Food City 500 Preview
April 13, 1997
Bristol Motor Speedway
Bristol, Tennessee
Race 7 of 32 on Winston Cup Circuit
TV: ESPN, 1:00 p.m. EDT
Radio: MRN Radio 1:00 p.m. EDT
Laps: 500
Track length: 0.533 miles
Race length: 267 miles
Banking: 36 degrees
Qualifying record: Mark Martin, 125.093 mph, August 1995
Race record: Cale Yarborough, 100.989 mph, 1977
DRIVERS TO WATCH
Jeff Burton -- his victory in Texas last week put he and brother Ward in the company of the Labontes, the Bodines, the Allisons, the Parsons, the Flocks and the Thomases as brothers who have each won at least one race in NASCAR's top division; Burton has four top-fives in his last five races, and is currently fourth in points; the 1994 Rookie of the Year, Burton has three top-fives in his 21 short-track starts on the Winston Cup circuit; comes from a short-track breeding ground in South Boston, Virginia.
Dale Earnhardt -- seemed to get things together at Texas last week, finishing a season-best sixth; at the point where breaking his 33-race winless streak has got to be secondary to getting consistent top finishes with new crew chief Larry McReynolds; broke into the top-10 in points for the first time this season after Texas; tied with Cale Yarborough for second most career wins at Bristol with nine; has 17 top-five finishes in 33 career starts at Bristol; has the distinction of coming from furthest back in the field (24th) to record a win at Bristol.
Jeff Gordon -- on a short-track streak with 10 straight top-fives on short ovals, dating back to a seventh place finish at Martinsville in September 1995; looking for his third win in a row in this race; has four top-10s in eight career starts at Bristol, and sits 13th in money earned at the Tennessee track; dropped to fifth in points after disappointment at Texas.
Dale Jarrett -- is showing that he can move to the short ovals from the superspeedways without losing a step; four of his last five starts on short-tracks have resulted in top five finishes (a 16th at Martinsville in September is the only blemish); has finished in the top-three in the last five races this season, and nine of his last 12 overall; has finished in the top-10 in 11 of his last 12; has a 95-point lead in the Winston Cup standings.
Terry Labonte -- has 11 top-10s in his last 12 starts; in 159 starts on short-tracks, the Ice Man has eight wins and 109 top-10s; his runner-up finish in this event last year moved him into the top five in points for good; has a pair of wins at Bristol, 16 top-fives and 26 top-10s in 36 career starts; trails Dale Jarrett by 95 points for Winston Cup points lead.
Mark Martin -- still looking to get back to Victory Lane, now having gone 40 starts without a victory; a blown engine at Texas gave Martin his worst finish in 22 races; Martin has 51 top-10s in 92 career starts on short-tracks; has 10 top-five finishes in 20 career starts at Bristol.
Ricky Rudd -- has three top-fives and four top-10s through six events this season; once again, quietly situated in the top 10in Winston Cup points at sixth; four times a runner-up without a win at Bristol; has 90 top-10s in 158 short-track starts, including 23 top-10s in 37 starts at Bristol; the last of his three victories on short-tracks came at Martinsville in 1986; the only currently active Winston Cup short-track Rudd hasn't won on is Bristol.
Rusty Wallace -- short-track superstar won the first short-track race of the season (Richmond), and now has 21 wins in 107 career short-track starts; won under the lights in August for his sixth victory in 26 starts at Bristol; his early exit from Texas gave him his third DNF of the season and dropped him to 16th in the points; in the three events he's finish this year, Wallace has a win and two sixth place finishes.
Darrell Waltrip -- his history at Bristol can't be ignored, but Waltrip's 10th place finish at Datyona is his only top-10 of the season; without question, the best ever at Bristol; the Tennessee resident has 12 wins, 26 top-fives and 32 top-10s in 44 career starts at Bristol; had a best finish of 11th in two races at Bristol last season.
