CBS SportsLine wire reports
Sept. 30, 1998

CONCORD, N.C. -- The owners of three Chevrolet teams on the Winston Cup circuit announced a collaborative agreement Wednesday aimed at helping them improve their cars' aerodynamics.

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Richard Childress Racing, Dale Earnhardt Inc. and Andy Petree Racing have hired Automotive Aerodynamics Inc. to handle aerodynamic engineering for their Winston Cup, Busch Grand National and Craftsman Truck teams.

The pact calls for each team to have full access and share all information developed by AAI, including results of wind tunnel and track tests.

"We're looking toward the future," Richard Childress said. "Dale, Andy and I have all worked together in the past. Together we felt that we needed to do more to supplement what General Motors already provides for our race teams."

The alliance could end up aiding six Winston Cup teams. Childress already fields two teams, and DEI and Petree plan to follow suit.

Rudd's reaction

Judging from the reaction he got after he arrived in the garage area at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Wednesday, Ricky Rudd's victory last week in Martinsville, Va., was a popular one.

"There's been a tremendous amount of support," said Rudd, whose victory gave him at least one in each of the last 16 years on the circuit. "It feels good to come in here to Charlotte and have your fellow competitors, guys that we work hard to beat, come up and congratulate us on a job well done."

Rudd needed assistance to get out of his car after going 500 laps on a hot, humid afternoon in Martinsville, and he ended up with blisters on the back of his body because of the severe heat inside his car.

"I've been burned before, and they make a cream that I've been using for a couple of days," he said. "That's not going to be an issue. I think the biggest thing is getting my stomach to feel better, getting recharged and getting a lot of fluids back in me so on race day we'll be able to go out there and run 500 miles."

Cope's company

Derrike Cope is the fourth active Winston Cup driver to get his first career pole at Charlotte.

The others were Brett Bodine in 1990, Jeff Gordon in 1993 and Ward Burton in 1994.

Pole parity

Cope's pole gave Pontiac its ninth top starting position of the year, the most by the automaker in NASCAR's modern era.

Ford leads the circuit with 10 poles and Chevrolet has nine.

Busch backers

Two Busch Grand National teams announced new primary sponsors for 1999.

Buckshot Racing will be backed by Cheez-It Snack Crackers. The team's cars will be driven by Larry Pearson. He takes over for Buckshot Jones, who is moving up to Winston Cup racing next season.

Team 34 will be sponsored by Phillips 66. Todd Bodine will return as the driver.