Racing Team

Like most people involved in motor sports, Robert "Bones" Harvey has made auto racing a part of his life since he was a teen-ager.Starting as an errand boy on his brother Tim's car, Harvey has done everything there is to do in late-model racing. He has built cars, raced and owned them.The 44-year-old Finksburg native started in racing 30 years ago when modified Ford coupes ruled the local race scene.He raced several years for himself and for Mike Woolford of Westminster, picking up two feature wins in the mid-70s at Lincoln and Potomac speedways.

Craig Mann feels he is fortunate. Not many are asked to join a racing team to drive the second car regardless of the level of competition.Mann got that opportunity at the beginning of the 1994 season to team up with Matt Barnes and his Barnes Service Center racing team. Together, the two drivers have combined for a successful year."Matt asked me if I could help out, then I could drive one of the cars," said the 22-year-old Westminster resident. "It was a great opportunity to jump into racing.

The list of coaches who walked away from pro football and never came back is a short one.It pretty much starts with John Madden and ends with Dick Vermeil.It may be time to add a third name to the list: Joe Gibbs.When Gibbs turned down the Carolina Panthers last spring, a lot of people weren't convinced that no meant no.The Panthers haven't hired a head coach yet and still seem to hope Gibbs might change his mind since his son, Coy, plays his final year at Stanford this fall and Gibbs' Washington Redskins contract runs out after this season.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Pontiac teams on the NASCAR Winston Cup Series tour generally have had a tough time this season.Among drivers Kyle Petty, Bobby Labonte, Michael Waltrip and Wally Dallenbach Jr., there have been only three top 10 finishes. Two were by Petty -- a fifth in the Pontiac 400 at Richmond and an eighth place in the Goodwrench 500 at Rockingham. The other was by Waltrip, fifth Sunday in the Food City 500 at Bristol (Tenn.) Raceway.However, help appears on the way.A few days ago Pontiac officials treated racing team members to a tour of the General Motors Design Center in Warren, Mich.

Auto racingKenny Bernstein's Budweiser King Racing Team -- Signed driver Scott Goodyear for the 1994 IndyCar season.Firestone -- Announced that a team organized by U. E. Patrick with Scott Pruett as the driver will be its test team in 1994 and its factory race team in 1995.BaseballAtlanta Braves -- Renewed the contracts of coaches Jim Beauchamp, Pat Corrales, Clarence Jones, Leo Mazzone, Jimy Williams and Ned Yost for the 1994 season.San Francisco Giants -- Renewed the contracts of coaches Bob Lillis, Wendell Kim, Dick Pole, Bobby Bonds and Bob Brenly for the 1994 season.

It takes teamwork to win in motor sports. The Davis Racing team of Westminster owes its success to its team members, a close-knit family that works together.This year, the Davis Racing team added a new member, the National Institute of Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) in Herndon, Va., as a major sponsor.The Davis Racing team consists of three brothers -- Cedric, 48, and twins Len and Lee, 42. Len drives the car and does the mechanical work. Lee is the crew chief and makes the final adjustments at the staging area and Cedric is the systems analyst, the computer guy. A fourth brother, Bob, was also in racing until a few years ago.Len first became interested in drag racing when he was 10."

The question isn't whether Joe Gibbs will eventually return to the sidelines.The question is when and where.When Gibbs resigned after 12 years as the coach of the Washington Redskins, he left the door open to return if he overcomes his health problems."

Joe Gibbs is expected to announce his retirement as head coach of the Washington Redskins today because of health reasons.Mr. Gibbs, 52, is expected to be replaced by Richie Petitbon, the team's assistant head coach for defense.Mr. Gibbs' retirement was first reported by a Washington television station, WTTG, and confirmed by a team source. Team officials had no immediate comment, but were expected to hold a news conference later today.Mr. Gibbs attended a prayer breakfast in Richmond, Va., this morning.

For nine years, basketball had been Jay Murphy's primary expression of athleticism.By the time he entered his freshman year at Glen Burnie High, the slender teen-ager could shoot jumpers or drive the lane with the best of them.But just as Murphy seemed on the verge of a career on the hardwood, the sport of cycling entered the picture.Until joining the school's cycling club, Murphy had been only a casual rider. But as swiftly as a 7-foot center might reject the shot of an adversary, he dropped basketball for the thrill of pedaling down highways and experiencing the adrenalin rush of a high-speed chase along the open road.

Some owners of 20-year-old cars hope they run well enough to make a problem-free trip to and from the grocery store.But John Legg of Woodstock in Baltimore County hopes his 1972 Datsun 240ZX will run worry-free for 24 consecutive hours in the "13th Annual 24 Hours of Nelson Ledges Production Car Race" in Warren, Ohio, this weekend.At Nelson Ledges, Legg and other racers test their cars against new factory showroom models, such as the 1993 Mazda RX-7 Twin Turbo, which will soon be on display in dealerships.