Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 30, 1992 TAG: 9203300081
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: DARLINGTON, S.C. LENGTH: Medium
"Patience is the most critical thing on this race track," Elliott said. "Let them other guys race each other here. I'm going to race this race track. I kept saying, `Keep your cool, you've got a good car.' Over and over."
At the end, it was an easy victory for Elliott and another big win for Ford - its ninth in a row. The Dawsonville, Ga., driver beat Harry Gant to the finish line by 7.8 seconds.
Mark Martin was third in the only other car on the lead lap. Davey Allison was fourth, Ricky Rudd was fifth in the highest-finishing Chevrolet Lumina and Brett Bodine was sixth, all a lap down. They were followed by Dick Trickle, Geoff Bodine, Terry Labonte and Dale Earnhardt, all two laps down.
In the early stages of the race, Elliott had a few minor troubles.
Although he led the first 15 laps, Elliott began to have handling problems. His car was loose in the turns, and he was passed by Allison, Brett Bodine, Kyle Petty, Gant and others.
Then, in another setback during an early pit stop, crew chief Tim Brewer's air wrench broke.
Meanwhile, Allison had the race to himself. He led 160 laps, but none during the final 150 miles, when he had handling problems.
"I don't understand why our chassis went away at the end there," Allison said. "We were good when it was hot and greasy. The longer we ran, the better we got. And at the end, it was just the opposite."
Elliott said his crew was responsible for overcoming the early problems.
"They kept picking me up [spots] every time I went into the pits," he said. "Finally we got caught back up. What really helped was coming out behind Harry on that last caution."
When the last caution flag came out on lap 243 for Brett Bodine's spin in turn 2, Elliott was in fourth. After everyone pitted, he emerged in second.
"That put us in a position to win the race," he said.
When the race resumed on lap 248, Gant stayed in front for another 18 laps. But the tires on Gant's Oldsmobile Supreme faded, and Elliott passed him for the lead on the backstretch of lap 276.
Gant's only hope was to pit earlier than the other drivers, but that forced him to make an extra pit stop, which was his downfall.
"We ran hard and tried something there with the pit stops because that was the only shot we really had," Gant said. "We just felt like we could make up so much time with new tires. It seemed like Bill's car would run longer than anybody else's on the tires.
"I don't know what we're going to do to beat these Fords. They're just flat out beating us. Our car is good, probably the best it's ever been. Every week this team has overcome one thing or another and been right there to finish in the middle of a pack of Fords."
Gant, pitting out of sequence with the leaders, took the lead again on lap 305 but lost it for good on lap 323 when he made his final stop - the extra one that meant he wouldn't win. Still, Gant fought his way from fifth to second after that stop.
Even if Elliott had been challenged at the end, his car seemed strong enough to handle it.
"Today, it was like the cars that ran well at the mid-point of the race just went away at the end," he said.
Elliott is the fifth driver in NASCAR's modern era (since 1972) to win four races in a row. Gant did it last fall. Dale Earnhardt did it in 1987. Darrell Waltrip won four straight in 1981. And Cale Yarborough did it in 1976.
Waltrip and Yarborough - like Elliott - were driving for car owner Junior Johnson when they had their hot streaks.
"That's a pretty tough feat in today's competition," Johnson said. "It's been done in the past, but the competition wasn't as great as it is today."
The Winston Cup series moves to the short tracks for the next three races, starting with next weekend's Food City 500 at Bristol International Raceway, where Elliott will have a shot to be the first modern-era driver to win five straight races.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB