MOTOR RACING / SHAV GLICK : Six Still in Championship Hunt

Overshadowed by the events surrounding the retirement Sunday of stock car racing legend Richard Petty as a driver is the fact that one of the most competitive Winston Cup championships in NASCAR history is at stake.

With only the Hooters 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway remaining in the 29-race season, six drivers have a mathematical chance to succeed five-time champion Dale Earnhardt and win the $1-million champion’s bonus.

Davey Allison, whose season has been one of highs and lows, came out of Phoenix two weeks ago with a tenuous 30-point lead over Alan Kulwicki, with Bill Elliott another 10 back. All three drive Fords. Also within reach of the championship are Harry Gant in an Oldsmobile, Kyle Petty in a Pontiac and Mark Martin in another Ford.

Before this season, no more than three drivers had remained in contention going into the final race.

Allison, whose father, Bobby, won the championship in 1983, must finish fifth or better Sunday to win the title even if Kulwicki wins the race.

“We’re not taking anything for granted, we’re going there knowing we have to finish well,” Allison said. “All you have to do is look at Phoenix and know how the points can change in a hurry.”

Elliott, the only one among the six to have won a championship, had a 70-point lead over Allison going to Phoenix, but came out with a 40-point deficit after Allison won and he finished 31st.

“So much attention is being paid to Petty that it’s making the deal easier on the rest of us,” Allison said. “Most of the media is so focused on Petty, watching everything he does, that what will probably happen, when the race is over, they will suddenly say, ‘Oh, somebody won the championship.’ ”

Allison, who suffered through one crash after another during the season and then had his younger brother, Clifford, killed in a racing accident, said he is emotionally and physically prepared for the final race.

“My thoughts are going to be with Clifford, win or lose, but knowing the feelings that Robert (car owner Yates) and Larry (crew chief McReynolds) have for my family, my mom and dad and knowing all the things we have had to overcome, it will be an emotional ending to the season. If we win, it will be one small way of paying a little tribute to Clifford. If we don’t, it can’t take away all the good things that happened along the way, winning the Daytona 500, five other races and coming back from adversity the way we did, time after time.

“Physically, I feel better than I have since April 1. My only problem is my right wrist. It’s only about 90% back, and the grip is only about 75% what it should be, but on a track like Atlanta most of the steering is done with my left hand.”

Each of the six contenders has something special going for him, Allison said.

“Bill (Elliott) has won a championship before and his car owner (Junior Johnson) has won more than any other, and Atlanta is sort of Bill’s home track. He’s won there, so maybe that’s his advantage. Neither Alan nor I have won a Winston Cup race there, but he has been the most consistent driver over the last few races and I’m coming off a win at Phoenix, so we both have some momentum. That pretty much evens it out between the three of us. The three guys behind us are hungry. None of them have ever won a championship and they have nothing to lose.”

Motor Racing Notes

VINTAGE RACING--Corvette will be the honored marque for the eighth annual Palm Springs Road Races Nov. 20-22. It will start a year-long celebration of Corvette’s 40th anniversary. More than 250 cars are expected for three days of racing over a 14-turn, two-mile course in downtown Palm Springs. Roger Penske will be honored Saturday night at a benefit dinner for the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Ky. Speakers will include Rick Mears, Carroll Shelby, Parnelli Jones, Dan Gurney, Jim Hall, Danny Sullivan and Otis Chandler.

SPRINT CARS--The Slick 50 World of Outlaws series will continue Sunday night at Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix with Sammy Swindell trying to make it two in a row over archrival Steve Kinser, the 12-time Outlaws champion. . . . Doug Wolfgang, who has not raced since a near-fatal accident last April 3, made his debut as a TV announcer on the Nashville Network’s coverage of last Sunday’s race. . . . The California Racing Assn. is off until Nov. 20-21 when the Dave Sanborn Classic is scheduled for Bakersfield Speedway in Oildale.

MIDGETS--Stan Fox, of Janesville, Wis., and Mike Streicher, defending United States Auto Club midget racing champion from Findlay, Ohio, will head a midwestern delegation against Sleepy Tripp & Co. in the 52nd Turkey Night Grand Prix at Bakersfield Speedway on Nov. 26. Fox won the last two Turkey Night races, in 1990 in the final race at Ascot Park and last year at Saugus Speedway. The USAC western regional season will resume Saturday night at Hanford in a combined national/regional main event plus a three-quarter midget main. Tripp has clinched his seventh regional championship but has never won a Turkey Night race.

DRAG RACING--The California Hot Rod Reunion, featuring drivers and cars from the ‘40s, ‘50s and ‘60s, will take place Saturday and Sunday at Bakersfield Raceway, formerly the Famoso drag strip. Ernie Hashim, a former top eliminator car owner from Bakersfield, is grand marshall. Among those expected to attend include Danny Ongais, James Warren, Kelly Brown, Tony Nancy, TV Tommy Ivo, Hayden Proffitt and Larry Dixon.

DRAG BOATS--The Coors Light World Finals, premier event of the International Hot Boat Assn., will be held this weekend on the lake at Firebird Raceway in Chandler, Ariz. Close to 250 boats are expected with rookie driver Clinton Anderson of Alpine, Calif., favored to win the top fuel hydro championship in his 255 m.p.h. “Fatal Attraction.” Winners will be determined in 15 classes at the $60,000 event, which has been dedicated to Denver Mullins, who lost his life in an accident last month at Puddingstone Lake in San Dimas.

STOCK CARS--Dwarf car racing will headline Ventura Raceway’s Saturday night program. Dwarf cars are downsized jalopy-types based on the 1930 Ford sedan body style. Street stocks will also run in the season closer at Ventura. . . . Blythe Speedway will close its season Saturday night with sportsman, street and pony stocks. . . . Modifieds and factory stocks will feature the Saturday night program at Imperial Raceway near El Centro.

MISCELLANY--Leon Herbert III, 22, of Altadena, won the Southern California Karters championship in a 250cc Rotax-engined Dominator superkart. . . . Bob Perkins of Granada Hills has been reappointed to a three-year term as an American Motorcyclist Assn. trustee.