Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, June 1, 1993 TAG: 9306010058
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CONCORD, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
It was a topsy-turvy two weeks for Dale Earnhardt at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
On Sunday, in the Coca-Cola 600, he was penalized twice when arguably he shouldn't have been penalized at all.
A week ago Saturday, in The Winston, he wasn't penalized for jumping a restart when he probably should have been.
Either way, the results were the same.
He won.
He won The Winston after avoiding a penalty and he won the 600 despite losing a lap to the field in the last quarter of the race when NASCAR docked him for allegedly spinning Greg Sacks. Earlier, he received a 15-second penalty for speeding on pit road.
Rookie Jeff Gordon was second - his best finish yet - as Chevrolet Luminas took the first five positions, the first time that has been done since 1982. Chevy has a 74-69 lead over Ford in the manufacturers' championship points standings, with Pontiac in third with 66.
Earnhardt leaves Charlotte rich in money and Winston Cup points. His two-race earnings were $379,150, which he will share with car owner Richard Childress. After arriving with a lead of 20 points over Rusty Wallace in the championship battle, he leaves 129 points ahead.
"This has been a good couple of weeks here for me," he said Sunday night after winning NASCAR's longest race for the second year in a row and the third time in his career.
Wallace, meanwhile, had a terrible day.
Wallace's wicked crash at Talladega at the beginning of May appears to have knocked the fire out of his hot streak, just as a crash at Pocono did to Davey Allison last year.
It's not that his broken wrist is a problem, although it certainly was hurting after the 600. It is a combination of things.
After eight straight top-10 finishes, including four victories, Wallace finished 38th at Sears Point when his transmission broke. In the 600 Sunday, he was 29th after crashing twice. His handling was so bad after the second crash that he had to park the car after 353 of the 400 laps.
"Well, when I hit the wall that last time, [my wrist] took a real shot," Wallace said. "It hurt like heck. It got twisted pretty good, but I don't think it hurt it any."
Wallace said he spun down the backstretch on lap 224 when he accelerated too aggressively while trying to pass Bill Elliott for the lead coming off turn 2.
"And when I did that I knocked the toe-in out on it," Wallace said. "We made an adjustment and went a little too far and blew the right front tire out, and that's what got me into the wall" in turn 3 on lap 350.
It also was not a good day for the entire Ford Thunderbird contingent. The highest Ford finished sixth, and that was driven by Elliott to his best finish of 1993.
Mark Martin continued to have bad luck, although he ran with the leaders all afternoon. Martin retired after 355 laps when a lugnut pierced the radiator and the engine broke. He finished 28th and dropped from ninth to 12th in points.
Davey Allison also challenged for the lead, but his Ford engine dropped a valve. He finished 30th and slipped from third to sixth in points, but he was ecstatic about his pit stops.
"That last stop before we had the trouble was a 16.91 [seconds]!" he said.
Lake Speed and Geoff Bodine also showed early strength in their Fords before dropping back. Speed lost a gear and then dropped a clutch, finishing 27th. Bodine was 10th, a lap off the pace because of a flat tire.
The 4:30 p.m. start time made this race the most comfortable 600 in many a year for most of the drivers. The track temperature started out at 120 degrees but had fallen to 77 at the end.
Still, exhaust fumes will get to a driver no matter how cool the temperature, and Ted Musgrave needed relief from Derrike Cope because of carbon monoxide poisoning. Musgrave was released Monday from a hospital where he was treated.
The nighttime finish not only made things cooler for everyone, it enhanced the atmosphere.
"When you've got a place like this and you light it up like this, you ought to be racing at night," said Ken Schrader, who finished fourth.
As usual, though, Earnhardt had the last word on the twilight race.
"I don't care when they start 'em," he said. "Just start 'em and let me finish 'em."
by CNB