Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 16, 1992 TAG: 9203160072
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: HAMPTON, GA. LENGTH: Medium
He was missing in action for 430 of 500 miles, but won by 22.6 seconds.
Elliott's third victory in a row had nothing to do with his driving skill. Give this win to car owner Junior Johnson's obsession for good gas mileage. And the assist goes to also-ran Mike Wallace, who knew nothing of his role in this strange affair until after it was over.
"Like [crew chief] Tim [Brewer] said, we should have backed it into Victory Lane today because that's how we got there," Elliott said. "We were in the right place at the right time. That's the only reason we won this race."
Harry Gant, who had the fastest car, was second. Dale Earnhardt did an amazing job to finish third. Davey Allison, using his fifth engine of the weekend, was fourth, with Dick Trickle fifth.
Moments before Elliott took the lead on lap 283, he was in seventh, struggling with handling problems. But he inherited the top spot - and put a lap on the leaders - when they made their final pit stops for gas and fresh tires.
Because of his Ford's good gas mileage, Elliott was still "several more laps" from his last stop.
If the race had remained under the green flag until Elliott came into the pits, the leaders would have made up what they lost on their stops. And Elliott would have been shuffled back to where he previously was.
So, at that point, Elliott's only chance for victory was a yellow flag. And that's exactly what he got.
Wallace, who was minding his own business in the back of the pack, lost control of his car coming off turn two on lap 284 as Gant, Allison and Trickle were leaving the pits.
"I came off that corner exactly the same way I had done all day," Wallace said. "And the rear end just snapped loose."
"Thanks," Elliott said after the race. "And a hug and a kiss."
Preoccupied with his own misfortune, the dejected Wallace had no idea he had inadvertently given Elliott the key to victory. "I thought Harry Gant won the race," Wallace said. "I saw Elliott come by and I said to myself, `Jeez, he's running bad today. I didn't know he had a lap on the field."
Actually, there were a couple of other factors in Elliott's 37th career victory.
As Wallace was spinning to a stop, Elliott was driving through turns one and two. Gant, Allison and Trickle were there, too, driving on the flat, bottom part of the turn while accelerating to racing speed.
"I saw them as I was coming off turn two," Elliott said. "Tim said, `Just keep on trucking because we've got to keep them a lap down.' "
The yellow flag was already flying, but NASCAR rules allow the cars to race back to the finish line before slowing. If Gant could have beaten Elliott to the line, he probably would have won the race.
Gant would have restarted the race on the same lap as Elliott. Gant would have started ahead of him, since Elliott had to make his final pit stop during the caution period. And, as Elliott freely admitted, his Ford "wasn't capable of beating those other guys."
"I knew what was going on as soon as the caution came out," Gant said. "Both Davey and I were coming out of the pits and he cut me off. I had to stay behind him all the way around to the back straight. I think if I didn't have Davey in front of me, I could have caught Bill and got back around him before we got to the stripe."
"Gant just about beat me back to the line," Elliott said. "It was close. But close don't count."
Elliott was also fortunate that his engine didn't blow up as he led the final 46 laps.
"I was on pins and needles because I didn't think it was going to make it," Elliott said. "The water temperature went up. The oil temperature went up. The oil pressure came down. It was way past borderline."
But Elliott's luck was too good to go sour at the end.
And when he took the checkered flag, he shouted to his crew on the radio, "I tell you what, I can't believe it."
"Does this mean we have to back that thing into Victory Lane, or what?" responded Brewer.
When Elliott won two weeks ago at Rockingham, N.C., a Winston-Salem (N.C.) radio station sent the team a stuffed toy possum, which was mounted to a roll bar inside of his car when he won again last weekend at Richmond, Va.
About halfway through Sunday's race, "We thought about throwing it out the window," Johnson said. Elliott was going nowhere. And Brewer was telling a radio reporter, "It kinda looks like we forgot to show up today."
But you can bet that stuffed toy will be in Elliott's car when the season resumes in two weeks at Darlington, S.C.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB