THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, May 1, 1995 TAG: 9505010143
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Nascar Notes
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: TALLADEGA, ALA. LENGTH: Medium: 87 lines
It's not unusual for Winston Cup teams to leave Talladega Superspeedway with untold thousands of dollars in damage to their race cars.
But Sunday's Winston Select 500 was a surprisingly clean race. Only three cars were damaged - those of Derrike Cope, John Andretti and Dale Earnhardt - and there was only one yellow flag for a crash.
That crash occurred on lap 66, when Cope tangled with Andretti in the tri-oval. Cope slammed head-on into the outside wall before stopping. He was unhurt.
``Are you OK?'' crew chief Jimmy Fennig asked on the radio.
``Yeah,'' said Cope. ``It was my fault. I got into Andretti.''
Said Andretti: ``There wasn't enough room between Derrike and the wall because I was there.''
The other yellow flag flew from laps 123 to 126 because of a brief rain shower.
JARRETT'S UPS AND DOWNS: Dale Jarrett led his first laps this season in Robert Yates' Ford, but the car turned on him late in the race, and he finished 19th.
Jarrett led 35 laps, second only to race winner Mark Martin, and was in front four different times. But things changed.
``All of a sudden, I couldn't get through the bumps down there,'' Jarrett said. ``It went from a perfect car to a car you couldn't drive at all. I thought I was going to wreck.''
Jarrett pitted out of sequence to change tires because he thought one might be going flat. But that wasn't the case.
``It was just as bad when we went back out there,'' he said. ``Something in the suspension messed up.''
BODINE TAKES A MULLIGAN: For Geoff Bodine, the difference between his seventh-place finish Sunday and another poor day was a loaner motor from kid brother Todd's team.
Bodine was unable to qualify for the race and had to take a provisional to start 41st.
But on Sunday morning, he arranged to borrow car owner Butch Mock's backup power plant. Mock leases his motors from Pro Motors, an independent motor supplier that also prepares Ricky Rudd's engines.
``We just threw it in there and away we went,'' said Geoff's crew chief, Paul Andrews.
``I had fun out there today,'' Bodine said. ``I could race. (The engine) sure worked.''
Said Mock: ``When we agreed to loan Geoff an engine, he wasn't supposed to finish ahead of us.''
Todd Bodine finished eighth, just behind his brother.
LaJOIE PAYS HIS DUES: Randy LaJoie motored to a 13th-place finish Sunday, but he didn't get much respect along the way.
``I didn't know you have to be as crazy as you've got to be to run one of these races,'' he said. ``We survived and had a great day, but I still didn't get any respect out there. I was a punching bag. Every time somebody came by, they were banging on me, and I'd just let them go.''
RUSTY'S GAMBLE: With everything to gain and not much to lose, Rusty Wallace made a stab at a gas-mileage victory Sunday.
He led nine laps late in the race after the leaders pitted for fuel, but as he entered the backstretch with five laps to go, his Ford slowed and he shouted into his radio: ``Out of gas! Out of gas!''
After the race, Wallace said: ``We tried a gamble and it just didn't work out. I thought we might have enough by just a half a lap. We just didn't make it. But I'm happy with the finish. At least we're in one piece.''
SAWYER GOES TO SCHOOL: ``I learned a bunch today,'' Chesapeake native Elton Sawyer said after finishing 27th, one lap down.
``We started out too loose. It was totally my fault. But as the race went on, (crew chief) Mike (Hill) and the guys adjusted on it and really got it better, but we lost so much time early in the race.
``I was at school. Those guys really taught me a lesson about drafting today. I'm still a freshman in college, though.''
HAMILTON HANGS ON: He didn't feel well all weekend, and he ran out of gas on the last lap, but Bobby Hamilton hung in there for a 15th-place finish, on the lead lap, and retained eighth place in the Winston Cup points chase.
``I think we had a good day,'' he said. ``The pit stops were good and we didn't wad nothin' up, so we're pretty fortunate.''
LONG DAY FOR MAST: For Rick Mast, Sunday was another long, disappointing day at the track. He finished 28th, one lap down.
``We just had a bad day all the way around,'' he said. ``We didn't run good, but at least we qualified good (13th). We just didn't run good and we don't know why.'' by CNB