UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Thursday, February 13, 1997
5B
Picking NASCAR winner tough
Unknown factors impair predictions
By Mike Harris The Associated Press
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Throw out the form book. The 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup championship race would have a Las Vegas oddsmaker's eyes spinning.
Start with Dale Earnhardt, the seven-time series champion who would give almost anything to become the first eight-time winner.
There are simply too many unknown factors to make more than an educated guess about what will happen.
Earnhardt's 1996 season was made ugly and unsatisfying by a spectacular crash in July in which he fractured his left collarbone and sternum. That virtually ended his chances for the title and left him at the end of the year with a shocking streak of 27 races without a victory.
Now, the 45-year-old Intimidator.
who has 70 career victories, is healthy again. But he's starting the season with a new crew chief and, for the first time, a teammate.
Team owner Richard Childress, recipient of six Earnhardt championships, wrested Larry McReynolds away from Robert Yates Racing. McReynolds is considered among the best in the business, but chemistry among a crew chief, driver and the rest of the team can sometimes be an elusive thing.
Childress has followed the suddenly popular movement toward multi-car teams — better for testing and sharing data — by adding former NASCAR truck series champion Mike Skinner to his garage. Skinner immediately won the pole for Sunday's season-opening Daytona 500.
The best of the multi-car teams, Hendrick Motorsports, has the last two series championships — by Jeff Gordon in 1995 and Terry Labonte last season. A third consecutive title would shock no one, and the addition of Ricky Craven to the Hendrick group appears to
make it even more potent.
But Hendrick is a troubled man
But Hendrick is a grooble man!
First, it was found that he had a rare and deadly form of leukemia for which he is undergoing treatment and likely will need a bone-marrow transplant.
Then he was indicted by the federal government on 13 counts, including money laundering, mail fraud and conspiracy, in connection with his ownership of several Honda dealerships.
Hendrick, who owns the country's biggest auto-dealer network, is free on $1 million bond and no trial date has been set. He pleaded not guilty on Dec. 20 to charges from a 49-page indictment, returned earlier that month, alleging that he bribed American Honda executives for favorable treatment in the allocation of cars and awarding of dealerships.
If convicted of all 13 counts, Hendrick faces a maximum sentence of 210 years in prison and more than $5 million in fines.
While he wages his personal battles, he is confident his racing team can remain successful.
Italian skier slips out of slalom loses World Alpine title to Swiss
SESTRIERE, Italy — Italian sking star Alberto Tomba failed in his giant slalom title defense yesterday in the World Alpine Championships, dropping out during the first run before a boisterous home crowd.
Switzerland's Michael Von Gruenigen finished in 1:23.31, to take a 1.12-second advantage against teammate Steve Locher into the final run. Norway's Lasse Kjus was third with 1:24.59.
Tomba, the giant slamwal winner last year in Spain, dropped out just after a minute into the run after almost falling three times.
"I'm angry and disappointed,
but I knew I had little chance in
giant since I started from the second
group," said Tomba, who
will defend his slalom title Saturday. "Today was not my lucky day. Now I'm looking forward to the slalom, which is my race."
The five-time Olympic and world champion was in trouble after just 18 seconds when he leaned hard into a turn and touched his right hip and side to the snow. Ten seconds later, he also flirted with disaster — again touching his right side to the snow—and needed an acrobatic recovery to make the gate. By that time he was almost four seconds behind Von Gruenien.
The end came when he lost control going through a gate, skidding to a stop. He stood for a minute near the fence and stared up the course shaking his head.
"I took the edge off my skis
because the course was very twisty," Tomba said. "Unfortunately, there were two icy gates, and I couldn't control the skis. I was also having trouble with the alternation of sunny and shady snots on the course."
His failure was not unexpected. The 30-year-old injured his right wrist early in the season, had a bout with illness, and also failed to finish the only World Cup slalom he entered this season.
Von Gruenigen, the World Cup giant slalom leader this season and 1996 world bronze medalist, was the first racer on the course.
"I had the feeling I made small mistakes, but all the skiers today will make mistakes because the course is very tough," Von Gruenigen said.
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