Bristol Herald Courier from Bristol, Tennessee • 1

$1 Irvan sits on Valleydale pole1D 4 jfr lA 1 11 11 I li t'1" a a Michael Waltrip survives scary crash3D 1 118th No 28289 $100 Bristol Virginia Tennessee Sunday April 8 1990 48 Pages Plus Supplements BIR is pride and joy Row 3 Herald CourierBill McKee Larry Carrier has made Bristol International Raceway a regional landmark Please see CARRIER Page 12A Shepherd fl MKJ Row 6 Row 7 Ricky 5 I Rudd I 3 Row 8 Row 9 Schrader driver Kodak team Row 12 271 Row 13 Row 14 Chuckle Inside 7E Calendar Row 15 away TV listingCrossword 6E TODAY'S COVERAGE 'film'll WW1 Mark Martin Richard Petty Sterling Martin Kyle Petty Derrike Cope Brett Bodine Dale Jarrett Jimmy Means Jimmy Spencer Michael Waltrip JD McDuffie Rusty Wallace Rob Moroso Dave Mards Dale Earnhardt Bill Elliott Dick Trickle LORI WORLEY Sports Writer Mke Alexander Rick Wilson LORI WORLEY Sports Writer LORI WORLEY Sports Writer Terry Labonte Bobby Hiltin Jr The wheels of justice may grind slowly but in some countries justice more closely resembles a food processor Tomorrow See who walks with the victory today at Bristol International Race way in sports section of the Bristol Her ald Courier Bristol Herald Courier Bristol Virginia Tennessean Sunny and warmer with the lUUni hign in the upper 50s Clear to UJrATUCD nght with the low near 30 1 De YlLHlllLll tails on Page 12A cant lot and I got to thinking how bad it would be if something happened to it then sometimes after I've left and driving down the highway I start worry ing about whether everything is tied down and secured like it should dedication to his job lost on McClure a good he said a very responsible person and he takes this job very seriously And never find a truck any where cleaner than this one very consci entious about The job takes Helbert away from home quite a bit too Depending on the race he has to leave home as early as Wednesday although usually on the road by Thursday In addition to driving the transporter from race to race responsibilities in clude restocking the truck keeping everything in order and within reach should it be needed at a notice He always get to watch all of the races More often than not keeping watch over the truck or getting it getting it cleaned up But he did get to see the Atlanta race a few weeks ago when driver Ernie Irvan fin ished third saw most of it and I got excited watrhing he said was hard not to watch the whole thing he was doing so So his favorite driver? "Ernie grinned Helbert who also admits to being a Richard Petty fan Helbert who drove trucks before taking on a job selling cars in Abingdon and even tually joining the Morgan McClure team might not get to party much but OK with him like to stay with he said exciting and different all the time Some thing different is always happening at every track a lot of Dale Earnhardt continue smoothly a win at BIR is necessary would keep the momen tum going and what we have to do he said have to be consistent and being consistently first in the race is the best way to do it" Last year Earnhardt failed for the first time in five years to win either race at BIR a fact not lost on him had two bad deals there the last couple of he said bad luck You have a bad year every once in a while at a track just got to be patient I love that race track and I feel like get back on top there That place always does good things for BIR is special for Earnhardt Dale Earnhardt won his very first Winston Cup race at Bristol International Raceway back in 1979 Since then captured six more victories on the demanding high banked533 mile ovaL When he chases win No 8 today in the Valleydale Meats 500 he might have just a little more riding on the outcome than in the last couple of years Why? Because the last two years Earnhardt who alread has three Winston Cup titles to his credit came up just shy of adding a fourth championship finishing third in 1988 and second last year Losing what would have been his fourth title by only 12 points to Rusty Wallace last November has been tough for him to handle One thing done how ever is stoke the competitive fires in both Earnhardt and his crew all want that cham pionship he said ever like finishing second and my crew is tired of not get ting to go to New York (for the NASCAR awards Earnhardt comes to Bristol leading the points race by 78 over Morgan Shepherd and hav ing taken the last two check ered flags at Atlanta and Dar lington He feels if his ride toward that fourth title is to ABINGDON When Randall Helbert took on the job of driving the Morgan Mc Cline race transporter last July he thought he was signing up for a relatively easy position that involved a lot of fun and partying At least what' everybody told him Boy were they wrong thinks that racing is just a bunch of parties with a race on is from Castlewood a lot different than that They realize you get up at five and work all day and quit until five that afternoon That leave time for all that partying and Until climbing aboard the Morgan Mc Clure ride Helbert had never driven a race transporter before But it was something 4 wanted to do since the team was bom in 1983 friend of mine knew (team owner) Larry (McClure) and Larry told him that he might be looking for a driver" Helbert said knew that I was interested in the job and 1 one day he just told me that if I wanted to I could try Helbert tried it and liked it a lot In fact in less than a year grown to love his job of hauling the Abingdon based cars and equipment all over the coun try He also enjoys meeting all the different people he rims into and actually likes knowing responsible for the $250000 worth of equipment loaded in the truck Sometimes however he does worry about his precious cargo worry a lot about where I park it" said Helbert like parking where there anv liahta Last week at Darlington there wasn't any place to park it at the motel and I had to park it down the street in a va Valleydale 500 The starting lineup for today's Valleydale 500 Row 1 DArEEniTIAM rh wA EJ Pj Isi 5 KI EH iSk 'JuS will Ottinger captures Grand National event1D I a Kufi L7 L10 Larry Carrier was bom the son of a builder And since the day he was old enough to get a job carried on his craft His most successful endeavor has been Bris tol International Raceway which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year with the running of the Valleydale Meats 500 today and the Busch 500 in August BIR originally billed as Bristol Intema tional Speedway was constructed in 1960 in just six months at a cost of $600000 Carrier got the idea to build a race track in Bristol when he and former State Senator Carl Moore took a trip to Charlotte NC to watch a race met (NASCAR founder) Bill rance and got an agreement on the said i Carrier who financed the building of the track along with RG Pope really had in mind to build it for an income to retire on I didn't plan on working That was until the first race was held in 1 1961 before a sellout crowd Carrier loved it al though there were some ups and downs in the Hrtld CourirChris Taylor Randall Helbert makes sure the Kodak rig always looks picture perfect Helbert relishes his job as rWi jsr tih gr IJHniriM! rfn 1IIW1" 1 TJ nfl Hl wsw syj nEMKSn BwSi Good mornine! 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