THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, June 13, 1994 TAG: 9406130213
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940613 LENGTH: LONG POND, PA.
But if Ernie Irvan loses the Winston Cup championship by four points, he'll probably call it highway robbery.
{REST} More than two hours after the end of the UAW-GM Teamwork 500 at Pocono International Raceway, NASCAR released an official order of finish that moved Jeff Gordon from eighth to sixth, and dropped Irvan from sixth to seventh (and Brett Bodine from seventh to eighth).
The change cost Irvan four Winston Cup championship points.
Here's what happened.
Gordon was in third on lap 196 during a yellow flag, behind Dale Earnhardt and eventual race winner Rusty Wallace, when he spun into the mud and grass inside the first turn while warming his tires.
While Gordon was trying to extricate his Chevy from the mud, five drivers passed him: Ken Schrader, Morgan Shepherd, Mark Martin, Irvan and Bodine.
Crew chief Ray Evernham ordered Gordon to go back to third, presuming that he was entitled to reassume that position because cars are not allowed to pass under a yellow flag.
But while the rule says a driver can't pass under the yellow, it doesn't mean he can't be passed. Drivers often lose positions during a yellow flag after having abnormally long pit stops, for instance. Moreover, Gordon had to pass those five cars under yellow to get back to third.
NASCAR repeatedly ordered Gordon's team to tell him to drop back to eighth place behind Martin, but his team never relayed the message. On the last lap, as the green and white flags flew, Gordon received the black flag. But he continued racing and finished behind Wallace and Earnhardt, thinking he had finished third.
After a long discussion, NASCAR finally decided to award Gordon sixth place.
Why not eighth, behind the five cars who passed him while he was stuck in the mud?
NASCAR spokesman Kevin Triplett said it was because officials decided that Gordon probably would have passed Irvan and Bodine had he started where he was supposed to. Why? Because both had crippled cars.
``Those (two) cars were down one cylinder each,'' Triplett said. ``If he had started back where he was supposed to start on the restart, he would have passed those two cars. He was not put back in front of the cars that were up to speed.''
By the time the ruling was issued, Irvan and his team had left the track and were not available for comment.
Meanwhile, there was another change further down the finishing order. Hut Strickin, originally listed in 11th, was moved back to 13th, behind Michael Waltrip and Kyle Petty. Waltrip and Petty protested that Stricklin had passed them under the yellow flag before the final lap, and NASCAR upheld their protest.
BOWN KNOCKED OUT: Chuck Bown was knocked unconscious in a crash with Sterling Marlin on lap 18 in hardest crash of the day.
Although he crawled out of the car and walked to an ambulance, he was airlifted to Lehigh Valley Hospital Center in Allentown for a precautionary examination and was expected to be held overnight.
``Any time you have someone unconscious for so long, there could be swelling of the brain,'' Bown's wife, Debbie, said just before the helicopter departed.
Bown spun in turn one in front of Marlin, who hit him on the passenger side and drove him into the wall.
``We were going right along, running good,'' Marlin said. ``Chuck let Ricky (Rudd) by and I was right on him. He just lost it. Then he came back across the track and hung me. He let one by, but he wouldn't let us by, so I don't know.
ALLISON UNDAUNTED: Bown's car owner, Bobby Allison, was asked if he could afford this crash, considering his lack of sponsorship.
``Yeah, I guess we can,'' he said. ``We've got some more cars. We're in the business of racing and that means to handle whatever problems come along.''
Allison, whose wife, Judy, was with him at the track Sunday, said he is no closer to landing a sponsor. ``But I've been able to do a little bit of business on my own, which has allowed me to take care of the bills of racing.''
CREWMAN INJURED: Billy Silers, who was changing right rear tires on Hut Stricklin's Chevy, was hit in the eye by a lug nut on a pit stop and received an abrasion, which was treated at the infield car center. Team owner Travis Carter replaced Silers for the rest of the race.
Also, four infield fans were struck by lightning during heavy thunderstorms the night before the race, but none were seriously injured, track officials said.
A BAD ENDING: After a strong race throughout the afternoon, Wally Dallenbach's day came to a crunching ending in the third-turn wall on lap 199.
``Ernie (Irvan) wrecked me; that's all there is to it,'' Dallenbach said. ``There's no two ways about it. We didn't know where to get in line (for the final restart). NASCAR told us where to get in line. And Ernie just flat ran over me in the corner. It tore up a good race car.''
Said Irvan, ``I just don't understand why he's starting in the middle of the line. And what was he doing checking up? He went in the corner and stopped going. I wasn't trying to pass him. I'm on seven cylinders. How can I pass anybody?''
SOUR ENGINE: Jimmy Hensley fell off the pace early in the race when his engine began to go sour. He finished 29th, five laps down. ``We were probably really lucky to finish,'' he said. ``We were on six cylinders, probably five and a half.''
by CNB