Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, June 18, 1990 TAG: 9006180234
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LONG POND, PA. LENGTH: Long
Gant, whose team trudged north locked in the throes of a miserable slump, proved Sunday at Pocono International Raceway that he can still get the job done if he has the right wheels running under him.
Bolting from out of nowhere in the final 75 miles, Gant motored past Rusty Wallace with 11 laps left and sped away to victory in the Miller 500.
Gant's first triumph of the season enabled him to become the oldest driver to ever capture a NASCAR Winston Cup event.
"Hey, if George Foreman can still do it, I can do it," the 50-year-old Gant quipped.
"I just hope this ain't the last one. I'd like to keep on winning races at this age."
Gant's chances on Sunday didn't look good. His Leo Jackson-owned team limped into the Pocono mountains standing a dismal 25th in the Winston Cup points standings. His average finish in 11 starts - Gant missed Bristol because of his father's death - was a horrible 21.2.
"It hasn't been a real good year for us," Gant confessed.
The chance of a sudden turnaround didn't look any better at the halfway point of the grueling 500-miler. Gant admittedly thought he was finished when he looked down and saw his car's temperature gauge pegged. Gant's engine was cooking, prompting Jackson to later say, "I wouldn't have given you a nickel for our chances at that point."
Gant agreed.
"We had a real bad overheating problem," Gant said. "It was smoking and fumes were coming into the car. It got so hot that I almost parked it.
"For about 50 laps, I almost melted the engine down. It was missing pretty bad. I was going to run another couple laps, then park it. I didn't see any use in wasting a good engine."
But before Gant could cash in his chips, Alan Kulwicki spun in turn two, bringing out the 11th of a track record 13 caution flags with only 33 laps left.
"That yellow flag saved us," Gant said. "Another lap and we were done.
"Apparently, some of the ducting that lets air go the radiator had somehow broken loose.
"During the caution, the crew pop-riveted some panels back and that fixed it. I never had a problem again. The car was just great."
With his car running freely again, Gant quickly whipped his way towards the front.
Following the final caution during laps 181-82, Gant dogged Wallace for six laps before making his move. Gant nosed under Wallace in turn one on lap 189 and drove away to a comfortable 2.4-second victory.
"I figured it was time to go on," said Gant, who collected $54,350 for his 11th career big-league victory. "We just had everybody beat today. I could beat everybody through the turns. We were just too fast at the last for 'em."
Wallace, who was bidding for his third win in four races, admitted that Gant had too much muscle.
"I was surprised Harry pulled away so fast," Wallace said. "But his car was real stout. He passed me and checked out.
"Hey, I'm happy for Harry. It's been a long time since he saw Victory Lane. If anybody deserves to win, it's him."
Gant dedicated the victory to his father, J.C. Gant, who died on April 8.
"With it being Father's Day and all, I just had a feeling all day long that I was going to win this race," Gant said.
Gant, who is 12 weeks older than Bobby Allison was when he won the 1988 Daytona 500, said he has no plans of hanging up the helmet anytime soon.
"Hey, I feel great," he said. "Who knows? Maybe I'll start a new trend here.
"Old guys can win races. They've just got to have a good car to do it."
Geoff Bodine, who raced Wallace in the waning laps helping Gant scoot away, finished a close third. Bodine's younger brother, Brett, was fourth and Davey Allison fifth.
Gant averaged only 120.627 mph for the trip, thanks to the 13 yellows that consumed 41 laps. The winner caused one of the cautions when he spun in turn one on lap 113.
"It was no big deal," Gant said. "Besides, the old guys need a lot of cautions. It's helps 'em keep their rhythm going."
Richard Petty, Dale Jarrett, Jimmy Spencer were involved in hard crashes, but escaped uninjured.
Dick Trickle spun and tagged the wall on the final lap. Trickle bruised his right shoulder. He flew back to Charlotte, N.C., for X-rays Sunday night.
In the garage after the race, Morgan Shepherd collapsed from heat exhaustion, dehydration and possible carbon monoxide poisoning. He was treated at the track's infield hospital and later released.
\ LUGNUTS: Shepherd did receive some good news. His 11th-place finish enabled him to pick up nine points on 14th-place finisher Mark Martin in the Winston Cup standings. Shepherd trails Martin by 53 points through 13 of 29 races. . . . Wallace continues to make up huge chunks of ground in the title race. He picked up 49 points and now trails by only 63. Only four races ago, Wallace trailed by 286. . . . Geoff Bodine also picked up 49 to leapfrog past Earnhardt to fourth in the standings. Earnhardt, who was battling the flu, was 13th and now trails by 133. . . . Twenty-two cars finished on the lead lap, tying a NASCAR record established in 1988 at Watkins Glen, N.Y. . . . A record crowd estimated at 105,000 witnessed the race in sultry 90-degree heat.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB