Letterman Confirms Rahal Alliance
02/15/96
The Associated Press reported that David Letterman confirmed reports
that he has become a minority partner in Rahal's racing
team. Letterman announced the deal at a press conference at a Mercedes
dealership in Manhattan. Rahal was present, as was the team's majority
owner and principal driver Bryan Herta. Letterman announced that he
was particularly pleased as the team promised him his own air wrench.
The comedian is not the only celebrity to become a part-owner of an
IndyCar team. He has joined the likes of Paul Newman, Walter Payton,
and Joe Montana.
Rahal is a three-time PPG Indy Car World Series champion and winner of
the 1986 Indianapolis 500. He reorganized his Dublin, Ohio based team
this year after ending a four-year partnership with Carl Hogan.
The Rahal team will be running Mercedes powered Reynard Indy cars this
season. The sixteen race CART season starts in Homestead, Florida on
March 3
Paul Dever -- The Auto Channel
##--##--##news00158
Purvis Wins Pole for Goody's 300
02/15/96
ClariNet ENews reported that Jeff Purvis' Good week in Daytona has
just gotten better. Last Sunday Purvis won the ARCA 200; on Tuesday he
got into his Chevrolet Monte Carlo and clocked a qualifying speed of
189.733, thus securing the pole position for Saturday's NASCAR Busch
Grand National series Goody's Headache Powders 300. Purvis'
qualifying speed for the race topped the speed that scored Dale
Earnhardt pole position for Sunday's Daytona 500 by .220 seconds. Joe
Nemechek captured the second starting position for the race with a
time of 189.370.
Goody's 300 opens this year's Busch Grand National Circuit. ClariNet
reported that the top 11 speeds during Tuesday's qualifications for
the race were all clocked by Chevrolet's. Tuesday's quals locked down
25 of the race's starters.
Paul Dever -- The Auto Channel
##--##--##news00159
Results of Ralleye Quebec
02/15/96
Motorsports News International reported the national results of the
Canadian Association of RallySports' Ralleye Quebec. The race ran on
February ninth and tenth in Quebec City. Here's the summary for the
fourteen cars that finished the race:
Pos Time Vehicle Class Driver/Co-driver
---------------------------------------------------------------------
1 1:33:08 Audi S2 Open Frank Sprongl - Miss, ON
Dan Sprongl - Miss, ON
2 1:39:44 Eagle Talon Prod GT J-Sebastien Besner - Montreal, QC
Jacques Besner - Montreal, QC
3 1:39:54 Eagle Talon Prod GT Selcuk Karamanoglu - Bath, ME
Yorgi Bittner - Plain City, OH
4 1:39:56 Eagle Talon Open Yves Barbe - Laval, QC
B. Gilles Lacroix - Mirabel, QC
5 1:40:16 Eagle Talon Prod GT Joel Goulet - St-Alphonse, QC
Philippe Brasseur - Montreal, QC
6 1:43:54 Escort Cosw Open Carl Merrill - Ogunquit, ME
John Bellefleur - Thornhill, ON
7 1:44:32 Golf GTI Group 2 Jon Nichols - Baie dOurfe, QC
Michael Koch - Nepean, ON
8 1:45:45 Eagle Talon Prod GT Roger Royer - St-Agathe Sud, QC
Pauline Thomas - St-Agathe Sud, QC
9 1:46:04 Golf GTI Prod Spt Bob Eliott - Rutland, VT
Jill Maynard - Rutland, VT
10 1:51:40 Eagle Talon Open Sylvain Erickson - Gatineau, QC
Gilles Nault - Gatineau, QC
11 1:52:05 Suzuki Swift Prod 175 Michel Lavoie - La Baie, QC
Eric Tremblay - St-Jean Chrysostome
12 1:54:22 Golf GTI Group 2 Chico Pereira - Etobicoke, ON
Stephanie Vincent - Montreal, QC
13 1:55:39 Saab 96 Group 2 John Vanlandingham - Stoneham, Mass
Daniel Lajoie - Sherbrooke, QC
14 2:03:44 323 GTX Open Philippe Olczyk - Waterloo, Belgium
Jean-Marc Alcaraz - St-Lambert, QC
##--##--##news00160
Report from Daytona: Green Disqualified; Dallenbach Loses wheel
02/15/96
ESPNET reported that Jeff Green qualified fifth on Tuesday for Goody's
300 (188.017 mph), but was disqualified by NASCAR rules when NASCAR
stewards determined that the spoiler on his Monte Carlo was pitched
five degrees lower than the specified 45 degrees. Green can still
qualify for the race on Wednesday. Wednesday's quals determine
positons 26-38, leaving only the awarding of provisional starting
positions. Teresa Earnhardt, wife of Dale Earnhardt, owns the car
Green drives.
Wally Dallenbach lost a tire during Winston Cup practice on Tuesday
morning and hit the outside wall in turn three. Dallenbach said that
he had wanted to move to the bottom of the track, but moved into the
wall to avoid the risk of running across traffic. Dallenbach was
unhurt and said the extent of the damage to the car is minor: some
sheet metal damage and damage to the right rear wheel well caused by
the tire.
Paul Dever -- The Auto Channel
##--##--##news00161
Twin 125 Mile Qualifying Races for Daytona 500
02/15/96
A report form ESPNET describes the twin 125 mile races that will wrap
up qualifications for the Daytona 500. The pole and second positions
for the Daytona 500 were decided by the 1st round of qualifications
and went to Dale Earnhardt (189.510 mph) and Ernie Irvan (189.336
mph). The rest of the field--with the exception of provisional starting
positions--will be determined by the two 125 mile races that will be
run on Thursday. The two races have been run as qualifications for the
Daytona 500 since its inception in 1959.
Both of the two races have starting fields of 25 cars, and together
they determine starting positions 3-30 for Sunday's 500 mile race. The
first race determines the positions on the inside of the field,
starting in row two, right behind Earnhardt, and moving back through
row 15. The second race determines the corresponding positions
on the outside of rows two to fifteen, starting behind Irvan.
Positions 31-38 are reserved for the drivers with the best qualifying
times who didn't make the field in either the first round of
qualifying or by finishing top 28 in the twin races. The remaining 4
positions are granted as provisional positions to drivers who didn't
make the field during qualifications: three of them are awarded based
on 1995's Top 40 in car owner points. One of the provisional positions
goes to the most recent Winston Cup champion who didn't qualify.
Paul Dever -- The Auto Channel
##--##--##news00162
Honda Announces New Legend to Sell in Japan
02/15/96
The Associated Press has reported that they will introduce their newly
remodeled luxury car, the Legend, into the Japanese auto market. Honda
plans on selling 15,000 of the cars in Japan and 20,000 of them in
North America. The new model will go on both Japanese and American
markets this week.
Paul Dever -- The Auto Channel
##--##--##news00163
Unofficial Results for Arca 200
02/15/96
The Daytona International Speedway published the unofficial results of
the 33rd annual Daytona ARCA 200. Here's the summary:
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
33RD ANNUAL DAYTONA ARCA 200
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
FEBRUARY 11 , 1996
Fin Str Car Reason
Pos Pos No. Driver Team/Car Laps Winnings Out
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 4 1 Jeff Purvis X-1R Chevrolet 80 14,600 RUNNING
2 2 16 Tim Steele H.S. Die/CIM LINC Ford 80 10,700 RUNNING
3 1 3 Mike Skinner Racing For Kids Chevrolet 80 6,900 RUNNING
4 5 52 Andy Hillenburg AC-Delco Chevrolet 80 8,675 RUNNING
5 7 94 Ron Barfield New Holland Tractor Ford 80 4,675 RUNNING
6 14 50 Jeff McClure HamBeens/Hlthsrce/UAW Ford 80 3,950 RUNNING
7 15 32 Mark Stahl Auto Bell Car Washes Ford 80 3,575 RUNNING
8 3 75 Bob Schacht Taco Bell Ford 80 5,775 RUNNING
9 10 66 Mark Thompson Midway Phoenix Ford 79 3,375 RUNNING
10 26 85 Bobby Gerhart Gerhart Truck World Chevrolet 79 3,600 RUNNING
11 6 33 Harris DeVane Carlton Company Ford 79 4,600 RUNNING
12 23 86 Kelly Denton Engineered Alarm Sys. Ford 79 3,175 RUNNING
13 19 11 Andy Thurman Fast Track/Akita Chevrolet 79 4,075 ACCIDENT
14 9 46 Bob Hill Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet 78 5,050 ACCIDENT
15 18 2 Kevin Ray Pro Motion Chevrolet 78 2,750 ACCIDENT
16 33 59 Mark Gibson LC Smith Sales & Lsg Dodge 78 2,650 RUNNING
17 24 51 Ed Dixon Althoff Trucking Pontiac 77 3,550 ACCIDENT
18 31 19 Robert Smith Florida Dreams Ford 77 2,450 ACCIDENT
19 27 24 Scott Neal Martin Landscaping Chevrolet 77 3,450 RUNNING
20 25 77 Gary Weinbroer The Port Hole Oldsmobile 77 2,400 RUNNING
21 37 58 John Wilkinson Ellis Equipment Co. Chevrolet 77 2,350 RUNNING
22 11 28 C. W. Smith C & E Containers Chevrolet 77 2,350 RUNNING
23 29 93 Wayne Larson Karl Chevrolet 77 2,325 RUNNING
24 39 96 Jack Ely Kenova Construction Chevrolet 76 2,300 RUNNING
25 38 0 Delma Cowart Master's Inn Economy Ford 76 2,225 RUNNING
26 40 5 R. C. Hixson Hixson Construction Chevrolet 75 2,125 RUNNING
27 20 26 B. Alexander Lisa Express Chevrolet 74 2,025 RUNNING
28 30 97 Shane Doles Chevy's Cafe Pontiac 72 1,925 RUNNING
29 42 02 Frank Kimmel Danken Construct'n Oldsmobile 72 3,775 RUNNING
30 35 69 Glenn Miller The Chicken Lounge Ford 70 1,775 RUNNING
31 12 05 Doug Reid Long-Lewis Ford 69 1,725 ACCIDENT
32 21 56 Dill Whittymore Indiana Steel Co. Chevrolet 69 3,950 ACCIDENT
33 36 12 David Hall Frog's Fntsy Drvg Exp Pontiac 47 2,550 HANDLING
34 32 10 Glenn Brewer Lewandoski/Norris Trvl Chevy 46 2,600 GASKET
35 8 31 Randal Ritter Ritter Insurance Chevrolet 43 1,500 ENGINE
36 22 22 Billy Thomas J. W. Miller Co. Chevrolet 39 2,450 ENGINE
37 16 6 Perry Tripp WW Transport Chevrolet 37 2,350 REAREND
38 13 29 Darrell Lanigan Lanigan Racing Ford 27 1,250 ENGINE
39 34 57 John Stradtman BFI Chevrolet 26 2,000 HANDLING
40 17 21 Bobby Bowsher Quality Farm & Fleet Ford 18 3,100 ENGINE
41 41 09 Bob Dodds Numerics Unlimited Ford 11 2,000 TRANSMISSION
42 28 15 Dale Kreider Farmer's Choice Chevrolet 4 1,000 CRANKSHAFT
TIME OF RACE: 1:20.29
AVERAGE SPEED: 149.099 mph
MARGIN OF VICTORY: 2 CAR LENGTHS
CAUTION FLAGS: 3 FLAGS FOR 12 LAPS
LEAD CHANGES: 6 LEAD CHANGES AMONG 5 DRIVERS
##--##--##news00164