Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 1, 1993 TAG: 9303010066
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ROCKINGHAM, N.C. LENGTH: Long
PETTY CHARGED, BUT HIS CAR FAILED IN THE CLUTCH
It took only one pit stop to ruin Kyle Petty's race Sunday at the Goodwrench 500.The clutch on Petty's Pontiac Grand Prix failed as he tried to leave the North Carolina Motor Speedway pits after stopping for four tires and fuel on lap 82.
Before that, Petty had charged from 11th to third and appeared to have a good chance to win his fourth race here in seven starts.
Petty's crew tried several times to push-start his car on pit road, but the driver repeatedly shouted, "It won't go in gear! There's no clutch. It's just freewheeling. It's just grinding." The transmission was stuck between two gears.
The team pushed the car behind the wall and replaced the transmission and the clutch. Fifty-nine laps later, Petty returned to the track. He continued to run with the leaders and regained three laps, finishing 32nd.
\ FORD EXCITEMENT: Winston Cup champion Alan Kulwicki's fourth-place finish was best in class for the Ford Thunderbirds, but it didn't come without some unwanted excitement.
"We were just getting caught back up with the leaders when the window net fell down," Kulwicki said. "I was trying to drive with one hand and trying to put the window net up with the other. I went into turn one side-by-side with Hut [Stricklin] driving with one hand. I about wrecked. It was somewhere around lap 300. It dangled there and I had to mess with it for a lap or two, but I finally got it back up.
"We were coming on at the end, but I was just behind all day."
\ JARRETT STRONG: Dale Jarrett had another strong run, finishing sixth despite a spin and a bad pit stop.
Jarrett spun on the frontstretch on lap 248 after being hit from behind while slowing to avoid an encounter between Geoff Bodine and Ted Musgrave. Behind him, Darrell Waltrip slammed into Kenny Wallace.
"Dale did a great job to get that straightened out," team owner Joe Gibbs said. "We weren't strong enough to run with the first two or three guys, but we were solid all day long. We started 22nd and went right up there."
Jarrett is second in Winston Cup points behind Dale Earnhardt. Bodine is third, 17 points behind Jarrett, after finishing ninth, one lap down.
\ MARTIN FADES: Pole winner Mark Martin stayed with the leaders, but his Ford Thunderbird never was fast enough to challenge the best cars.
"We were just not quite good enough to win," he said. "Our car was better during long stretches under the green flag. We weren't too swift on the restarts. But we're fourth in points. We're used to being 25th in points right now."
\ HENSLEY TIRED OUT: Jimmy Hensley, subbing for injured Jimmy Means, finished 25th, 13 laps down, after driving the race on used tires.
"Well, we didn't hit anything like at Daytona," he said. "So even though we finished back [in the pack], we were able to finish and not hurt the car. But we didn't buy new tires today, so we were on scuffs all day. And about all you can do then is try to finish."
\ BODINE BRUISED: Todd Bodine was only badly shaken and bruised after slamming the first-turn wall head-on in Saturday's Goodwrench 200 Grand National race. He was released from Moore Regional Hospital in Pinehurst about two hours after the crash with a sore neck and ribs, but no broken bones. A cut tire caused the crash.
\ PATCHING THINGS UP: Ford's top racing boss, Michael Kranefuss, chatted amiably with Jeff Gordon after Sunday's drivers' meeting.
Last May, Gordon infuriated Kranefuss and other Ford racing officials when he defected to the Chevy camp by signing with car owner Rick Hendrick for his Winston Cup ride. They patched things up later in the year, Kranefuss said.
"If you can't be emotional about this, you're in the wrong business," Kranefuss said.
Gordon, meanwhile, had a rough day Sunday. Although he ran well, his engine failed with less than 100 laps to go. He was a lap down at the time and well back in the pack.
The engine "started hammering real hard and started losing tons of horsepower," Gordon said. "Smoke was rolling everywhere. I think we lost a valve."
Gordon finished 34th.
\ RUDD DISAPPOINTED: Ricky Rudd was behind the eight-ball almost immediately after the race started, and he never could do anything about it.
"We had a top-four car today, but we had a tire equalize early and that put us two laps down," he said. "We never gained back those laps, but we never lost any more. We ran with the leaders all day."
He finished 12th.
\ MAST PROBLEMS: Rick Mast's day ended early with engine problems.
Mast said he was running well after his first pit stop, but a slight trail of smoke began coming out of the car.
"All of a sudden something let go," Mast said. "I think it blew a head gasket or cracked a [cylinder] head or something."
Mast finished 39th, but he remains optimistic about 1993. When the car has run, it has been fast.
"Boy, I tell ya, I sure am looking forward to this year," he said.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING