Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, June 1, 1993 TAG: 9306010100
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
DATELINE: CONCORD, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
NASCAR's "King" has retired, and after an impressive victory Sunday evening in the Coca-Cola 600, there's little doubt Earnhardt deserves to be anointed as racing royalty. One problem: He's no prince.
When the drivers were introduced to the record Charlotte Motor Speedway crowd of 162,000 before the green flag dropped, Earnhardt was the only one whose cheers were drowned in jeers.
About five hours after he got the raspberries, he also owned a Coca-Cola 600 speed record of 145.504 mph and another $156,650, boosting his season earnings to just over $905,000. He could spend the rest of the season in the pits and still reach $1 million for the sixth time in seven years.
His detractors call him "Ironhead," but there's little question his guts are just as steely as the frame of his Goodwrench Lumina. His feelings must feel like the sheet metal on his car, too - dinged, dented, scratched, but usually running hard when it counts.
With Sunday's win pushing him above $17 million in official NASCAR money, Earnhardt becomes the only driver in motorsports history to reach that figure. With his 55th win - on the hometown track where his Winston Cup career began with a 22nd-place finish in 1975 - Earnhardt passed Lee Petty among Winston Cup victors.
He trails only Richard Petty, David Pearson, Bobby Allison, Darrell Waltrip and Cale Yarborough. He's 28 wins behind Yarborough, and he plans on racing another eight years. In Sunday's Coca-Cola classic, however, Earnhardt showed he can catch just about anyone.
"We drove hard all day," Earnhardt said one hour after his second night win at CMS in eight days. "It always seemed like I was behind after I was ahead for some reason."
Earnhardt was penalized twice. He was held up for 15 seconds on lap 222 for exceeding the 55 mph speed limit on pit road.
"I don't know if I was speeding or not, but I do know 28 [Davey Allison] was catching me," Earnhardt said, laughing.
Then, on lap 327, Earnhardt, in third with leader Dale Jarrett running away, appeared to tap the rear of Greg Sacks' Ford. Sacks went into the infield grass, the race went to caution and Earnhardt went to a one-lap penalty for "rough driving." Sacks told NASCAR officials over his radio that he was hit. Later, he changed his story.
"Did it look like I hit him on TV?" Earnhardt asked reporters.
The chorus was affirmative.
"Do you all work for NASCAR?" he wondered.
When the laughter died, he was asked if he hit Sacks.
"No," Earnhardt said. "I was close, but I did not hit him per se hit him.
"I caught a lap penalty for it, so undoubtedly they think I hit him. And he said I hit him, but we beat the lap back and we won the race, so it's here nor there now, isn't it?"
Jarrett's lead was 15.6 seconds over Earnhardt when he got the one-lap penalty. He unlapped off leader Bobby Labonte after the one-lap penalty and then another caution gave Earnhardt the chance to close the distance. In a race in which he lost more than 52.2 seconds to penalties, he still won by 4.7 seconds.
He credited his Andy Petree-led crew for tire-pressure changes as the track surface cooled 43 degrees from the start to the finish. However, in a race that included 29 lead changes among 10 drivers, it was Earnhardt's aggressiveness that made the difference.
Even in someone's rearview mirror, Earnhardt seems psychologically ahead. After only one victory - the Coke 600 - last year, Earnhardt seems bent on winning his sixth Winston Cup points championship. Only King Richard has more - one more.
The difference between tough driving and rough driving is a scratch or two. Earnhardt may come up short in the praise department but certainly not in respect. When you can play bump-and-run at 180 without doing a 180, you're going to exhaust a lot of competition.
by CNB