Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, July 8, 1990 TAG: 9007080104
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: FRANK VEHORN LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. LENGTH: Medium
"It's not the Daytona 500, but it still feels awfully good to get my first major victory at this track," Earnhardt said.
Earnhardt's Chevrolet was as dominating on the balmy day as it had been in the Daytona 500 in February before a cut tire on the last lap cost him the victory and gave it to Derrike Cope.
This time, Cope was among the victims of misfortune, which struck early and hard when 24 of the 40 cars in the field were damaged during a grinding series of wrecks along the frontstretch minutes after the NASCAR race started.
None of the drivers who avoided involvement offered a serious challenge to Earnhardt as he led 318 of the 400 miles.
"I hated to see those cars knocked out," Earnhardt said. "I wish they all could have been there at the finish. My Chevrolet seemed good enough to win regardless."
No injuries resulted from the wrecks, but the race was stopped for 36 minutes while the track was cleared.
Among the top cars involved were those driven by pole-winner Greg Sacks, Richard Petty, Geoff Bodine, Davey Allison, Ernie Irvan, Mark Martin, Morgan Shepherd and Rusty Wallace.
Alan Kulwicki escaped to finish second, followed by Ken Schrader and Terry Labonte, who had been involved in a seven-car crash that seriously injured Darrell Waltrip during Friday's practice session.
Jimmy Horton drove Waltrip's backup car Saturday and was involved in the massive wreck. He finished 17th, with relief help from Sacks.
Earnhardt had a 10.5-second lead over Kulwicki before a final caution flag came out on the 155th lap after J.D. McDuffie spun in the first turn.
The green flag reappeared with three laps remaining, and Earnhardt quickly accelerated away from Kulwicki to win by 1.6 seconds.
Most drivers angrily blamed the string of wrecks on Sacks, Cope and Petty.
The trio, racing side by side, had bumped several times on the first lap before Sacks' Chevrolet broke loose and rammed into Petty's Pontiac, sending it spinning in front of a pack of cars traveling 185 mph.
Sacks, who was between Petty and Cope, said there was nothing he or the other two could have done to prevent the accident.
"I had 20 cars on my butt, and if I had stepped on the brake I would have gotten run over," Sacks said. "Derrike and Richard couldn't do anything, either.
"The only chance they had was to get up front. They couldn't stop and go to the back of the field.
"I don't know if it was stupid driving. There just wasn't enough room for three cars to race three abreast in the tri-oval."
Petty said it was not his fault that the cars raced three abreast.
"I was on the inside groove, right were I was supposed to be," he said. "I didn't pull in front of anybody and I didn't turn into anybody.
"Someone hit me in the right rear quarterpanel and I went into the wall, and that's when all hell broke loose."
Asked who hit him, Petty pointed to yellow paint on his car. The paint had rubbed off Sacks' car.
"I got under Sacks in the third and fourth turns and held my line. He turned down on me. I wound up on the short end and my car got trashed," Petty said. "Some people were just very stupid. You can't win a race on the first lap, and there are a bunch of wrecked cars to prove that."
Cope said Sacks bumped him repeatedly before banging into Petty.
"When Sacks first hit me, I thought someone had hit him. I was trying to give him the benefit of the doubt," Cope said. "When he hit me a third time, I hit the wall and I was dead on the throttle. I glanced over and, evidently, he must have bounced off me and hit Richard.
"I tried to keep my car up against the wall so I wouldn't get T-boned in the door."
Cope finished 28th after his crew repaired the car. Petty, who had started seventh after his best qualifying effort since 1986, finished 36th.
"We came down here and ran the best we had all year and couldn't even make two laps," said Petty, whose last victory was in this event in 1984.
Earnhardt said he felt Petty would have been a contender for victory if he had stayed in the race.
"I feel sorry for all the drivers who were in that trouble, especially Richard. His car was really strong," Earnhardt said.
Earnhardt's first major Daytona victory came in his 56th race on the track. It was the 44th Winston Cup victory of his career and his fifth this season.
Earnhardt gained 55 points on Martin, the Winston Cup points leader, and moved from fifth to second in the standings. He averaged 160.894 mph and won $72,850, pushing his season earnings to $992,750.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB