Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, April 23, 1990 TAG: 9004230274
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. LENGTH: Long
Long after the checkered flag had fallen on the First Union 400, there were plenty of people who still didn't believe it.
With a huge assist from a scoring error by NASCAR officials, Bodine slipped out of North Wilkesboro Speedway with his first triumph in 79 big-league starts.
While Bodine and his Kenny Bernstein-owned team left the North Carolina mountains grinning, the same couldn't be said of Darrell Waltrip and his bunch.
"We should have won," said Waltrip, whose Chevrolet finished eight car-lengths behind Bodine's Buick.
Jeff Hammond, Waltrip's crew chief, said, "Everybody knows who won the race but who is supposed to know," referring to NASCAR.
NASCAR's critical gaffe occurred during the race's 10th and final caution period from laps 321-339 of the 400-lap event.
At the command of race director David Hoots, pace-car driver Elmo Langley picked up Dale Earnhardt's car as the leader, when Bodine's car actually was leading the field.
Realizing he had nothing to lose as far as track position was concerned, Bodine pitted for four fresh tires while the other front-runners - Waltrip, Earnhardt and Mark Martin - stayed on the track.
At that point, Hoots, who wasn't informed that Bodine had pitted, discovered he had erred in ordering the pace car to pick up Earnhardt. So before the race went back to green, NASCAR tried to correct its error by placing Bodine back at the head of the field.
As the only driver in the lead pack who had four new tires on his car, Bodine was able to stay up front the rest of the way.
Waltrip, who was cutting Bodine's lead by a tenth of a second per lap, simply ran out of time.
Earnhardt finished four seconds back in third place. Virginian Ricky Rudd was fourth, Morgan Shepherd fifth and Martin sixth.
After the race's conclusion, Hammond and Rick Hendrick, Waltrip's car owner, met for almost two hours with NASCAR officials, but gained little satisfaction.
"They [NASCAR] said they made a mistake," Hendrick said. "So what can you do? Nothing.
"They shouldn't have put Bodine in front for the final restart. He should have been behind the cars that did not pit. He got new tires and got put in front. There should be no way you can pit and the other five cars stay out and you get put back in front.
"Five or six top crew chiefs on pit road tried to tell NASCAR so the problem could be rectified before the restart. They should have never restarted the race until things got straightened out and everybody was put in the correct order.
"If things were done right, where would have Bodine finished? Would he have finished first? No, I don't believe so.
"NASCAR made a mistake and it cost us a race. They won't change it. They told us they were sorry and that's it."
Hoots said: "We made a mistake when we picked up the wrong car on lap 319. By the time we caught it, we had opened up pit road for the caution. Once we opened it up, there was no way to correct it. The 26 car [Bodine] was the leader. And you can't penalize him for pitting. We couldn't tell him to go back in the pits and put on the old tires again."
Waltrip, still seeking his first 1990 victory, said NASCAR gave Bodine the victory by putting him back at the front of the line on the final restart.
"If Brett had lined up behind us, he wouldn't have been a factor," Waltrip said. "By leaving him at the head of the field and letting him be the leader, that was a big advantage.
Like Hendrick, Waltrip said arguing with NASCAR was a waste of time.
"I've been down this road before," said Waltrip, whose 1984 victory at Nashville, Tenn., was the last - and only - time a Winston Cup victory was taken away after the checkered flag.
"It's a no-win situation. If they say that's the way it's supposed to be, then we're getting into a gray area of judgment. When you get in that area, you know how the judgment is going to go. They knew when they did what they did they were opening the doors. They knew a lot of people would be standing there when the race was over."
Earnhardt, whose Chevrolet faded after the final restart when one of his tires lost air, said Waltrip "should have won the race."
Bodine, though, wasn't about to give back his trophy and $50,682 paycheck. The 31-year-old younger brother of Geoff Bodine said he knows you have to take what you can get.
"I'm just glad to finally get that first win," said Bodine, who joined the Bernstein team at the start of this season.
"On the last stop, I didn't know the others didn't pit, so I can't really talk about that. I just knew I was leading the race before the caution came out.
"The thing is my car was strong. We outran 'em at the end. I kind of stuck my neck out earlier this week when I told a bunch of people we were going to be tough here. Well, my team gave me the best race I've ever had the last 60 laps, and by God, I brought her home.
"I had a feeling if I ever got to the front, we'd stay ahead."
NASCAR, of course, took care of that when it moved Bodine to the front of the field for the final restart.
"It looks like to me he won," said Geoff Bodine, who finished eighth. "He was standing in victory lane when I kissed him.
"He did it. He earned it. That controversy stuff is just part of the business."
\ LUGNUTS: Car owner Bud Moore was extremely angry about Bodine's victory. "I know who won. The 17 car [Waltrip] did." Bodine's victory was especially costly to Moore and his driver, Shepherd, who barring a victory next Sunday at Martinsville, Va., or May 6 at Talladega, Ala., has been bumped from The Winston field by Bodine's unexpected triumph. . . . Earnhardt expanded his lead by 10 points in the Winston Cup standings. He holds a 52-point advantage over second-place Shepherd through seven of 29 races. . . . Defending Winston Cup champion Rusty Wallace continues to fade. Wallace finished seventh and dropped to 219 points behind Earnhardt. . . . Dale Jarrett, still subbing for Neil Bonnett, finished 14th in the Wood Brothers Ford. Virginian Rick Mast was 23rd in D.K. Ulrich's Pontiac. . . . Brett Bodine averaged 83.900 mph for the 250-mile trip. Ten cautions, mostly for minor accidents and spins, slowed the pace for 67 laps. . . . There were four leaders. Bodine led twice for 146 laps; Martin once for 103; Waltrip twice for 79, and Earnhardt twice for 72. . . . A track-record crowd, estimated at 36,000, watched the race. B2 B1 BODINE Bodine
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB