they did that Sauter could stand on his qualifying time for a start in 500 A guy named Mark from Larry team came by to lend a hand Four 1ROC mechanics ambled over By mid-morning there were men in work shirts of all kinds Allison Racing IROC Ford Pontiac crawling under over and around the car with Associated Press Tom Higgins Read NASCAR's leadingreporter in only one newspaper This one (The Charlotte (Dbscruer No catching Dale: Dale Earnhardt (No 3) holds off a last-lap charge from Geoff Bodine to pick up the victory in one of twin 125-mile qualifying races at Daytona For one day only this Saturday brought your Scott Edge prices even lower brought the cars inside too! find Buicks with $5000 Discounts Subarus at Factory Invoice and Jaguars Discounted up to $12000 Yes used cars are included for this Special Inside Sale Come early come inside drive home in a new or pre-owned Buick Subaru or Jaguar only from SCOTT CARS I Buick Jaguar Subaru! 400 Tyvola Rd at 1-77 527-7000 Time of race: 47 minutes 41 seconds Avg speed: 157288 mph Margin of victory: car-lengths Caution flags: Two for seven laps Lead changes: Five among three drivers Lap leaders: Earnhardt 1-2 Rudd 3-17 Earnhardt 18-25 Irvan 26 Earnhardt 27-50 Time of race: 48 minutes 56 seconds Average speed: 1 53270 mph (race record) Margin of victory: Two car-lengths Caution flags: Two for nine laps Lead changes: Two among three drivers Lap leaders: Petty 1 Elliott 2-21 Gordon 22-50 Daytona Vet Earnhardt rookie Gordon cruise to qualifying victories Continued from page 1 SERVING CHARLOTTE SINCE 1977 I TOTALLY GOLF TOTALLY DISCOUNT DO IT NOW BEFORE THE SEASON STARTS AND HmUST PRESENT COUPON 1 REGRJPPIMG on the outside pole Gordon and Earnhardt will make up the second row for race (noon CBS WBTV channel 3 in Charlotte) Earnhardt took the lead early in second qualifier and spent the rest of his time fending off Bodine and a frisky Ernie Irvan who kept popping out of line as if to pass then bouncing back to stay in the draft There was plenty of shuffling behind Earnhardt mainly among Jarrett Irvan Alan Kulwicki and Ricky Rudd But none had the raw power to overtake Earnhardt and as a group they muster the necessary camaraderie to draft past him fourth consecutive win in the qualifying event (a record) and his sixth career win tying Cale Yarborough's mark As familiar as Victory Lane is to Earnhardt it was even Earnhardt more alien to Gordon crew chief told him before the race to just concentrate on finishing But Gordon 21 clearly had notions about winning In just his second Winston Cup race Gordon picked off veteran drivers before coming to rest behind race-leader Elliott with Petty riding on his bumper Petty pulled out of traffic apparently going for the lead and in the shuffle that followed Elliott fell in behind Gordon Petty slowly drifted back explaining later that he had intentionally let off to cool off the car But if Elliott chose to follow Gordon because he thought he'd have a better chance of taking him at the finish he was wrong any way to get a run on him" Elliott said "He did an excellent Gordon thrust his left fist in the air then radioed for directions to Victory Lane my he gasped as his car came to rest my God! man! I could get used to this!" Indianapolis 500 champion Al Unser Jr barely qualified for race after blowing a tire Thursday start 40lh in a Ken Schrader back-up car INCLUDES INSTALLATION EXTRA CHARGE FOX OVERSIZE each CHOOSE FROM: GREEN VICTORY TACKI-MAC OR PRO ONLY PUTTER GOOD THRU 220931 or FULL SERVICE REPAIR CENTER! Reshafting Regripping Refinishing Swingweighting Loose Heads Length Adjustments Loft Lie Adjustments Remove Rattles And All Other Repairs! DROP OFF AND PICK UP YOUR CLUBS AT ANY OF OUR 3 CHARLOTTC -GIFT CERTIFICATES AVAILABLE- WE SHIP VIA UPS 1 4412 CENTRAL AVENUE 8500 PINEVILIE-MATTHEWS RD 5640 SOUTH BOULEVARD A 1 Mile Bom Eastland Mai Intcfscction Of Blbome On Highway 51 Countryle Shopping Center Scside Across From Pace Warehouse Mite South of Tyvola 536-9021 541-6950 523-7262 ZS STORE HOURS: MON -FRI 10-6 SAT 9-6 LA2.