The Stuart News du lieu suivant : Stuart, Florida • 22

The New Thursday May 23 1996 jvnuosG Gordon paces Chevrolets in Coca-Cola 600 trials as equal as ever been They re strong right now" Gordon said oCthe ds neht now trying to not i the said Gordon one of four Monte Carlo driven in Wednesday night's top five on die 15-mile high-banked tnoval The Chevrolet teams had been expecting Jeff Gordon turned a fast lap of 183773 to win the pole for Sunday's 600-mile race a dominating performance by Fords Pontiacs which were allowed by NASCAR Bobby Labonte were second- fourth- and fifth-fastest Wednesday night The lone Ford driver to crack the top five was John Andretti whose third-place showing was his best qualifying run of what has been a disappointing season for him real nappy with it Now we can go said Andretti who has no finish better than ninth this season and is in 35th place in the 1996 driver standings Veteran Busch Grand National driver By JoeMacenka Associated Press sports writer Chad Little making his first Winston Cup 500 start since the season-opening Daytona very Fords worry about change Craven continuing his recovery from various injuries suffered in a barrdjpoil crash April 28 in Talladega Ala complaining after his lap of loi-oii nearly 1 mph slower than Gordon ran really feels good just to get back up to Craven said Winston Select winner Michael Waltnp had the eighth-fastest speed Wednesday night when the top 25 starting spots were set The remainder of 43-car storting grid was to be determined a seepnd round of time trials Thursday Those who failed to make the top 25 included Darrell Waltrip Sterling Marlin and Rusty Wallace They all had the optiott of on their first-round performances trying again today last week to make body changes designed to help them compete with the redesigned Monte Carlo The sanctioning body took the action because Chevrolets have won 28 of 41 races since the new Monte Carlo was introduced for the start of the 1995 season Fords looked strong last weekend in The Winston Select all-star race at Charlotte their first event with the new body changes The performance led to widespread complaints by Chevrolet drivers that it would be more of the same Wednesday night and that NASCAR officials had given the Thunder-birds and Grand Prixs too much help But Chevrolet drivers Ricky Craven Terry Labonte and defending 600 champion was sixth fastest Wednesday night the top performance by a Pontiac driver Despite the Monte success Wednesday night the Chevrolet teams said they still expect Fords to have the edge in race the longest on the circuit Am A Uea4 tne4 lilA SUM CONCORD NC Jeff Gordon re-sponded to alleged advantage on the Winston Cup circuit by leading a strong Chevrolet showing in Wednesday first round of time trials for the Coca-Cola 600 Gordon turned a fast lap of 183773 to win the pole for Sunday's 600-mile race at Charlotte Motor Speedway It was his third consecutive pole for the 600 but his first No 1 starting spot of the season after winning eight poles last year on the way to capturing the Winston Cup championship really think we had the car for up This is just a one-lap lacking in standing or iiiiu''imnnwir experience PAST PACT! I laetod to taka over lha car raytsa qualified on lha poia for tha Indy 600 Ongato S3 and 10 ysara (amoved from Indy-car compaction will bo the okh oat and loot atartar In Iho 33car flaki FORMULA ONE NSXT RACM Juna 2 Spanish Grand Prlx Barcelona LAST WBSKi Wat and rainy eondF( dons stopped lha Monaco Grand Prlx after! a 2-hour dma limit with uat three cars still running and OBvbar Paaba taking die chocfcsrad flap PAST PACT! Tha French Uglat team's last previous victory baton last weekend' triumph at Monaco waa In the 1981 Canadian Orand Prlx Jaaqaaa LaP Me won tha race which waa Mopped after S3 laps due to rain SUPERTRUCKS TUCSON SOO Mm Tucson Racoway Park K-mile paved oval Tucson Ariz Mm Saturday TV: ESPN2 pm MST T) OUALWYMO! Friday LAST WHKi Idto PAST FACT) Now Hraaday Jr wM bo honored whan ha returns to defend the Tucson tkto ha captured tost year Tumor Mayor Qacrga MMar has proclaimed "Ron Homaday Jr Day" NHRA NffXTIIACM June 8 Pontiac Exciter marl National Columbus Ohio LAST WHKi Bill Yatoa and Jotm Force won Pro Stock and Funny Car respectively at Engllahtown and each' xtondod tHiif iMdi slop Iw point Inga PAST PACT! Jsa 35th career Top Fuel ovont last weak to da Mm wAh Dsn OariHs as tha winnlngaet Top Fuat driver In NHRA hMwy ners The only other tires that have been used on Indy winners were Michelin (1912) Palmer Cord (1914) and Goodrich CARBURETION DAY: Die final practice before race will be a two-hour session pn Thursday still known as Carbu-retion Day even though been used: in Indy cars in decades die US Auto Club historian Donald Ds-vfalsM said of the continued use of that archaic term After the final practice the next time the cars will be on the track will be Sunday morning when they are lined up three abreast in 1 1 rows to await the start of the race NOTABLE I HAHHYi StorlM about longtime NASCAR craw chief Many Hyde who died last week wars on lust about everybody's lips during The Winston Cup Select all-star weekend st Charlotte Motor Speedway One of many hinny stories about one of the sport's most beloved men occurred long ago on a very hot afternoon at one of the dusty bullring tracks where NASCAR ran In Its formative years Buddy Baker driving for Hyde at the time was experiencing a handling problem and radioed to Hyde in the pits asking II he should come in "Not yet the crew chief replied "But I got a handling problem" the driver said "Yeah but me and the boys are eating ice cream cones right Hyde said "I'll call you when we're Hyde who was the model for Robert Duval's character Harry Hegge In the movie of Thunder" was 70 when he died of a heart attack YOU HO QUNSi Tony Stewart a dazzling Indy-car rookie who will start on the pole in Sun-day'a Indianapolis 500 has inevitably been compared with Jeff Gordon who has become one of the biggest stars in NASCAR's Winston Cup series at the tender age of 24 Stewart who turned 25 on Monday came up the same way as Gordon through the U8 Auto Club's open-wheel divisions They are both seemingly naturals In anything with wheels always set the goal In that whatever division I was running at the time I wanted to be the best I could be" Stewart said "As far as comparing me to Jeff Gordon I haven't won a Winston Cup championship yst "The weird thing about Jeff's career and my career is that we've run almost identical stuff Jeff started out In quarter-midgets and then moved to sprint cars at 14 1 started out running go-karts Basically his steps happened earlier in age two months apart in age and seemed like In each racing category about the time he was moving out I was moving into' that division We were Just kind of a step apart from each other I look forward to racing him someday' COOL HANOI Paul Newman Oscar-winning actor and coowner of the Newman-Haas Racing Indy-car team will drive the pace car Sunday for the start of the inaugural US 500 at Michigan International Speedway Newman who competed for years as a driver in sports cars and sedans retired from oorti petition at age 70 after sharing the drive in a class victory in Febru-- ary 1996 In the Daytona 24 Hours spiorta car endurance race "I have no plans to start racing again but then I retired 15 years In a row before tt finally hh home" Newman said "My instinct Is to quR while I'm ahead But who knows? Maybe on my 75th birthday I'll take a shot at Rfi LBADUM MANi Three-time PPG Cup champion Hobby Rahal will be making hla 20th career start Sunday at Michigan International Speedway in the US 500 making him the leading active Indy-car driver at the 2-mlle high-banked track He also Is the active leader In miles completed with 7030 second to retired Marfa Andrei H's all-time best of 7822 Rahal also is the leader among active drivers in times led at MIS (30) and is second In laps led with 415 trailing only Michael Andretti's 518 The 43-year-old Rahal who has won three races at Michigan (1902 1985 and 1906) still holds the 250-mile record at the track averaging 181701 mph In the 1906 event CARTOOfta The latest personality to promote NASCAR's Winston Cup series on TV Is cartoon character part of the latest effort-by ESPN's consumer marketing department to promote Rs "RPM2Night" show and other race-related attractions on the cable network A series of spots featuring NASCAR drivers team members and officials discussing the prospects of competing against the famous fictional driver and his