Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 12, 1993 TAG: 9302120075
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. LENGTH: Medium
YOUNG, OLD WIN THE TWINS
Jeff Gordon, a 21-year-old rookie, and Dale Earnhardt, a 41-year-old veteran, won the Twin 125 qualifying races at Daytona International Speedway on Thursday.Guess who was more excited after taking the checkered flag.
`Yesssssss! Yesssssss!" Gordon screamed on his two-way radio. `Oh my God! I can't believe it! Yesssssss!"
And guess who needed directions to Victory Lane.
"I don't know where to go," Gordon said as he pulled onto pit road after the 50-lap race. "Somebody guide me."
Gordon held off Bill Elliott and Kyle Petty in the first race, winning by two car lengths after leading the final 29 laps. Ken Schrader was fourth, followed by Bobby Hillin.
In the second race, Earnhardt led the last 24 laps and beat Geoff Bodine by 1 1/2 car lengths. Dale Jarrett was third, followed by Ernie Irvan and Alan Kulwicki.
The Twin 125s set the field for Sunday's Daytona 500 Winston Cup race. A 41-car field will take the green flag for the 200-lap race at 12:15 p.m.
Both races had typical, modern Daytona finishes. Nobody was able to challenge against the leaders, and the only way to pass was to draft with another car.
"They kept shooting at us, but we just kept holding 'em off," Earnhardt said. "Geoff, he was capable of being in front. He just could never get the help to go there."
The second race was the better of the two because of a three-way duel between Irvan, Bodine and Jarrett. With three laps to go, Irvan barged into second with a drafting assist from Jarrett.
Then, as Irvan made a bid for the lead going into turn 3, Earnhardt cut him off. Irvan, highly irritated by Earnhardt's move, had to get off the gas. That allowed Jarrett and Bodine to pass him.
On the next lap, Bodine passed Jarrett.
"I thought I had a shot at Earnhardt, but I had to back off a little bit not to run into Dale," Jarrett said. "And when I did, Geoff Earnhardt shot by me."
Said Bodine, "We're proud of that run. The car handled great. That wasn't power. That was handling."
Gordon had a slightly easier victory, if only because there was little action behind him.
"I really didn't think we'd win," Gordon said. "I thought we'd go down the back straightaway and Bill had me. I had to do a little bit of blocking, and it worked."
"Well," said Elliott, "I was going to try to make a run at him. But I couldn't do nothing with Gordon on my own. My car was loose. Everybody tried to work together, but nobody ended up helping anybody."
Petty, who was behind Elliott, said his car developed a bad push with about 15 laps to go and he decided against making any bold moves.
"I wasn't going to get to Jeff," he said. "The main thing is I've still got a car for the 500. I've been standing here before with a wadded-up bunch of trash for a car" after the 125s.
There were two accidents in each race, but none involved more than two cars and no one was hurt.
The most notable crash came on lap 11 of the second race when Al Unser Jr.'s smoking right rear tire finally blew after rubbing against a fender for several laps. Unser's crash, in turn 2, also took out Jimmy Hensley, who was driving for injured Jimmy Means.
Unser and Hensley, however, made the 41-car Daytona 500 field on the basis of qualifying times.
Gordon's victory establishes him as an early favorite in the rookie of the year battle with Bobby Labonte and Kenny Wallace. Labonte, who wrecked his best car in a seven-car crash during Wednesday's practice, was 13th in the first race driving his backup car. Wallace was 12th in the second race.
Gordon, who drives for three-car owner Rick Hendrick, was perhaps auto racing's greatest child star.
"I was serious when I was five," he said. He first drove a sprint car when he was 13 and spent his high school years racing midgets and sprints three or four times a week.
"The Gordon boy," Earnhardt said, "[is] a capable driver. He's very capable and confident when he's driving the car, and he doesn't move around on the race track and make dumb mistakes and dumb moves."
Gordon joined the Grand National series in 1991 and was rookie of the year. Last year, he won three GN races and a record 11 poles.
Still, Gordon had no thoughts of winning when he arrived here last week.
"I never even in my wildest dreams would have guessed that this would have happened," Gordon said. "This year, of all the tracks, this would have been the one I would have thought we would have never had a chance for Victory Circle."
Keywords:
AUTO RACING