ARA Racefacts bulletin and Model Review (10/05/97)
6 October 1997
AUTO RACING ANALYSIS RACEFACTS BULLETIN Dale Jarrett (Ford Quality Care Yates Ford Thunderbird) took his sixth 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup win in Sunday's Charlotte UAW-GM 500. With Bobby Labonte (Interstate Batteries Gibbs Pontiac Grand Prix) second and Dale Earnhardt (GM Goodwrench Plus RCR Chevrolet Monte Carlo) third, all three Winston Cup marques finished in the Top Three! Through twenty 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup "superspeedway" (mile or greater oval) races, Jeff Gordon leads with seven wins to four for Jarrett; Mark Martin has three, Jeff Burton and Ricky Rudd two apiece. Single superspeedway wins have been scored by John Andretti and Ernie Irvan as eight drivers have accounted for the 20 wins. Ford has taken 13 of the 20 victories, Chevrolet 7. Hendrick Racing has won 7 of the events, Roush and Yates five apiece, Rudd Racing two and Cale Yarborough's team one. In the 13 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup "superspeedway" events on ovals of 1.5-mile or greater (excluding the "miles" and Darlington), Jeff Gordon's edge over Dale Jarrett is only one victory, 4 to 3! Mark Martin has two wins, with one apiece for John Andretti, Jeff Burton, Ernie Irvan, and Ricky Rudd as the same eight drivers have scored the wins! Ford leads Chevrolet, 9 to 4. Hendrick and Yates are tied with four wins apiece, followed by Roush with three, with the Rudd and Yarborough teams at one each. Jimmy Spencer (ALL-PRO Bumper-to-Bumper Chevrolet Monte Carlo) won Saturday's Charlotte ALL-PRO Bumper-to-Bumper 300 NASCAR Busch Grand National event over Mark Martin (Winn-Dixie Roush Ford Thunderbird) and Tony Stewart (Shell Gibbs Pontiac Grand Prix) as all three GN marques took a spot in the Top Three! Spencer's victory was the seventh of his BGN career but his first on a superspeedway; he won three "short-track" events in 1989 (Hickory, Orange County, Myrtle Beach) driving Buicks, two more "short-track" races in 1992 (Myrtle Beach and Orange County) driving Oldsmobiles, and won at Bristol in August of this season in his Chevrolet! Ford had won four consecutive Charlotte BGN events in 1995 and 1996 (Chad Little in May 1995, Mark Martin in October 1995 and both 1996 events) but now Chevrolet has two straight with Spencer's win joining Joe Nemechek's May victory! There have been 17 BGN "superspeedway" (mile or greater oval) events thus far in 1997 won by eleven drivers! Mark Martin leads with four wins followed by Randy Lajoie with three and Elliott Sadler with two. Single "superspeedway" 1997 BGN wins have been scored by Joe Bessey, Jeff Burton, Jeff Green, Bobby Labonte, Mike McLaughlin, Joe Nemechek, Steve Park, and Jimmy Spencer! Chevrolet has taken eleven 1997 BGN "superspeedway" wins, Ford five, and Pontiac one! Andrea Montermini and Antonio Hermann (MOMO Ferrari 333SP) won last weekend's Pikes Peak SportsCar Exxon WSC event, scoring Ferrari's fourth 1997 win, MOMO's second, and giving the duo the honor of being 1997's first two-time racewinning Ferrari WSC effort! The MOMO team is 1997's second multiple racewinning WSC team, joining five-time winner Dyson Racing! Montermini's win was his second in only seven starts (eight appearances; he was FQ but Did Not Start one event), all in 1997! Andrea's efforts have produced four Top Three "Podium" finishes, four Top Five finishes, and five Top Ten finishes. He has been Fast Qualifier 3 times and has set Fast Lap in six races! Andrea now leads all 1997 WSC drivers with 3 FQs; he also achieved the first 1997 WSC "Sweep" of FQ, Fast Lap, and Victory! Hermann scored his third win in 16 Exxon series starts (18.75%), the Pikes Peak WSC win joining the 1997 Lime Rock WSC victory and his 1995 Sebring 12 Hours LeMans class win. His 16 starts have produced seven Top Three "Podium" finishes, ten Top Five finishes, and 12 Top Ten finishes. When was the last time an Exxon "feature" had six lead-lap finishers? April 7, 1991 in the Miami 2 Hours! The six lead-lap finishers? Winner Raul Boesel in the TWR Jaguar, followed by Tom Kendall in a Chevrolet Spice, Geoff Brabham in a Nissan GTP, James Weaver in a Porsche 962, Chip Robinson in a Nissan GTP, and Bernd Schneider in a Porsche 962! Andrea Montermini set Fast Lap for the MOMO Ferrari team; the Fast Lap was the sixth of 1997 and of Andrea's Exxon WSC career! Montermini's six Fast Laps in nine 1997 WSC races establishes a new WSC season record, bettering the old mark of four in a season first set by Wayne Taylor in 1995's eleven-race season and equalled by Massimiliano Papis in 1996's ten-race season! The all-time record for Season Fast Lap Percentage in the Exxon series' "top class" is 71.4%, established when Peter Gregg took 10 of 14 possible GTX Fast Laps in 1978 and equalled by Geoff Brabham with 10 of 14 possible GTP Fast Laps in 1988! If Andrea Montermini takes the remaining two 1997 WSC Fast Laps, he will finish with eight of eleven possible 1997 WSC Fast Laps, or 72.7%! Bill Auberlen and Boris Said led a BMW Top Five sweep of GTS-3 at Pikes Peak as the PTG team finished 1-2-3! Auberlen's victory was the 12th of his Exxon series career, all in GTS-3! He has won 12 of 84 starts, a racewinning percentage of 14.3%! Auberlen is now tied with teammates Derek Hill and Javier Quiros for the honor of most 1997 GTS-3 wins at four apiece; Said ranks next with 3! Bill is also tied with Said for 1997 GTS-3 leadership in Top Five finishes (8) and with Hill and Quiros in 1997 GTS-3 Lead-Lap Finishes (5)! Auberlen's 12 GTS-3 wins rank tied for 7th on the All-Time GTS-3 Wins list! Auberlen also set Fast Lap, tying him with Henry Taleb for the honor of most 1997 GTS-3 Fast Laps (Las Vegas unknown) with two apiece! Auberlen's Fast Lap was his 15th, tying him for All-Time GTS-3 Fast Lap Leadership with Roger Mandeville! Boris Said's victory was his fourth in 22 Exxon starts, an 18.2% racewinning percentage! ARA MODEL REVIEW 1:18 ERTL 1969 DODGE SUPER BEE Features Steerable Wheels, Opening Doors & Hood, Detailed Chassis & Interior ERTL has produced a very colorful model of the Dodge Super Bee in a bright yellow with black "Six Pack" fiberglass hood and black rear "Super Bee" identifying striping. The famed Super Bee was based on the Dodge Coronet. The model features the standard bench seats; bucket seats were optional. The model's interior is black with a fully-detailed dashboard. The model accurately portrays the fiberglass hood; the car's hood lifted off completely after four chrome hood pins were pulled! The model hood lifts off also; the hood is black plastic (closely resembling fiberglass) and reveals the detailed engine and engine compartment. The Super Bee featured a trio of two-barrel Holleys atop an aluminum Edelbrock intake manifold. The "Six Pack" name popularized the engine. It produced 390 horsepower at 4700 rpm and 390 foot pounds of torque at 3600 rpm. The Super Bee weighed nearly 4000 pounds but produced a quarter-mile ET of 13.6 seconds at 105 mph on its G70 X 15 Redstreak tires! Chrysler's 426 hemi was the top Super Bee engine option. The undercarriage is very well-detailed and includes the dual exhaust system. Model length: 11.25 inches Width: 3.75 inches Height: 3 inches Ertl P.O. Box 500 Dyersville, IA 52040-0500 Our website at http://members.aol.com/autoracg/ provides a wealth of useful and interesting auto racing information!
