ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, March 8, 1992                   TAG: 9203080170
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: C11   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Medium

GANT'S LATEST GN VICTORY HIS 3RD IN ROW AT RICHMOND

Harry Gant raced off to his third straight Busch Grand National victory at Richmond International Raceway, taking control just past the halfway point of Saturday's Hardee's 200.

Gant, who swept both Grand National races on the .75-mile track last year, started 28th in the 36-car lineup. He steadily moved his Buick through the field, reaching the top 10 after 50 of the 200 laps.

Gant passed another NASCAR Winston Cup star, Darrell Waltrip, for second place on lap 103, then took the lead from defending Grand National champion Bobby Labonte on lap 109.

He stayed out front the rest of the way to earn his 19th Grand National victory - fifth on the all-time list - and his fourth in the past seven races at Richmond.

"It seems they just build good cars for me here," Gant, 52, said. "I don't think I spin my wheels in the corners as much maybe some of the other drivers do, and that allows me to run pretty good here."

Labonte made a move to pass Gant on lap 187, driving his Chevrolet to the inside of Gant coming off the second turn and pulling alongside in the fourth turn. He soon slipped back to second and immediately found himself battling Kenny Wallace for the position.

Those two dueled side-by-side for most of the final 10 laps before Wallace won the battle, finishing just ahead in second, 31 hundredths of a second behind Gant.

"I kind of felt like if [Labonte] ever got back around me that I could retake him if I had to," Gant said. "But it didn't come down to that. And when him and that other car [Wallace] got to racing each other, it kind of made it a lot easier for me.

"I wouldn't say that's what won it for me, but it sure didn't hurt any at all."

Waltrip wound up fourth, followed by Joe Nemechek, Rick Mast, Jimmy Hensley and Jeff Gordon, who started on the pole position.

Chuck Bown, who led the first 47 laps, faded after a problem with a lug nut during his first pit stop and finished ninth, the last car on the lead lap.

Gant averaged 97.561 mph in the race slowed by four caution flags for a total of 21 laps.

Keywords:
AUTO RACING 


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