Winston Cup Hopeful Makes Test Run In Style

The war against the Chevrolet Monte Carlo’s dominance on the Winston Cup circuit heated up Wednesday with the introduction of an unlikely rival - a luxury car.

Michael Kranefuss, owner of the struggling Ford Thunderbirds being driven by John Andretti, showed up at Charlotte Motor Speedway for an open test session with a Thunderbird and a Lincoln Mark VIII.

Of the more than 40 cars taking part in the test session, held to help teams prepare for next weekend’s Winston Select all-star race, the Mark VIII was third fastest in the first 3 hours the 1.5-mile track was open.

Only Ricky Rudd and defending Winston Cup champion Jeff Gordon were faster. Rudd was clocked at 178.689 mph in his Thunderbird and Gordon did a 178.041 in his Monte Carlo.

Kranefuss said he’s hopeful to get NASCAR approval to race the car soon, possibly in time for next week’s all-star event or for the Coca-Cola 600 the following weekend, also at Charlotte.