Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 1, 1992 TAG: 9203010086
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: D4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: ROCKINGHAM, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
On Saturday, Burton, now 30, fulfilled a lifelong dream, winning his first Grand National race at the same track where he fell in love with the sport.
It was an impressive victory.
Burton, from South Boston, passed Winston Cup stars Dale Earnhardt and Davey Allison late in the 200-mile race and held on for a .81-second victory over Mark Martin, who also made a late charge. Allison was third, followed by Earnhardt and Kenny Wallace.
"This is the way I wanted it to happen," Burton said. "I didn't want to fall into a win. We earned it."
Actually, Burton's biggest problem was not Earnhardt or Allison, but avoiding all the wrecks that prompted a record 13 caution periods covering 66 laps - a third of the race.
"It seemed like there were 26 or 30 of them," he said.
Actually, there were 11 spins or crashes involving 21 cars, some more than once. Rookie Jeff Barry survived two spins, only to be knocked out of the race in a three-car crash in turn 3 on lap 138.
No one was injured, but Chuck Bown's car was destroyed in a hard head-on crash in turn 2 on lap 21.
Tommy Houston was involved in a three-car melee in turn 3 on lap 138. He stayed in the race until demolishing his car 20 laps later in a five-car wreck on the backstretch.
Burton, driving a Buick owned by A.G. Dillard, stayed in the top 10 throughout the 197-lap race, but he did not take the lead until lap 176.
"My main objective was to survive and finish," he said. "You've got to be patient."
When the final caution period ended on lap 172, Burton was in third, following Earnhardt and Allison.
"My car was really hooked up good after that last restart," Burton said. He eased past Earnhardt on lap 173, then passed Allison three laps later.
As the final 10 laps started, Burton had opened about a 10-car length lead on Allison. At that point, his car started to get loose in the corners. But the checkered flag fell before hard-charging Martin could close the gap.
"I felt like if it had gone green for a few more laps, maybe we could have caught up to him," Martin said.
For Burton, Saturday's victory makes up for the disappointing defeat in the Grand National race at Charlotte in October, when he ran out of gas while holding a big lead late in the race.
Burton's 23-year-old brother, Jeff, also raced here Saturday, finishing 19th, two laps down. He was in the top five for the first 80 laps but fell back when a lug nut became stuck between the brake and the caliper during a pit stop.
"I was happy for Ward," Jeff Burton said. "We're both going to win some races before it's over."
Ward Burton began his stock car career in Street Stocks at South Boston Speedway and moved to Late Model Stocks before jumping to the Grand National circuit two years ago.
He was hired to drive Dillard's car last June after Elton Sawyer was fired. Burton finished the year with two top-five finishes. He already has bettered that in two races this year. He finished third in the Goody's 300 at Daytona two weeks ago before winning here on a beautiful Saturday in front of a near capacity crowd estimated at 48,300.
\ TODAY IN NASCAR\ GOODWRENCH 500\ Track: North Carolina Motor Speedway, Rockingham, N.C.
Distance: 492 laps (500 miles) on a 1.017-mile oval
Time: 12:30 p.m.
Television: The Nashville Network (live)
Radio: Motor Racing Network (live), WSLC 610 AM
Purse: $854,786
Field: 40 Winston Cup cars
Weather: Forecast calls for mostly sunny skies, highs in the 60s
Pole: Kyle Petty at 149.926 mph (track record)
1991 winner: Kyle Petty (average speed of 124.083 mph, a record)
Inside line: Davey Allison's team decided to change engines after experiencing problems in the final practice Saturday afternoon. The team had to do that before last year's Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte, and Allison won the race.
Quote: "We don't have a big secret at Rockingham," Petty said. "We've just been real fortunate in the last two spring races hitting on a combination while everybody else is still trying to get organized. Eventually, the bubble is goingto bust somewhere down the line."
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB