JIFFY LUBE MIAMI 300 RACE NOTES
PIT NOTES, Nov. 15, 1998

        OFFICIALS OF BREWCO Motorsports announced this morning that they have signed Kevin Grubb to drive the team's No. 37 Timber Wolf Chevrolets on the full NASCAR Busch Series schedule next season.

        Grubb, a 20-year-old native of Mechanicsville, Va., is currently third in the Busch Series' Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings entering today's Jiffy Lube Miami 300, behind Andy Santerre (No. 47 Monro Muffler-Brakes Chevrolet) and Dave Blaney (No. 93 Amoco Pontiac).

        "I've been looking forward to this for a long time," said Grubb, who has raced this season with older brother Wayne. "They definitely have a team that can run in the top five or top 10 ... and I definitely plan on running up there and sitting on poles, and possibly winning the
championship. This is what I've been racing my whole career for, to get up there on my own and showcase what I can do."

        Grubb has made 18 starts this season, with one pole position (at Dover Downs International Speedway in September), two top-five finishes -- his best was second place at Dover -- and five top-10 finishes.

        "We've been watching his for a few months, and he's progressed well," said team owner Clarence Brewer Jr. "I think it's always easier to hold someone back than try to push them forward, and I think Kevin's that type. We don't think we'll have a problem with him moving forward on his own."

        Grubb will join another young driver in the BREWCO Motorsports stable next year -- 18-year-old Casey Atwood, who is starting on the pole in today's 300. Brewer announced that Atwood will be driving his No. 27 Chevrolets in 1999, with a sponsor announcement to be made within the next few weeks.

        "It's going to be a two-car team, and hopefully we can announce in the next few weeks a three-car team," Brewer said. "The average age of these guys is 19 years old ... but there's no doubt in my mind that they're the most talented young drivers in the Busch Series. Everybody's seen them week after week, and they've proven that point. If my nerves can stand it, we'll be in real good shape."

        IN A PRESS CONFERENCE held this morning, officials of the Richard Petty Driving Experience announced that they will add the Miami-Dade Homestead Motorsports Complex to their roster of tracks where they hold driving and ride-along programs.

        The first driving and ride-along programs will be held on the 1.5-mile Homestead oval from Jan. 27-31, 1999. Richard Petty Driving Experience will hold such programs at 13 different race tracks across the country next year.

        "We did this for the average fan that sits there and watches all these cars running and says, 'I could do that,'" Hall of Fame driver and RPDE owner Richard Petty said. "For people that really wanted to get a feel. Can't afford a race car, but they're able to come to the Richard
Petty Driving Experience and get that feel.

        "We've got four or five different versions of this. The first thing we do, if you just want to ride, we've got professional drivers that will take you three laps with two of them out there sort of running side by side with each other. Then we have the rookie class, which is eight laps."

        In addition to Homestead, RPDE will also conduct programs at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Walt Disney World Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway, Pikes Peak International Raceway, Daytona International Speedway, New Hampshire International Speedway, Nazareth Speedway, The Milwaukee Mile and Gateway International Raceway.

        Petty, whose son Kyle Petty runs the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, also commented on grandson Adam Petty stepping into the major leagues of stock car racing. Adam won last month's ARCA SuperCar Series race at Charlotte, and will start 33rd in today's Jiffy Lube Miami 300 NASCAR Busch Series race.

        "We felt really good," Petty said. "Fifty-five or 60 cars here and you've got qualifying and that's the first thing you've got to do. This is just his third Busch race. He had trouble with the first two, I think he blew engines, so they're just trying to get him some seat time in Busch so
they can go on to next year and see what's going on.

        "We want him to run some bigger and nicer tracks so that he gets some experience before we get to Daytona, so this is one of the ones that they were shooting for. It's the last race, it's one of the biggest races that NASCAR runs. A huge racetrack Adam had never been on. So right now we feel pretty good about it."

        OFFICIALS OF Reckitt & Colman Inc. announced this morning that they were continuing their NASCAR sponsorship program through their Lysol brand by backing the Akins-Sutton Motorsports team and driver Elton Sawyer on the NASCAR Busch Series next season.

        Akins-Sutton Motorsports, co-owned by Georgia businessman Brad Akins and veteran race mechanic Bob Sutton, will have a two-car team in 1999, fielding Fords for both Sawyer and Glenn Allen Jr. Sawyer will drive the No. 98 Lysol Ford, while Allen will drive the No. 38 Barbasol Ford.

        "Bob and I are very excited about going into 1999 with a multi-car team," Akins said. "Putting Elton and Glenn together next year, we feel like we've put together a duo that'll be complimentary to each other and second to none."

        Said Sutton: "We're having the best year we've had so far, and I think next year can be better. We've looked at having two cars in years past, but we weren't too sure about doing it then. But when we decided to do it, we asked Elton who he'd like as a teammate and he pointed out Glenn Allen."

        Sawyer, 39, will finish in the top 10 in the Busch Series standings for the second straight year with Akins-Sutton Motorsports. The Chesapeake, Va., native began with the team in 1994, but left in 1996 to attempt to run the NASCAR Winston Cup Series before returning to the fold later that season. He will reach a milestone with the team next season when Sawyer starts his 300th career Busch Series race.

        "I'm very excited about 1999," Sawyer said. "I never thought I'd make it to 200 (starts), much less 300. Glenn Allen is a great racer, and together we can take Akins-Sutton Motorsports to the next level. We have a great opportunity ... and we ought to be much stronger next year."