Nascar Back On Track
The stock car season gets a running start today with pole qualifying for the Feb. 15 Daytona 500.
A few million folks will flock to 33 NASCAR Winston Cup events this year, most thrilled to share the site with their favorite drivers and cars. Millions will watch on TV.
And many million more will continue to wonder about the lure of America’s fastest-growing pro sport.
“What always comes to mind in speaking with others in other sports is they find it extremely hard to believe that the fans are able to get as close,” driver Dale Jarrett said. “And how the drivers interact with the fans, really until it’s time to go racing, until it’s time to get in the car. I think that’s what sets our sport apart, and something we don’t need to lose.”
The machines will again be a big part of the NASCAR story line, especially how the new racing Ford Taurus fares after mixed preseason reviews. But its people are what makes NASCAR’s motor run.
Can seven-time Winston Cup champion Dale Earnhardt, whose popularity seems to grow with every week he doesn’t win, finally do so for the first time in 59 starts - and finally win the Daytona 500? Can Ernie Irvan, a major fan favorite after beating death in an August 1994 crash at Michigan Speedway, find happiness after being fired?
Will cheers or jeers be the weekly salute at the mention of reigning Winston Cup champ Jeff Gordon, the Boy Wonder booed mercilessly most of last season? Can the ever gentlemanly Jarrett join Richard Petty (seven), Cale Yarborough (four) and Bobby Allison (three) as a Daytona 500 three-time winner?
Can series sophomore Mike Skinner, Earnhardt’s teammate and surprise winner of last year’s Daytona 500 pole, repeat?
And so on, down to whether Dave Marcis, 56, will ever quit despite winning just five times in 834 starts.
The first official Daytona practice was Friday, and the Fords were fast again, but not fastest. Two-time series champ Terry Labonte led with a lap of 192.193 mph in his Chevrolet Monte Carlo. Second was Ford’s Rusty Wallace (190.696), followed by the Chevy of Skinner (190.428), Pontiac’s Derrike Cope (190.355), then the Tauruses of Jimmy Spencer (190.299) and Greg Sacks (190.138). Gordon’s Chevy was No. 7 (189.958).
“I’m shooting for the front row,” Wallace said. “But that 5 car (Labonte) is just fast as lightning. He’s way above everybody.”
The hotshots will be joined by 14 drivers new to their teams.
But few have more to prove than Irvan. The 1991 Daytona 500 winner is rebuilding again after being booted from the famed No. 28 Ford by team owner Robert Yates. Replacing Irvan is Kenny Irwin, whose lap of 190.609 mph was best in preseason testing.
Irvan’s new ride is a Pontiac fielded by Nelson Bowers and driven to a 27th-place points finish last year by Cope. Irvin was the fastest Grand Prix in Daytona testing, but the speed of 188.830 ranked 12th overall.
Irvan acknowledged he likely will be overlooked at the outset.
“But I’m just going to have establish myself again,” he said. “I would rather ‘em not look at me as a contender. I’d rather ‘em not really care about how I’m running, and just all of a sudden I show up. Hopefully, we’ll be a sleeper this year.”
Jarrett is among the few who can’t sneak up on anyone. And his eyes are primarily on Gordon, who led last year’s 1-2-3 Daytona 500 sweep for owner Rick Hendrick.