Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, April 26, 1993 TAG: 9304260036
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MARTINSVILLE LENGTH: Medium
The grumbling in the garage is sure to increase now. They will say nobody is that good. They will wonder what trick Wallace has up his sleeve. They will ask, "Where are those NASCAR inspectors?"
But Wallace's car sailed through NASCAR's post-race inspection as pretty as you please and was eased back into its Penske Racing hauler about 90 minutes after he cleaned April right off the Winston Cup calendar.
Wallace wasn't even using the new brake fluid recirculator that some teams have been using to try to keep their brake fluid cool.
"There's no trick here," Wallace said. "We have a motor that's strong, that's not blowing up. We've got a maintenance program that's second to none. We've got a better pit crew and a better car."
Davey Allison finished second in his Ford Thunderbird for his best finish here ever.
Dale Jarrett, who was third, summed it up: "I guess we're all racing for second now."
Darrell Waltrip was fourth and Kyle Petty finished fifth, one lap down.
Except for die-hard Wallace fans, the largest crowd in western Virginia sports history had little to cheer about. The record estimated crowd of about 55,000 saw only three drivers lead the race.
Outside pole sitter Hut Stricklin led the first 87 laps, but he was eliminated after the first round of pit stops. Wallace's team cranked out another one of their state-of-the-art pit stops and put their driver in the lead.
Wallace led the rest of the way, except for four laps that Allison led while Wallace was in the pits for routine service.
The race was mostly crash-free, although there were three incidents in the final 100 laps, including a crash by Morgan Shepherd on lap 497 that caused the race to finish under a yellow flag.
Wallace had close calls during two of those incidents that caused some of his team members a bit of excitement.
Even Roger Penske, a part owner of the team, raised his voice. But Wallace remained cool and unruffled.
One crucial moment for Wallace came on lap 425, when Brett Bodine spun in front of him in turn one.
"Watch it! Watch it! Right in front of you! Right in front of you!" Penske shouted to Wallace on the radio. Penske was spotting for his driver from atop the press box and had a bird's eye view.
Wallace avoided the trouble. And as it turned out, the incident helped him because it killed Petty's chances. Petty had been one of his strongest challengers.
Just before the incident, Wallace had decided to make a green flag pit stop. But now he was able to make a pit stop under the yellow flag.
Petty had already pitted. He had taken a chance and come in on lap 412. He lost a lap, but with fresh tires, he was gaining much ground on Wallace.
Petty would have made up his lost lap when Wallace pitted, but the yellow flag kept Petty a lap down.
"We took a gamble and got slapped in the face," said Robin Pemberton, Petty's crew chief.
"I'm just a little bit teed off right now because we only finished fifth," Petty said. "But it could have been worse. That happens sometimes."
The final moments of excitement came during the Shepherd crash.
First, Allison made a run at Wallace to try to take the lead as they approached the start-finish line to take the yellow flag.
"I made a move to the inside, but he saw me coming too soon and he accelerated just enough to beat me back to the line," Allison said.
Said Wallace: "I caught [sight of] him coming out of the corner of my car, and when I found that he was getting too close, I just mashed the gas back to the line."
Wallace went three-for-three on the short tracks in April and now has won half of the races this year. He increased his career victory total to 25. And he took the lead in the Winston Cup championship points race and widened it to 106 points over Dale Earnhardt.
"I never thought I'd win every race in a month," he said. "It's a pretty wild deal. I've got this feeling in my blood right now now like I had at the end of 1988, thinking, "Man, I've got a car that is strong. I've got a pit crew that is strong. I've got an engine room that is strong.'
"I'm going down to Talladega next week just thinking about keeping it out of the wrecks."
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB