MOTOR SPORTS : MUSGRAVE WANTS TO PUT HIS FORTUNES IN REVERSE.

Byline: Mike Harris Associated Press 

Ted Musgrave is happy to be back at Pocono International Raceway this weekend.

The veteran racer has struggled most of this season and has only one top-five and five top-10 finishes in 12 starts, although he is hanging tough in the points race, tied for 10th with Ricky Craven.

``We've had some rotten luck,'' Musgrave said. ``We've been in a few wrecks and had some flat tires and things like that. We're hoping that maybe we are going to get that bad luck out of the way the first part of the year and have a real strong second half.''

Pocono, where he has four top-five finishes and came close to a victory last year, could give him a jump start toward that goal.

``Pocono has been a really good race track for me statistic-wise,'' he said. ``If the car is in good shape without being wrecked or blowing a motor, I'm in the top five. I really don't understand the reason.''

The 2.5-mile tri-oval has been repaved since last summer, smoothing out one of the roughest tracks on NASCAR's schedule.

``I did a Goodyear tire test at Pocono and I was really amazed at the smoothness and the quickness of the track,'' Musgrave said. ``The groove is more or less the same groove, but still, if a guy was on the outside going into turn 3, if he made it around that corner without wrecking, he was lucky. Now, it looks like if you miss that groove a little bit, don't worry about it. It's nice and wide and flat.''

Even with the change, Musgrave and his Jack Roush Racing team are confident at the Pocono track.

``Even when they asked us to do the tire test, we were all smiles,'' he said. ``We were like, `Yeah, yeah. Pocono, let's go there.' If the statistics show that every time you're there you're constantly doing well, naturally it puts a smile on our faces when we roll through the gates.''

Competition gap: The statistics show that the first 12 Winston Cup races of 1995 were more competitive than the same number so far in 1996.

At this point last year, the gap from first two second was 100 points. This year, Dale Earnhardt is 136 ahead of Terry Labonte.

The top five in 1995 were separated by 183 points, while there is a 352-point spread between first and fifth so far this year. Last year's top 10 were 378 apart, while this year it is 474.

There were eight winners in the first 12 races last year. So far this year, six drivers have victories.

On the plus side for 1996, there are more pole winners (8-7), more lap leaders (111-89) and more lead changes (239-192) so far this year.

Defending champ: Jeff Gordon is on a tear with four victories and three other top-five finishes in his last 10 starts. But the defending Winston Cup champion is just a bit worse off than he was last year at this time.

He currently stands third, trailing leader Dale Earnhardt by 182 points. A year ago, Gordon was third at this time, 106 behind Earnhardt, who went on to finish second in the final standings.

Ride seeker: Mike Wallace, middle brother of the three racings Wallaces from Missouri, has parted company with Donlavey Racing.

Wallace debuted with the Richmond, Va.-based team at Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 13, 1994 and has competed in 58 Winston Cup events for Junie Donlavey's team, posting one top-five and two top-10 finishes.

``We've attempted to refine our program to the best of our ability and we believe Mike has matured as a driver,'' said Jeff Kirk, team manager for Donlavey. ``He's learned everything we have to teach him and we don't want to hold him back.

``Like other drivers Junie has worked with over the years, Mike has the potential to win many races if he can find the right team situation. We will help him in any way we can and we wish him nothing but the best in his career.''

Wallace was 39th in the points and had started 10 of the 12 races this season.

Donlavey has fielded cars in the Winston Cup series since 1950, running 698 events with one victory - by Jody Ridley in 1981. Among the drivers who raced for him and went on to greater achievements are Benny Parsons, Ernie Irvan and Ken Schrader.

More ride seeking: Steve Grissom has received word from Diamond Ridge Motorsports that he can begin looking for a new ride for 1997.

``I wanted to make the announcement now so Steve will have the opportunity to seek employment elsewhere for next season while allowing Diamond Ridge Motorsport to openly talk to drivers for next year,'' said Gary Bechtel, owner of the team.

Grissom has driven for Diamond Ridge for three seasons.

Healing Bill: Bill Elliott, who suffered a broken thigh bone in a crash in April at Talladega, is recovering at home and hopes to be back in the cockpit of his Ford Thunderbird for the Aug. 3 Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Elliott's doctors are allowing him to put up to 25 pounds of weight on his healing left leg, and Elliott said he has regained almost full motion in the injured limb.

Todd Bodine is subbing for Elliott during his recuperation.

Stat of the week: There have been eight different winners in the last eight Winston Cup races at Pocono.

In reverse chronological order, they are: Terry Labonte, Dale Jarrett, Rusty Wallace, Geoff Bodine, Kyle Petty, Dale Earnhardt, Alan Kulwicki and Darrell Waltrip, who began the string with his second straight Pocono win.