Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, October 23, 1995 TAG: 9510230156
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ROCKINGHAM, N.C. LENGTH: Long
Oblivious to the controversy swirling in the pits because of a bad call by NASCAR, Pontiac's Ward Burton doggedly kept his blinders on and ran ``like a scared rabbit'' to his first Winston Cup victory Sunday in the AC-Delco 400.
With tears fouling his goggles and his father coaching him from the spotter's stand high above North Carolina Motor Speedway, Burton ran away from the field after an unusual late-race ``Official Procedure'' caution period and won by 1.9 seconds over Rusty Wallace.
Mark Martin was third, followed by Terry Labonte and Ward's brother, Jeff.
It was the first victory for the 33-year-old South Boston, Va., driver in his 55th Winston Cup start and only his seventh race in the Bill Davis-owned MBNA Pontiac Grand Prix. Just three weekends ago, he went home early after failing to qualify at North Wilkesboro.
Burton was one of the few happy racers Sunday evening following one of the most confusing, chaotic episodes in the history of NASCAR racing - one that directly affected the Winston Cup championship points battle between Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt.
But for Burton, the whole mess was out of sight and out of mind.
``I didn't know anything about what was taking place,'' Burton said.
``But [crew chief] Chris Hussey was getting a little concerned about what was taking place. I don't know what all that was about, but it definitely played in our favor.''
As for the title fight, the final result was Earnhardt finished seventh despite NASCAR's bad call and Gordon finished 20th after all manner of trouble. And that left Earnhardt 162 points behind Gordon with two races left.
NASCAR's mistake, however, could have cost Earnhardt 12 to 16 additional points at a time when every point is like gold.
It all started on lap 328, when Earnhardt made a green-flag pit stop. The NASCAR pit inspector, whom the sanctioning body declined to identify, called the control tower after Earnhardt left and said he had departed with only four of five lug nuts on the right-rear tire, which is a rules violation. Earnhardt was black-flagged back to the pits.
But tire-changer Rick Viers knew better. One of the nuts - painted orange - had fallen off the wheel as he mounted it. Viers replaced the missing nut with a black-painted, spare nut he had carried in his mouth.
When Earnhardt obeyed the black flag on lap 337, three NASCAR inspectors confirmed what the team already knew: All five lug nuts were on the wheel.
NASCAR had messed up. Earnhardt dropped from sixth place to 16th, one lap down.
By this time, Burton was in the lead and holding off Wallace. And on lap 372, NASCAR officials did precisely what Burton didn't need. They threw a yellow flag to try to reverse their mistake.
The ensuing confusion took 13 laps to sort out and led to at least four protests after the race from drivers who either thought they had gained positions and been denied them or drivers who thought they had lost positions unfairly.
Earnhardt was allowed to make up his lost lap and assume eighth place.
But his team said he cut a tire doing so and he pitted to replace it, even though the pits were closed. Several other drivers pitted as well.
Now things really were out of hand. Car owners and crew chiefs howled in protest. NASCAR then decided to let everyone pit and return to the track in the same position.
Gordon, however, stayed out and made up one of the three laps he had lost. This allowed him to gain at least three positions he would not have made up if not for the yellow.
And when all was said and done, this was the only thing that irked Earnhardt and his team.
``I think NASCAR did a pretty good job trying to rectify it,'' Earnhardt said. ``I think they got it back close to the way it was before the caution flag came out. The only problem, I think it gave Gordon some positions where he came back around the field.''
For Burton, this could have been another one of those what-if stories, because late yellow flags often hurt the leader.
But when the green flag finally came back out, there were only nine laps to go.
``The car was good all day on short runs, so that 10-lap sprint was perfect for us,'' Burton said. ``I did take off a little bit earlier than usual when the green flag came out. I was like a scared rabbit.''
As the laps wound down, Burton's father, John, barely could contain his excitement as he coached his son around the mile oval.: ``Lookin' good, baby. You've got Rusty beat if you can just take it easy. Pullin' away from Rusty! No threat from behind. This is your race track. Run your line. Got a big lead. Easy in, baby. One lap to go baby. Smooth ...''
And finally: ``Hey, how about that! Woah!''
In the car, Burton wasn't talking. The tears had started flowing many laps earlier.
``I definitely had to get my hand under the goggles a couple of times and wipe the thing out,'' he said.
951023 auto STORY zeller 10.23 TOPIC va. driver's KEYWORDracing DESK AUTHOR:bobzeller10/23/95 1
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