EDITORIALS AND SCRAPBOOK HISTORY!
This Page Is Made Up Of Miscellaneous NASCAR News Stories & Also Some Stories I Have Found Interesting From My Personal NASCAR Scrapbooks From staff, wire reportsTHE FOLLOWING TWO PIECES OF INFO CAME FROM THE ARTICLE ON HAYES/O'CONNELL!
Corinth driver earns spot in Goodwrench 500 field ROCKINGHAM, N.C. -- Corinth race car driver J.T. Hayes earned a spot in first NASCAR race with a little help from the rain. The second day of time trials at the Goodwrench 500 were rained out Friday, allowing Hayes and 16 other drivers to join the field for Sunday's race at the North Carolina Motor Speedway. Hayes, a rookie on the NASCAR Winston Cup circuit, will start from the back of the field in the No. 36 spot. The final qualifiers were placed in order that they registered for the race. Hayes, 31, failed to make a qualifying attempt Thursday but did practice. Kyle Petty won the pole on Thursday when the top 20 positions were filled. Dan McLemore, a vice president of a Corinth motorcycle and marine dealership and a friend of Hayes, said he spoke with Hayes after he made the Rockingham lineup. "J.T. sounded like he was scared to death when I talked to him," McLemore said. "He's very excited. This is a new experience for him. He said the only thing he has been able to concentrate on is getting the car ready for the race. McLemore said Hayes won't take any chances that could spoil his NASCAR debut. "With this being his first race, J.T. said he was just going to lay back and ride, just let the chips fall where the may," McLemore said. Hayes will be driving car No. 91, a 1990 Ford Thunderbird owned by Junie Donleavy of Richmond, VA. Jackson stock car driver Lake Speed is serving as the crew chief for Hayes' pit team. The Goodwrench 500 will be carried live by ESPN (Tupelo cable channel 14), starting at 11 a.m.
Auto Racing
Corinth driver qualifies..............................................6BCorinth race car driver J.T. Hayes earned a spot in first NASCAR race with a little help from the rain. The second day of time trials at the Goodwrench 500 were rained out Friday, allowing Hayes and 16 other drivers to joint eh field for Sunday's race at the North Carolina Motor Speedway. Hayes, a rookie on the NASCAR Winston Cup circuit, will start from the back of the field in the No. 36 spot. The final qualifiers were placed in order that they registered for the race. Hayes, 31, failed to make a qualifying attempt Thusday but did practice. Kyle Petty won the pole on Thursday when the top 20 positions were filled.
Did a look see thru my NASCAR scrapbooks and did find the 1990 Goodwrench 500 lineup and Hayes was posted in a provisional for No. 38 spot but after Ken Schrader and Richard Petty ended up in the back of the pack he was moved up to No. 36. J.T. finished 38th after have some engine problems. Did some reading about that particular weekend trying to find any information on J.T. Hayes.
Highlights from the Charlotte Observer articles: Friday, March 2, 1990 "Kyle Petty pulled one of the most popular surprises in recnet NASCAR history Thursday, driving his Pontiac to the pole at 148.751 mph for the Goodwrench 500 at N.C. Motor Speedway. When the Winston Cup Series race starts at 12:10 pm on Sunday (ESPN) it'll mark the first time in 277 big-time NASCAR starts dating to 1979 that the third-genteration driver has taken the green flag No. 1."Friday, March 2, 1990 "Rain washed out final time trials Friday for the Goodwrench 500 stock car race Sunday. However, it was anything but a dull day at N.C. Motor Speedway as drivers Davey Allison, Ken Schrader and Brett Bodine were victims of bizzare incidents. Allison fainted several minutes after being put in a headlock by a teammate during horseplay in the garage area at the track, and after regaining conscious- ness was flown to Memborial Hospital in Charlotte for further tests. Schrader was involved in a crash for the third time in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series season, and for the second time in three races has been forced to turn to a backup Chevrolet for a race. The engine in Bodine's Buick caught fire as his crew was changing it. The blaze was put out with a fire extinguisher."
Saturday, March 3, 1990 "Winston Cup director Dick Beaty held a terse, unusual news conference Friday morning. At his side was Jack Roush, owner of the team that fields driver Mark Martin's Fords. The two cam to the track's iinfield media center to squelch rumors that Martin's car was powered by an illegal engine and had illegal tires at the finish of last Sunday's Pontiac 400 at Richmond, in which it placed first. After the race, the team was fined $40,000 for having a 2 1/2" carburetor spacer plate, instead of one 2" high. The Roush outfit also had its 46 WC points taken away."
Sunday, March 4, 1990 Barney Hall, broadcaster, will miss his first WC race in MRN's two decades. He was involved in a pedestrian accident the week before at the conclusion of the Richmond race.
Sunday, March 4, 1990 "Dale Earnhardt won the Goodwrench 200 stock car race Saturday after leader Dale Jarrett clipped a slower car and spun with three laps to go at NC Motor Speedway."
Sunday, March 4, 1990 "During practice Saturday, WC Champion Rusty Wallace, winner of last year's Goodwrench 500, saw the windshield of his Pontiac blow apart. The starter ring broke and flew into the windshield, shattering it.
Sunday, March 4, 1990 "Allison -- 'The doctors found nothing except what's suppose to be there. They did tests in 18 hours that usually take three or four days....The doctors want me to play it safe. I respect their judgment, so I'm going to bite the bullet a little bit and get out of a car for only the second time in my career. I couldn't have a better relief driver than Hut..... We'll probably lose a lap or two making the driver change, but we have a driver and car that can make it up. I hope to be waiting on them in Victory Lane." (Hut and the car finished in 34th after engine troubles)
Monday, March 5, 1990 Kyle Petty Hits Pay Dirt At The Rock! "List another stock car racing record for the Petty clan of Level Cross. "A Rich One" Third-generation driver Kyle Petty - son of all-time WC Series victory leader Rchard and grandson of NASCAR pioneer Lee - over- whelmed his opposition Sunday to win the Goodwrench 500 and earn $294,450, the biggest single-race prize in the sport's history. Petty's purse, including a $228,000 bonus for winning from the pole, easily exceeded the previous NASCAR record $204,150 collected by Bill Elliott in winning the 1987 Daytona 500."
Tuesday, March 6, 1990 Backing Lacking for Teams "A lack of sponsorship apparently is going to force the teams of drivers Larry Pearson and Ernie Irvan off the circuit at least temporarily. Owners David Pearson and Junie Donlavey indeicated at NC Motor Speedway that the Goodwrench 500 was their last race for a while unless backing is secured........ Just days before the Daytona 500 the well-liked veteran Donlavey was aglow over what he called his "best deal in four decades of racing." But the deal turned out to be a dud......"
I could go on but I think this was enuff for now........