Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, May 17, 1993 TAG: 9305170135
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SONOMA, CALIF. LENGTH: Medium
"Why don't they just do the last two laps and see who's going to wreck who?" Jarrett said after getting the short end of the stick on the chaotic last lap of the Save Mart 300 at Sears Point International Raceway.
"You work your tail off all day and it don't make no difference. Somebody takes a cheap shot and ends it."
Even though he had started 32nd after qualifying poorly Friday, Jarrett had an outstanding run and was in fifth place as the final lap started. But going through the uphill second turn on the 11-turn, 2.52-mile road course, he was hit from behind by Kyle Petty. Jarrett spun and took out Davey Allison with him.
They both got going again, but Allison said Jarrett hit him again and put him out of the race for good. Jarrett finished 13th. Allison was 15th. Petty took the blame for the mishap. He said he was trying to keep Dale Earnhardt behind him.
"I was watching him and when I looked up I ran all over Dale Jarrett," Petty said. "It was my fault."
As for the second collision between Allison and Jarrett, Allison said, "I don't know if he thought I was the one that did it [in turn 2] or what. But he put me up in the tires and it put me out of the race."
\ WALLACE FEELS FINE: Rusty Wallace failed to finish the race, but it was not because of his broken left wrist.
"There was no problem with the wrist," said Wallace, who broke a bone in his wrist in his wild, final-lap crash at Talladega two weekends ago. "But I think I probably wore that old brace out. I worked that brace over pretty good, but it held the hand together."
Wallace's problem was in the transmission of his Pontiac.
On lap 53, Earnhardt collided with a spinning Tommy Kendall and "when that happened, I jumped on the brakes real bad," said Wallace, who was right behind Earnhardt.
"And when I jumped on the brakes, it broke second gear."
Before long, he also discovered that first and third gears were gone.
"I kept going in high gear, but I finally kept lugging the motor so bad through those tight turns, it detonated the engine."
Wallace finished 38th in the 43-car field. Although he indicated earlier that he would not compete in The Winston all-star race this Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway, he said a final decision hasn't been made.
"We've got a car stout enough to win the race," he said. "I feel like if I could win the race, we could balance the budget [with first-place winnings of at least $200,000]. But If I wreck and screw the wrist up again, I ruin the whole year. So we'll have to see."
\ MARTINS' BAD DAY: Mark Martin, after running near the front of the field, fell back and then fought up near the front again, Martin's race ended after 57 laps with a broken rear end. Martin finished 40th and dropped from sixth to ninth in the Winston Cup points standings.
\ MAST STRUGGLES: After only seven of 74 laps, Rick Mast lost all the gears in his Ford Thunderbird's transmission but high gear. That meant he had to limp around the course the rest of the afternoon just to finish 29th, two laps down.
"This was the best car I've ever had at this race track," he said. "Unbelievable. Every week, something new to go wrong."
\ A STRONG FINISH: Wally Dallenbach, a premier road racer before joining the Winston Cup series, had high hopes for the Save Mart 300.
But the race was almost over before he finally hit his stride.
Dallenbach struggled with a faulty carburetor during the first half of the race. He was much faster after his crew finally got to change it during a caution. Dallenbach clawed his way back to finish seventh.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB