THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, April 1, 1996 TAG: 9604010164
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BRISTOL, TENN. LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines
The pit-stop strategy Terry Labonte used in the rain-shortened Food City 500 at Bristol International Raceway on Sunday should have won the race.
But Jeff Gordon ended up in Victory Lane. And that led to many questions and long, complex explanations at the end of a long, wet afternoon.
``I don't understand the whole thing, so I guess I don't have any understanding,'' Labonte told Chevy's Ray Cooper after the race. ``We outsmarted them and we should have come out leading the race. That's the bottom line.''
Said Gordon, ``I was pretty much expecting to be behind Terry.''
So why wasn't he?
``Go talk to NASCAR,'' Gordon said. ``I didn't make that decision.''
``It was not an ordinary situation, but nothing was ordinary about today,'' NASCAR spokesman Kevin Triplett said.
The final lineup showed Labonte finishing behind Gordon, with Mark Martin third. Dale Earnhardt was fourth, Rusty Wallace fifth and Dale Jarrett sixth, the last car on the lead lap.
The confusing turn of events came between two red flags during the final 11 laps.
Gordon was leading when a yellow flag flew on lap 321 because of rain. Labonte was running fifth.
The cars ran 11 laps under yellow before NASCAR threw the red flag to stop the cars because of a passing shower. But moments before the red flag flew, Labonte slipped into the pits. Because his car was the last one on the lead lap, he had no concern about losing track position.
As the cars stopped on the backstretch for the red flag, Labonte lined up at the end of the entire field in the single-file line that NASCAR set up.
After a 33-minute delay, the rain eased and NASCAR switched from a red to a yellow flag. At this point, the other cars on the lead lap needed to make pit stops. And Labonte should have then inherited the lead.
But here's what happened:
The pace car started up at the end of the backstretch and took the leaders around turns 3 and 4, and let them enter the pits.
``When we restarted the pace car and it pulled away, several drivers did not go promptly,'' Winston Cup director Gary Nelson said. ``Labonte could not pass any of those guys. They were dragging their feet. And by the time he got rolling, the leaders were finishing their pit stops.''
Gordon and Wallace managed to pull out of the pits and re-enter the track before Labonte reached the start/finish line to take the lead. Wallace then pitted again to top off his tank, yielding second place to Labonte.
The green then flew for three laps before Darrell Waltrip crashed, spilling fuel on the track, prompting the third red flag.
Then it began to rain again, and that turned out to be the end of it.
``We should have been over in Victory Lane, drinking champagne,'' said Labonte's crew chief, Gary DeHart. ``But I gotta say, yeah, I'm OK with it.
``I realize everybody is human and make mistakes. NASCAR should not have opened pit road for the leaders until all the cars got going. But it all worked out. A team car won. And they were better than us on the racetrack.''
So for Gordon, Labonte's teammate at Hendrick Motorsports, it was a second straight victory and win No. 3 in 1996.
``The car really started coming on once I got the lead,'' Gordon said. ``It seemed like the longer we ran, the better it got. The car was at its best right when the rain came.''
The final chapter of this unusual race played out in Victory Lane.
``I've never won a race quite like this before,'' Gordon said. ``You're in Victory Lane and there's absolutely not a soul in the grandstands. It was pouring down rain, and it's interesting to get interviewed for winning a race up in the NASCAR truck as we're watching the monitor.'' ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOS
Crewmen pushed their cars to the garage area, top photo, after
Sunday's Food City 500 was flagged after 342 laps. The victory went
to Jeff Gordon, in foreground above, shown passing Michael Waltrip
en route to his third win of the season.
RESULTS
[For a copy of the results, see page C2 for this date.]
by CNB