high tech 5" race car follow the tradition of ESPN's recent tongue-in-cheek campaign promoting Rs nightly shows with stars from the NHL NFL and other sports Among the people appearing in the new spoils will bis drivers Dale BandwidL HH Mflott Jeff Gordon Dele Jarett Terry Is-bonte Kyle Petty Rusty WaB-aee and former star Rtahanl Petty In addition NASCAR officials David Hosts Mike Helton Gary Nelson Steve Paterson and Kevin Tilplstt appear In one spot In which they are looking into whether Speed Racer's "Mach 5" meets NASCAR technical specifications CLOU COUNTS! The cumulative margin of victory for the four races run so far this season in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck series Is 2056 seconds Mike Mas won the moat recant race at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe Wash by just 0392 seconds over series point leader Ren Homaday Jr In 24 races since the series debuted In 1995 the total margin of victory remains less than 25 seconds Seventeen of those events including all lour this year have 'been decided by one second or MOVING ALONGi The pro stock motorcycle field last weak at Englfshtown NJ was the quickest in NHRA history John Myers was No 1 at 7440 seconds and WM Johnese No 16 at 764a both on Suzuki GSXRa The previous quickest field came at Richmond Va earlier this season Associated Press the don' ig to show Indy field INDIANAPOLIS The 33 drivers in the Indianapolis 500 storting field last year had a total of 129 years of experience in the race the lowest in decades This year? Only 75 years Take away the 1 1 starts apiece Indy 500 notebook Steve Herman Associated Press sports writer by Arie Lueyndyk Roberto Guerrero and Johnny Parson and the 10 starts by Danny Ongsis and the remaining 29 drivers average 11 starts apiece The 75 driver-starts this year is the lowest since 1931 when the 28 veterans in a 40-car field had 71 previous starts The number has dropped each year since a record-tying 260 years of experience in 1992 It fell to 209 in 1993 and 154 in 1994 and the big reason then was the retirement of AJ Foyt Rick Johnny Ru- Mesrs A1 Unser Sr tberford Gordon Johncock and Mario Andretti along with the absence of other Indy veterans such as Tom Sneva Pancho Carter and Gary Bettenhausen Then in 1995 Emerson Fittipaldi and A1 Unser Jr failed to make the race This year most of the veteran drivers headed to the US 500 in Michigan because of the Championship Auto Racing -Teams feud with the new Indy I the CART record 260 years was first set in 1987 the previous record was 237 set in 1986 The 1990 race also had a combined 237 years and the 1991 field had 241 years of experience LOOKING FOR HISTORY: If Tony Stewart leads the opening lap of Indianapolis 500 he will become only the third driver ever to pace the field in his first lap of competition at the Speedway first was Johnny Althea who took the lead on the first lap of the first 500 in 1911 The other was Teo Fsbi who grabbed the lead from a pole-position start in his rookie race in 1983 First-time starter Paul Bost led the opening lap in 1931 but he drove relief in an earlier race and was not considered a rookie MEDICAL UPDATE: Billy Boat the first alternate in the race still has not been cleared to drive in Thursday's final two-hour practice Boat a rookie was the only driver bumped from the lineup in qualifications last week but suffered a slight separation of his left shoulder when he crashed on Sunday He was released from Methodist Hospital on Tuesday and will be examined again Thursday morning Speedway medical director Dr Henry Bock said Another rookie Dan Drinsn remained hospitalized but continued to improve from injuries in a crash on Saturday Drinan under-went surgery for a broken hip and is expected to be released Satur- PROBLEM? Mmldb Gardens 623-4052 Elisio Salazar needs a cane to navjgate pit row the result of a broken right leg suffered in a crash' during a practice run in Orlando on Jan 26 WINSTON CUP COCA-COLA aoo HStTBi 6Nk Chariot Motor Speedway 15-mlto tri-oval Concord NC DATS Sunday TV: TBS 6 pm EOT QUALIFYING Friday-Saturday BBFBNPINQ CHAMP! Ole Bobby Labonto LAST WHKi Idto PAST PACT1 Brothara Mb and Tarty I Miala flniahad 1-2 In laal yaar'a Charlotte raca brothers Ml and WaiS urban flniahad 40lh and 41at In lha 42-ear