GM Goodwrench Service 400 Preview
February 23, 1997
North Carolina Motor Speedway
Rockingham, North Carolina
Race 2 of 32 on Winston Cup circuit
TV: TNN, 12:30 PM EST
Radio: MRN Radio, 12:30 PM EST
Laps: 393
Track length: 1.017 miles
Race length: 400 miles
Banking: 22 degrees Turns 1&2
25 degrees Turns 3&4
Purse: $1.4 million
Qualifying record: Jeff Gordon, 157.620 mph, 1995
Race record: Bill Elliott, 126.125 mph, 1992
Drivers to Watch:
Ricky Craven -- set his career best with a third-place finish in this race last year, and tied that with a third in the spring race at Darlington and in the Daytona 500 last week; the 1995 Rookie of the Year is the newest addition to the Hendrick Motorsports stable.
Dale Earnhardt -- okay, so he still hasn't won the Daytona 500, but he's made it to victory lane in this race twice and at Rockingham a total of three times in his career; he's never started a season at the top of the Winston Cup points table, but he's still managed to accumulate a record-tying seven championships; Earnhardt is the defending event champion; in 36 starts at Rockingham, he has 12 top-fives and 25 top-10s; last year, he led 95 laps, outdueled Dale Jarrett and won the race under caution after Bobby Hillin went in the wall on lap 391.
Bill Elliott -- led 30 laps at Daytona, was strong in the 125s and looks like he's ready to be a contender again; since 1993, has just one win (the 1994 Southern 500) and managed to go without a top-five in a rough 1996 campaign; ranks fourth among active drivers for career Winston Cup wins with 40; three time winner at Rockingham, including the race record holder with his 1992 victory; has 11 top-fives and 19 top-10s in 34 career starts at Rockingham.
Jeff Gordon -- won Daytona after finishing next-to-last in 1996; finished next-to-last at Rockingham in first race here last season; his victory in 1995 is his only win at Rockingham as well as his only top 10 finish; has 20 career wins, making him fifth among active drivers in wins and 23rd on the all-time Winston Cup winners list; his win in 1995 was from the pole.
Dale Jarrett -- a runner-up finish in this race will give him three straight in the number two spot at Rockingham; followed up his 1996 Daytona 500 victory over Dale Earnhardt with a runner-up finish in a battle with Earnhardt here last year; in the fall race at Rockingham finished second to Ricky Rudd; won a 125-mile qualifying race at Daytona and was strong in the Daytona 500 until a wreck knocked him out late in the race.
Terry Labonte -- opened the defense of his Winston Cup title with a second-place finish at the Daytona 500; so smooth and efficient as a driver that he virtually goes unnoticed until the end of the race; dominated most of last year's spring race by starting from the pole and leading 198 laps before overheating due to a blocked air intake duct knocked him out; has a pair of wins and 13 top-fives in 36 career starts at Rockingham; his win in 1986 driving an Oldsmobile was the last win by a manufacturer other than the three currently competing on the Winston Cup circuit; Sunday will mark his 539th consecutive Winston Cup start.
Mark Martin -- led the most laps in the Daytona 500, but came up short at the end of the day; mechanical troubles ended his day after 247 laps in this race last year, but he came back to finish seventh in the fall race; has 11 top-10s in 21 career starts at Rockingham, including a win in the 1989 fall race; swept the Busch series races at Rockingham last year; currently riding a streak of 16 consecutive top-10 finishes.
Kyle Petty -- has posted three of his eight career Winston Cup victories at Rockingham; is the leader in career winnings at Rockingham with over $900,000; has finished in the top 10 in 12 of 33 starts at Rockingham; not a particularly strong showing at Daytona in his first race as owner/driver; comes to Rockingham 14th in championship points.
Ricky Rudd -- was a runner-up at Rockingham three times before breaking through with a win in the fall race last year; his Ford showed a lot of muscle at Daytona, and he finished ninth; has 11 top-fives and 15 top-10s in 38 starts at Rockingham, including a fourth-place finish in the this event last year; looking to extend his streak to 15 consecutive years with at least one Winston Cup victory.
Rusty Wallace -- disappointment at Daytona, but returns to a track where he is the leading active career winner with five victories; he and Richard Petty are the only two drivers to win three consecutive races at Rockingham (Wallace did it by winning this event in 1993 and 1994 as well as the fall race in 1993); also won two in a row with a fall win in 1988 and a spring win in 1989; has 12 top-10s in 26 career starts at Rockingham.
