MOTOR RACING / DAYTONA 500 : Johnson: Newest Rule Is the Pits

As the 1991 NASCAR Winston Cup series nears its opening with the 33rd running of the Daytona 500 Sunday at Daytona International Speedway, two questions seem uppermost on the minds of stock car racing insiders:

--Can Dale Earnhardt’s black No. 3 Chevrolet be beaten?

--Will NASCAR’s new pit-road procedure put an end to the dangerous conditions of the past season, in which a crewman was killed when hit by a spinning car?

The consensus answer to both seems to be “no.”

Earnhardt’s determination, the preparation of owner Richard Childress’ crew and the apparent advantage General Motors cars have over Ford under the restrictor plate guidelines have made the black Lumina almost unbeatable on the two superspeedways, Daytona and Talladega.

Only a cut tire on the final lap of last year’s Daytona 500 prevented Earnhardt from making a sweep of the two Daytona and two Talladega races. And when Earnhardt’s damaged tire forced him to slow down, another Chevy, driven by Derrike Cope, beat the Fords.

Any thoughts that Earnhardt’s fourth NASCAR championship might make him relax were dispelled last Sunday when the second generation driver from Kannapolis, N.C., dominated both segments of the Busch Clash sprint. After winning the first 10-lap dash, Earnhardt started last in the second 10-lap race and still blitzed the field. After starting 14th, he took the lead before the second lap was over.

“We’ve got some scores to settle from last year, like the Daytona 500 and missing out on the Winston Million,” Earnhardt said. “If we don’t get the cut tire, we know we could have won the million bucks.”

The Winston Million goes to any driver who wins three of NASCAR’s Big Four races: Daytona 500 (richest), Winston 500 (fastest) at Talladega, Coca-Cola 600 (longest) at Charlotte and Southern 500 (oldest) at Darlington. Earnhardt won two of them last year, good for a $100,000 consolation prize.

Bill Elliott is the only driver to win the prize. He won at Daytona, Talladega and Darlington in 1985.

Earnhardt and the rest of the 59 hopefuls for Sunday’s $2.18-million race will get their first opportunity to learn their new pit-road tactics today in the Gatorade Twin 125 qualifying races. The entry has been split, with half the field going in the opening heat with pole-sitter Davey Allison and the other half joining Ernie Irvan, the second-fastest qualifier, in the second 125.

Only Allison, who qualified his Ford last Saturday at 195.955 m.p.h., and Irvan, who did 195.639 in a Chevy Lumina, are assured of their starting positions on the front row Sunday. The remainder will be determined by their finishing positions today.

Earnhardt will be in the second race, starting behind Irvan.

More teams may be watching what happens on pit road than on the 2 1/2-mile banked tri-oval.

In the past, cars were permitted to pit and take on fuel and change tires at any time. However, most stops were made during yellow caution flag periods when cars would bunch behind the pace car and then come roaring down pit road together. The dash often saw cars spinning as they tried to maneuver around other cars. The worst incident a year ago came in the final race at Atlanta when Ricky Rudd’s car spun and slammed into crewman Mike Rich, who was working on Elliott’s car.

This year, every car will be designated odd or even, depending on its qualifying position. When a caution flag comes out, two pace cars will take to the track. One will control the pace of the cars that remain on the track. The second will control the pace of the cars down pit road.

No tires may be changed during the caution flag period. Fuel may be taken on, but all tire changes must be made during green flag conditions.

All cars must remain on the track for at least one lap of green flag racing before they can pit for tires. And only odd-numbered cars may pit at that time. Even-numbered cars will be permitted to pit on the next lap.

“It won’t work,” is the assessment of Junior Johnson, winner of the 1960 Daytona 500 and four times the owner of the winning car.

“What was needed was a way to slow the drivers, and this won’t do it. In fact, they’ll be coming down pit row faster than ever when they have to make a tire change on the green. There’s going to be worse confusion than ever, and there’s no pace car controlling the speed when they leave the pits.”

Another problem may arise when drivers try to keep their cars on the track with worn tires for fear of losing positions while pitting. Some teams, which made as many as 12 tire changes in last year’s race, are planning only three Sunday.

“Late in the race, if the tires start going away, there could be some wild slipping and sliding on the banks,” Johnson said.

“The real answer to the problem is not the complicated rules NASCAR made up, it’s slowing down the drivers. Tell them they’ll be suspended one race if they spin in the pits and you’ll see them police themselves. I know if that was the rule, and my driver came in hot and started spinning, I’d fire him on the spot. There’s too much money and too much sponsor involvement to take a chance on missing a race.”

For the time being, though, NASCAR’s pit-road follies may be as exciting as Earnhardt’s charge to the front--but probably not as impressive.