tiaM BUSCH GRAND NATIONAL Dll Charlotte Motor Speedway 15-mlto trl-oval Concord NC DATA Saturday TV: TBS 1pm EOT aUAUPVHMi Friday Chad LAMP i his drat Busch Orand National Sartos victory in 78 careor starts by holding off poloolttor PAST PACT) The lato Tie mad la tha only driver to rapaat aa wln-nar of tha Charlotte Buach aariaa raca pravalllng In 1865 and 1866 Ha won both iL 1 llwffl ViG pOIGi INDYCAR Sim Brooklyn International Spaed way 2-mito paved oval Brooklyn Mich Mm Sunday TV E8PN 2 pm COT MPSNDINa CNAMPbONi Inaugural running LAST WHKi Idto PAST PACTl Although this Is tha Arab US SOO the Michigan track to wall known to tha driven who have battled on since 1878 SMtaal AadrabM to tha only twoffmo winner of a 500-mlto event at tha track INDY RACING HAGUE Sim Indianapolis Motor Spoodway 25-mltooval Indtonapolto Mm Sunday TV: ABC Noon EOT Vlltoneuve day or Sunday TIRE WARS CONTINUED: Nineteen of the 33 starters in Indianapolis 500 will be on Goodyear tires The other 14 including rookie pole-starter Tony Stewart will be using Firestones Four-time winner A1 Unser Sr was the last winner to use Firestone tires on his race car a quarter-century ago After Unser's victory in 1971 Goodyear won the next three years before Firestone dropped its racing program Firestone returned to racing in 1995 when the highest-finishing driver using its tires was Him Matsushita in 10th place Firestone which dominated the early years of the 500 has supplied tires for 48 Indy winners Goodyear has been on 27 win- QUICK LUBE4XL CHANGE I FILTER te -M A ftifll1 8 SERVICE HOURS 7:30 AM TO 5:30 PM 4200 Ft The cut the fort in my knees my left foot and he said minimal My foot and ankle bother me a little bit on cold days so do my knees better when it's wanner Dismore is one of 17 drivers in the largest group of first-time starters since there were 19 in 1930 The number of rookies and the absence of former winners Bobby Rahal A1 Unser Jr and Emerson Fittipaldi are due to the feud between Champ" Teams hampionship Auto Racing and the Indy Racing League founded by Speedway president Tony George The battle over the direction of open-wheel racing in the United States became more intense when George unveiled plans to reserve 25 qualifying spots in the traditional 33-car storting field for IRL regulars Rahal Fittipaldi and Unser will be driving Sunday in the US 500 a race scheduled in Brooklyn Midi by CART Arie Luyendyk is the only former Indy 500 winner racing here this month INDY CONTINUED FROM B1 time try to walk on crutches I would he said fainted four days in a Salazar had his first two surgeries in Orlando and then owed Trammel doctors in Orlando were telling me it would be six to nine months before I could walk I tokl him to do what you have to Salazar said of Trammel want to race If I can walk fine but I wanted him to do what he could to make me Trammel who has also treated four-time Indy 500 winners AJ Foyt and Riot Mean has heard the message many times almost never ask I be able to drive Trammel said all ask will I le to driv That was what was on the mind of Lazier and Dismore is only a hurdle to me I don't feel like won anything by getting back here the 41 -year-old Dismore said only come away from this race happy if all my goals are rehabilitation wasn't easy either easy to get frustrated You make gains that are infinitesimal hardly he said need to know that you have good peopk erythii pie helping you and that to yc You have to be stubborn You have to have a positive attitude you have to have a goal He credits his wife Donna and Trammel for helping make his comeback possible wife is absolutely my best friend Without her it would have been ten thousands harder than it was not describable how much she meant to me then and now" Dismore said Dismore says the injuries are still painful get the DOlYOUlHAVElAN ERECTION Champ has prices on these service speclalsl NofrSunical Metfiooion Only 9SX Success lab 'Most balances Accepted Melons ABofdobfe Witaut Insuora Fne ConWenSd Comukofon Hugo Hernandez HD Medlosl Centers For Men jytdbowM Omoond Idk Jbdncwili 1-800-800-1495 I 1 FOUR WHEEL COUPUTEMAUNCV! A Ai I STUART 335-2500 FT PIERCE 461-4800 US 1 Pierce 421 Northlake Blvd7 North Palm Be a ch 881-8999 got a little bit of discom- ttiirntminint if s- I 1 1 Gi i.