Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 23, 1993 TAG: 9305240015
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: D-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CONCORD, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
"We beat him down into turn 3 - got him on the outside," Earnhardt said in Victory Lane.
The winning pass occurred on lap 9, and Earnhardt led the rest of the way, winning by a couple of car lengths.
"I can't believe we won because Mark was so strong in the first eight laps [of the final segment] and I couldn't do anything to catch him," Earnhardt said. "I couldn't have beat him without a caution."
Earnhardt most likely wouldn't have beaten Martin without an assist from NASCAR officials after he jumped the green flag by 10 car lengths for the final two-lap sprint. The final dash was prompted by a crash involving Terry Labonte.
In normal Winston Cup races, Earnhardt would have been black-flagged and forced to the back of the field. Saturday night, NASCAR did not penalize him at all. NASCAR spokesman Chip Williams said Earnhardt got no penalty because The Winston is was a special event, with three separate segments and different rules.
Earnhardt's move irritated a number of the drivers, including Ernie Irvan, who finished third.
"The Winston is great, but let's not let somebody blatantly take a gun and steal the money," Irvan said. "To jump the start and give him another try at it is like giving a bank robber a second shot. I jumped the start [at Sears Point in 1992], and they sent me to the back."
Davey Allison, who finished ninth and never was in the hunt, also was upset.
"It really gets me that somebody can get away with all this stuff and nothing ever gets said about it," he said.
Martin led eight of the 10 laps in the final segment and actually thought he was the winner when he crossed the finish line first under the yellow flag that flew for Labonte's blown engine and crash in turn 4.
However, yellow-flag laps don't count in the final 10 laps of the all-star race. So even though it never happens in any other Winston Cup race, NASCAR turned the scoreboard back to lap 8 and restarted the race with two laps to go.
And Earnhardt, after jumping the restart, went to Victory Lane instead of the back of the field and won $222,500 for the victory, which does not count in the Winston Cup points standings.
There were no final-lap wrecks in this finale, unlike the past two races, at Sears Point and Talladega.
But it came close at the beginning of the final segment, as Rick Mast and Earnhardt led the field to the green flag.
Going through the first and second turns, Earnhardt and Martin, who was in third, squeezed Mast and sent him sliding to eighth.
Martin led from there until Labonte's crash.
The second 30-lap segment belonged to Mast, an unheralded driver from Rockbridge Baths, Va., who made it into The Winston as the fifth and final qualifier from the Winston Open.
After a three-car crash on lap 2 involving Michael Waltrip, Dale Jarrett and Jimmy Hensley, Mast took the lead on a restart at lap 10 and led the rest of the way, holding off a final charge by Earnhardt going into turns 3 and 4. Earnhardt finished second, followed by Martin and Geoff Bodine.
Irvan led flag-to-flag in the first 30-lap segment, beating Martin by about 3.5 seconds.
There was little action and no yellow flags in the first segment, but Martin did the best driving, methodically clawing his way through the field from the 14th starting spot to finish second.
Sterling Marlin won the Winston Open, a 50-lap feature for non-winners that preceded The Winston, after passing Ken Schrader in turn 2 on a restart on lap 46.
Earlier, in the Winston Sportsman 100, pole winner Tim Bender led all 67 laps for an easy victory over Peter Gibbons.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB