Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, October 11, 1993 TAG: 9310110070
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CONCORD, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
The only notable incident occurred on lap 144, when Todd Bodine apparently blew a tire and hit the outside wall on the frontstretch.
Despite the lack of incidents, Rusty Wallace was not convinced the new rules are fair.
"I still don't like the rules," said Wallace, who finished fourth.
The Pontiac camp, which includes Wallace, has voiced the most opposition to the changes, which include a smaller spoiler on the rear deck of the car.
The rules are designed to slow the cars of all three manufacturers equally to keep them from becoming airborne if they spin. But Wallace believes the Pontiac Grand Prixs have been hurt the most because their rear ends are not as wide as the Fords and Chevys and need a larger spoiler than the other makes.
Although Wallace had one of the best cars all afternoon, he was not able to compete consistently with the best Chevy (driven by Dale Earnhardt to a third-place finish) and the best Fords (driven by race-winner Ernie Irvan and second-place finisher Mark Martin).
"The handling just got me there at the end," Wallace said, after failing to pass Earnhardt with four laps to go. "It's that rear spoiler. I thought I could get around Earnhardt on the outside when he was playing with Martin, but with the front end pushing, I couldn't hold it back down."
Kyle Petty, who finished seventh in another Grand Prix, said he was "real leery" of racing with anyone. "It was a deal where when anybody got close to me, my car was loose," Petty said.
But those who complained appeared to be in the minority.
Meanwhile, Gary Nelson, NASCAR's Winston Cup director, said he was pleased with the new rules after seeing them in action in a race.
"Speeds were much slower [about 3 or 4 mph per lap] than the previous race here and that was the intent of the rules," Nelson said. "We did feel like we got a true test of the new rules in today's race. The goals we were trying to accomplish were to lower the speeds of the cars and do it across the board fairly, and I feel like we accomplished that.
"We haven't decided to stick with what we have, and we have talked about the possibility of some more testing before the Atlanta race, but we haven't decided when or what."
\ INJURY REPORT: Despite the lack of crashes, one driver still went to the hospital.
Andy Hillenburg was overcome by fumes during the race after a fresh-air hose connected to his full-face helmet malfunctioned. He had to quit after 242 laps. Hillenburg was taken to Cabarrus Memorial Hospital for treatment, but he was expected to be released Sunday night.
Although he finished 15th, Brett Bodine still is slowed by his broken right arm and had to be helped from his car after the race.
"I never got a chance to rest my wrist with such long green-flag runs," he said.
\ SIBLING RIVALRIES: More than ever, it's brother against brother in the Winston Cup series.
Nearly a quarter of Sunday's drivers were competing against siblings.
Here were the brotherly standings at the end: Rusty Wallace (fourth), Mike Wallace (30th) and Kenny Wallace (35th); Geoff Bodine (13th), Brett Bodine (15th) and Todd Bodine (42nd); Darrell Waltrip (19th) and Michael Waltrip (27th); and Terry Labonte (16th) and Bobby Labonte (28th).
\ CHEVY STILL LEADS: With three races left in the season, each of the car manufacturers - Ford, Chevy and Pontiac - has nine victories.
But Chevy still leads the manufacturers' championship by two points over Ford.
Chevy has 175 points, Ford 173 and Pontiac 165. Points are awarded on a 9-6-4 basis with only the highest-finishing car of each make getting credit.
\ LAPPED: Just six of the 42 cars dropped out of Sunday's race, but only seven cars finished on the lead lap.
After Irvan, Martin, Earnhardt and Wallace, the other lead-lap drivers were Jeff Gordon in fifth, Jimmy Spencer in sixth and Kyle Petty in seventh. Ricky Rudd finished eighth and was the only driver a lap down. Everyone else was at least two laps behind.
\ MAST LIMPS TO FINISH: Rick Mast finished 18th, three laps down, after nursing a sick engine most of the afternoon. "We broke a header pipe early in the race," said the driver from Rockbridge Baths. "When you lose a cylinder, it just takes away your horsepower. We didn't have any cautions, so we rode it out."
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB