Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, June 7, 1993 TAG: 9306070090
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DOVER, DEL. LENGTH: Medium
It started on lap 20 - when Greg Sacks blew an engine and went spinning with Bill Elliott behind him.
It ended on lap 426 - 14 caution periods later - when Mark Martin sent Rusty Wallace into the wall, with Geoff Bodine and Jimmy Hensley crashing with Wallace.
The previous record for cautions in the Bud 500 was nine in 1980, 1983 and 1987. Although Sunday's 14 cautions only tied the track record set in the fall race in 1988, it seemed in the beginning as if the crashing would end only when the race did.
"I've been in some pretty rough ones up here at Dover," said Richard Petty, "but this is just about as bad as I've ever seen."
Of the 38 cars that started in the race, 23 were involved in accidents.
Fifteen laps after the Sacks-Elliott accident, Jeff Gordon pinched Harry Gant on the backstretch and that sent Gordon out of control.
"I didn't hit a thing! I just glanced off the wall. Just don't let me lose a lap," Gant radioed to his crew. He didn't lose a lap then but eventually lost one lap and finished seventh.
"Hopefully, I won't remember much about this race," Gordon said after it was over.
Usually, a race reaches an equilibrium after a rash of crashes and eventually finds a long stretch of green. Not Sunday. At least not during the first half of the race.
On lap 106, Phil Parsons crashed coming out of turn 2, causing the third yellow flag.
"I got together with a slow car in turn 2," he said.
Seven laps later, while running among the leaders, Brett Bodine was tapped by Sterling Marlin and spun. Behind him, Kyle Petty put on the brakes. Dave Marcis, who was having a rare fling with the leaders, piled into Petty, sending both into the wall.
"One of them things," Petty said. "We all slowed down and I just got hit from the rear. We were running real good. Just happens, man."
For Marcis, it was an unfortunate early end to one of his finest runs in years.
He actually led eight laps and was running well when it ended.
`'I wasn't trying to be too aggressive," he said. "I don't have the money to do that. I needed to finish a race. But it feels exciting when you're racing like that. We were really happy with it."
Next, on lap 122, it was Ricky Rudd's turn.
"Lake Speed was two or three laps down and he was driving it into the corner in turn 1, he couldn't hold it on the bottom. He washed up into me and I went into the wall," Rudd said.
On lap 136, P.J. Jones got into trouble. He already had been black-flagged into the pits for consultation for failing to keep his car in the low groove.
Jones "spun out in front of me and I hit him," Terry Labonte said.
Caution No. 7 was for Marlin, who lost it in turn 1 on lap 147.
The next victim was Derrike Cope, who was fuming after colliding with Bobby Labonte and hitting the turn 4 wall on lap 206.
"I had him beat and then he just stuck it in there and planted me into the wall," Cope told his crew. "Sorry, I guess I shouldn't haved tried to pass the guy."
Cope's team, therefore, was happy to see Labonte involved in the six-car crash on the backstretch six laps later.
It started when Mark Martin wiggled coming off turn 2. When Lake Speed slowed, Jimmy Hensley became involved.
"I hit him from behind, got into the wall, spun the wrong way and I don't know what happened after that," Hensley said.
Before it was over, Labonte, Jimmy Spencer, Bobby Hillin and Dick Trickle also were involved.
And that was just the first half of the race.
There were five more cautions the rest of the way, including one to remove a heart attack victim from the infield.
One incident that did not cause a yellow flag was Davey Allison's spin on pit road on lap 301.
There was oil absorbant spread at the head of pit road and Allison slid in it.
"Sorry guys," he told his crew. "I got out in the loose stuff and just lost it. But I was lucky. We didn't hit anything."
Several teams questioned NASCAR about the incident, believing a penalty should have been assessed because the car spun into the pits.
"He had lost it before he reached pit road," NASCAR Winston Cup director Gary Nelson said.
by CNB