Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 24, 1991 TAG: 9102240102
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
Gant took the lead on lap 158 of the 200-lap race, held under overcast skies on a chilly afternoon. He moved ahead to lead by more than two seconds late in the race as Dale Earnhardt and Kenny Wallace waged a fierce, side-by-side battle for second place. Earnhardt won the duel by a few feet.
"It is good to get a win this early," Gant, 51, said. "The car worked really good. It would stick like glue in the corners.
"Toward the end of the race, though, it started running hot. The temperature peaked at 270 and it just made it to the finish line." Normal water temperature is between 180 and 210 degrees.
The race was slowed by caution flags eight times.
The worst accident occurred on lap 127, when Tom Peck clipped Darrell Waltrip coming out of the fourth turn and crashed head-on into the outside barrier. Peck's wrecked car then careened back into the middle of the track and was struck by several other cars. No injuries were reported.
Besides Gant, Wallace may have been the happiest driver after holding his own against Earnhardt. Although he lost the battle at the end, Wallace raced hard with the defending Winston Cup champion in the last quarter of the race, even passing him at one point.
"The first thing I've got to say is `The Intimidator' didn't intimidate me," Wallace said. "That's the first thing that I thought of when he come up behind me. . . .
"Dale is just a heck of a good race-car driver. He'll race you. I had a good time."
Earnhardt said the feeling was mutual.
"Kenny Wallace raced awful hard," he said. "It was a good race, and I wasn't sure I could beat him. It seemed like he was a little stronger in places, but my car was a little loose. Kenny was real smooth out there, and he gave me plenty of room to race. We enjoyed it."
Earnhardt also had a fender-rubbing duel with Gant during the first half of the race.
"Yeah, we had some fun out there," Gant said. "You got to have some fun on a Saturday afternoon like that."
Dale Jarrett placed fourth, followed by Michael Waltrip, Morgan Shepherd, Bobby Labonte, Jimmy Hensley of Ridgeway and Joe Nemechek.
Davey Allison raced with the lead pack during much of the race and led laps 104 through 123, but he lost a lap while getting new tires and finished 10th.
Earnhardt leads the Grand National standings with 350 points, followed by Gant with 335, but neither Winston Cup driver plans to race the full Grand National schedule. The leading full-time Grand National driver is Wallace, in fourth with 299 points.
Gant won $12,625 for his victory.
There were 11 lead changes among six drivers in the 36-car field. Average speed was 92.156 mph. Results in Scoreboard. B2
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB