The News and Observer from Raleigh, North Carolina • 33

tra Nus OBSERVER FRIDAY JULY 19 1996 AUTO RACING CMG 5c D0 North Wilkesboro in limbo Riis still leads despite losing stage FROM WIRE REPORTS Amt IVA 1 ji--10e NNt''' i vire4' Pt a-- 0:14 A rt A 4 1 4 ttl 1- f- -tvrtc A 1 1 A 1 gg 1 1 4 rf t' i '61 41411 t444'1141 I 1 g': -e 6 They're like kids playing with toy cars in a sand box each coveting the same car Then once Junior gets his hands on Bubba's prized car neither wants it Bruton Smith and Bob Bahre are race track owners entrepreneurs extraordinaire and 50-50 partners in North Wilkesboro Speedway Each got what he wanted from the bucolic track that recalls the very roots of tr NASCAR racing Each got a date for another venue and 5-I now neither wants the track 1 unless he can have it all 14 4i Meanwhile North Wilkesboro Speedway president Mike Staley his hands tied waits for the co-owners to GEM) decide if they ever do MtiRTIN the fate of the Wilkes County short track And Wilkes folks according to Staley "are terribly upset" about a recent Smith comment "I know people up here all over the county" Staley said in a telephone interview Thursday "got really mad when Bruton said the other day that he'd just shut the track down if Bob wouldn't sell his half to him" Smith asked about the comment said he still will do whatever he can "to preserve some things at North Wilkesboro We will have to go through a process of doing something I don't foresee anything happening at North Wilkesboro at this point We need to wait and see if all Mt Bahre wanted was the date As it stands I can't shut it down and Bob can't shut it down" Bahre has said from the beginning that he forked over $8 million to the Staley family for the sole purpose of securing a fall date for a second Winston Cup race at his New Hampshire International Speedway Everybody talks forty or fifty thousand but! know what's there But it can make money on a lesser scale" Smith would not speculate about whether he and Speedway Motorsports Inc or Bahre might eventually obtain 100 percent ownership of North Wilkesboro Speedway Smith said he has not offered to buy Bahre's share since the original offer Staley meanwhile said he must wait too although he thinks some sort of NASCAR events could be in the works for next year at North Wilkesboro "I'm not sure what will happen" Staley said "But I know the track has a lot of potential But until Bruton and Bob settle it we don't know what we can do I defmitely want to keep the track going "Busch Grand National and truck races are being discussed but I can't get into anything in detail until something is settled" So apparently there's an impasse in the sand box All or nothing The only thing for sure is that Smith and Bahre each took a North Wilkesboro date and after Sept 29 Cup racing at the track apparently will be no more PIT NOTES: Raleigh driver Loy Allen will run only a limited schedule of Wmston Cup events for the remainder of the season after an agreement reached with 'rriStar Motorsports and team sponsor Healthsource which will limit its involvement to next week at Talladega and future events at Darlington Charlotte and Atlanta Greg Sacks will continue driving the Diamond Ridge Chevrolet in the next four races unless the team signs a driver to complete the season and to drive in '97 Qualifying begins today at 3 pm for Sunday's Miller 500 at Pocono The race scheduled to begin at 1 pm will be aired by TBS and MRN Smith who got a Cup date for his new super-speedway in Texas reiterated Thursday that he is concerned about the fans and the economic impact on Wilkes County if the track closes "Not once did I ever say I wanted to take a date from North Wilkesboro" Smith said "I had a master plan for the place and it never dawned on me that I would have a partner I don't do business that way I don't have partners And trying to deal with Mr Bahre at North Wilkesboro would never work" Smith who declined to reveal the master plan said he offered $12 million a $4 million profit for Bahre's interest which was purchased after Smith had obtained a 50- percent interest from the Combs family of North Wilkesboro Bahre meanwhile said that although he doesn't want to be involved in the operation of North Wilkesboro he would consider buying Smith's interest and that he doesn't understand why Smith would want to close the track "I think that sounds a little ridiculous" Bahre said "to close it down and hurt the fans if he can't own it all He talks about how he wants to take care of the fans but acting that way not wanting to run it if he can't own it all is just going to hurt the fans" Bahre at first said he would buy Smith's interest then said "I'd have to think about it" He also said he thinks North Wilkesboro could be profitable as a venue for minor-league NASCAR races "You wouldn't get rich with it" Bahre said "but you could make some money I think this year it will probably make $900000 before taxes The purse for the fmal Cup race in September is around a million dollars "For our truck race here in September! think we've already sold nearly 40000 tickets You've got 34000 seats at Wilkesboro HENDAYE France Name Riis of Denmark moved another stage closer to winning the Tour de France by keeping his lead through Thursday's run which was won by Dutch rider Bart Voskamp With only a fiat stage today and the Tour's second time trial Saturday remaining before the ceremonial spin through Paris on Sunday Riis all but locked up his victory The 32-year-old Dane finished with the main pack of riders 16 minutes 56 seconds behind Voskamp in the 96-mile 18th stage over the Pyrenees Mountains from Pamplona Spain Five-time defending champion Miguel Indurain finished with the main pack and was 15:36 behind Riis About 15 riders pulled ahead of the group halfway through the course and Voskamp outsprinted Germany's Christian Henn to win his first-ever Tour stage Italy's Alberto Elli finished third 27 seconds back "I stayed on Henn's tire over the final stretch and I made my sprint and pulled ahead" said Vositamp 27 a fourth-year pro Riis and the overall leaders didn't push the pace Thursday after two grueling climbing stages through the Pyrenees With none of the riders in the breakaway a threat to his lead Rils rode near the front of the main group as the course wound down fo the Atlantic Coast Professional photographers boycotted the stage after French LEquipe photographer Patrick Boutroux was knocked off his motorcycle by sports director Alvaro Pino of the Kelme team on Wednesday Boutroux 44 who suffered cuts and bruises on his left leg hip and shoulder said Pino should be given a one-day Bart Voskamp wins the 18th stage through the Pyrenees THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Photographers decided to boycott because Pino didn't apologize or receive a reprimand or fine from Tour officials The result of the boycott was that TV viewers were treated only to helicopter coverage not the up-close-and-personal view the 32 photographers on motorcycles usually offer The photographers said they would be back on the course today Before the start of the day's ride Jan Ullrich a German rider remembered Fabio Casarteffi who was killed a year ago in an accident on the Tour Ullrich offered a white flower to each rider of the Motorola stable Olympic road race champion Casarteffi who was with Motorola was killed at the age of 25 in a crash in the descent of the Portet d'Aspet mountain pass in the Pyrenees on July 18 last year His widow Anna-Lisa will be in Paris where the race ends on Sunday to give his reward to the winner of the best young rider's challenge now named after Casarteffi Die Hard fans hope for a cooler race Talladega track officials hope NASCAR will allow them to switch the hot summer race to OdobeL THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Grand National race but would likely boost attendance at the Die Hard on Sunday Freeman said "If we lose 10000 seats on Saturday at $35 a head because of college football and pick up 10000 seats on Sunday at $60 a head because it's cooler it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out we'd come out better in that deal" he said Freeman said CBS which televises the race is in favor of the move because the network no longer has NFL games to televise in the fall NASCAR is considering the request No announcement is expected for several weeks possibly months There's also high school football pro football and the baseball playoffs But with the Winston Cup schedule in a state of flux because of the addition of several new tracks Freeman said the time has come to consider a change "We'd have to take a deep breath and roll the dice" he said "But we'd be willing to try it if we can find a good weekend where there's not too much conflict with college football" Freeman declined to specify a date but NASCAR competition director Mike Helton said track officials are considering the second weekend in October The move could keep some fans away from the Saturday Busch about for years and years" track spokesman Jim Freeman said He cited a 1994 fan survey that showed heat was the top factor for those who said they would not attend the Die Hard But the move isn't a done deal race sponsor Sears is concerned that TV ratings might drop for a fall race "Sears is not real thrilled with it because the TV ratings would probably drop a little from what they are in July when there isn't much else going on" Freeman said "The race sponsor is a serious deal for us If they didn't want to do it that would be a major factor" And while NASCAR is big in Alabama college football is even bigger TALLADEGA Ala Two years ago NASCAR fans at Talladega Super-speedway spoke resoundingly: July is too hot move the Die Hard 500 to the fall Track officials are listening They've asked NASCAR to consider an October date for the race one of two Winston Cup events held each year at Talladega "This is something we've thought i I SPORTS SPLASH JORDAN IETSPORT RENTALS Personal Watercraft: otz Go Ronnie Reitz 02 604 4)r (f) --J i Golf School 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