Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 15, 1991 TAG: 9102150084
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. LENGTH: Long
King Richard's dramatic performance - he nipped Hut Stricklin at the finish line by inches - overshadowed the victories by Earnhardt and Allison, which were not surprising, considering their strength during Speedweeks.
"Watch out! We might be there," Petty said as he was mobbed by reporters and jubilant crew members. "We didn't win, but we tried."
Petty, 53, starts third in his 31st Daytona 500 on Sunday. He has won the race a record seven times, most recently in 1981, but the last time he started this close to the front was in 1977.
The favorite for the 200-lap race remains Earnhardt, considering his strong performance Thursday and his dominating Busch Clash victory last Sunday.
Allison vowed to "do whatever my fanny tells me to do" to beat the 1990 Winston Cup champion.
Earnhardt said he is "not worried at all" by Allison's pole-winning speed.
"We got our own game plan. We're going to put a fresh engine in now that we wore this one out all week long," Earnhardt said.
In the second race, Brett Bodine's car tagged the outside wall coming off the fourth turn after possibly being bumped by Bobby Hamilton's car. Bodine's Buick then hurtled into the inside wall at the head of pit road at a 45-degree angle, front end first. The crash left him motionless in the cockpit for several minutes.
But as rescue workers cut a hole in the roof of his car, Bodine managed to give a "thumbs up" sign to his brother, Geoff. And after about 10 minutes, Bodine, wearing a mandatory neck brace, emerged through the hole in the roof and slowly walked to an ambulance.
Bodine was taken to Halifax Medical Center for a precautionary CAT scan, track officials said, but was scheduled to be released Thursday evening, apparently without any significant injuries.
Petty's strong run rejuvenates a team that endured a miserable 1990 season. His best start last year was seventh at the Pepsi 400 in July. His best finish was ninth in the July 500-miler at Pocono.
Allison and Earnhardt led every lap of their 50-lap races, which were delayed almost four hours by rain.
The first race, with pole-winner Allison leading and Petty in the hunt all the way, easily was the most exciting.
Allison was dogged in the beginning by Rick Mast of Rockbridge Baths, Va., who faded to fourth. Allison then was pressured by Petty and finally staved off a challenge from strong-running Hut Stricklin.
With less than five laps to go, Stricklin nearly went into the infield grass on the backstretch trying to get past Allison.
Two laps from the finish, Sam Swindell and Dorsey Schroeder crashed in the fourth turn. Swindell received two stitches for a chin cut; Schroeder was unhurt.
The crash set up a final dash between Stricklin and a trailing Petty. A slower car blocked their path as they sped along the tri-oval, side-by-side. Stricklin went high. Petty went low. At the line, it was Petty by inches, perhaps a foot, as the crowd, estimated at 80,000, roared.
Petty said the slow car "moved out a little bit and the No. 12 [Stricklin] had to go up a little bit to get by him. That was enough difference to let me beat him."
Petty had started the first race in seventh. Within a couple of laps he had moved to fourth and soon passed Ricky Rudd for third as Stricklin chased down the lead pack, Shortly after the 30th lap, Petty moved alongside Mast and passed him, too.
"Here comes The King," Allison radioed to his crew.
"I kept thinking I had a chance with Davey," Petty said. "I run him and run him and run him and got within two or three car lengths, but just never could close in on him."
By the 40th lap, Stricklin also had passed Mast. And as the race wound down, Stricklin passed Petty, too. Said Petty, "I really felt Hut was a little bit better than both of us [Allison and Petty].
Mast finished fourth, followed by Ricky Rudd, Harry Gant, Michael Waltrip, Bill Elliott, Dale Jarrett and Geoff Bodine.
Defending Daytona 500 champion Derrike Cope finished 16th, which means he did not qualify for the 500 by virtue of his finish in the race. But his qualifying speed last Saturday gets Cope into the race. He will start 33rd.
The second race was a freight-train run with no passing among the leaders after Earnhardt, who started third, shot to the front at the end of the backstretch on the first lap. After the field sorted itself out, Earnhardt was trailed by Ernie Irvan, who started first, and Kyle Petty, who started 10th. That's how they finished.
Earnhardt said Irvan bumped him in the third turn of the final lap. "I got pretty out of control there for a a little bit," he said. "[Irvan] was just doing all he could to get by me - spin me out or whatever."
Rusty Wallace finished fourth, followed by Darrell Waltrip, Sterling Marlin, Joe Ruttman, Buddy Baker, Mark Martin and Bobby Hamilton.
Terry Labonte finished out of the top 15, and Morgan Shepherd's car broke on the second lap. Both make the Daytona 500 field because of Saturday's qualifying speeds.
Allison and Earnhardt won $35,000 each. Earnhardt will start fourth in the Daytona 500, next to Petty.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB