Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, October 25, 1993 TAG: 9310250067
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ROCKINGHAM, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
Earnhardt, for the eighth time in the last nine races, failed to beat his chief rival as Wallace cruised to a 3.23-second victory Sunday in the AC Delco 500 at North Carolina Motor Speedway.
But Earnhardt's second-place finish once again kept Wallace from gaining any significant ground in his bid to overtake Earnhardt for the Winston Cup championship.
Earnhardt lost 10 points and his lead over Wallace is 72 - exactly what it was after Wallace won at North Wilkesboro on Oct. 3.
"It is frustrating to do as much as we've done this year and be 72 points behind," Wallace said after winning his ninth race of the season. "But there's nothing I can do about it. If I do lose the championship, I'm going to slug it out to the very end. I'm not going to give up at all. If he slips, I'm going to be right up on his rear end. But if I slip, he's going to check out on me."
Sunday's race became another Wallace-Earnhardt battle, with the rest of the field relegated to minor skirmishes.
"I didn't have anything for those two guys," said Bill Elliott, who finished third. "Between Dale and Rusty, there's just no stopping them."
Wallace led for 179 laps; Earnhardt only was in front for 14 circuits. But it still was a two-car contest.
Harry Gant led for 139 laps before slipping to fourth - the last car on the lead lap. He was followed by pole-winner Mark Martin, Ernie Irvan, Darrell Waltrip and Ken Schrader, all one lap down after experiencing handling problems on this 1.017-mile track.
Although Wallace has outrun Earnhardt consistently since the second Michigan race on Aug. 15, the five-time champion simply has refused to buckle under the pressure of watching Wallace win four of the last six races.
And Earnhardt's performance Sunday again proved he isn't stroking toward his sixth title.
Earnhardt fought from sixth to second during the final 100 laps Sunday and was closing on Wallace at the end.
"I would have caught him if my right front tire hadn't been going down at the end," Earnhardt said.
He lost again, but he won again.
As car owner Richard Childress said on the radio when it was over: "Great job, everybody. We'll give 'em 10 more points in the next two races and it'll be just fine."
"Well, that's what it's all about," said Earnhardt as he undressed in his trailer. "Gain a little, lose a little, gain a little, lose a little. I'd like to gain at Phoenix [on Oct. 31] and stay even at Atlanta."
Wallace said this weekend he is haunted by his horrific finish-line crash at Talladega in May, which left him with a broken wrist and led to a slump. He said he thinks about it all the time. After the Talladega crash, Wallace failed to finish the next four races.
"This has been the most wonderful season, with nine wins and three poles . . . but I had those darn four DNFs [did not finishes] right in the middle of the year and they keep plaguing me."
But now that's he winning again, Wallace still seems to be treading water in the points battle. Wallace has won two of three races this month, but he's only gained 10 points. That's because Earnhardt has a pair of seconds and a third.
"My head won't explode if I lose it," Wallace said. "I'll just say, `Boy, we threw everything we had at `em this year and we'll try to get 'em again next year.' "
Neither driver had a good starting position for this 4 1/2-hour marathon. Wallace started 18th in his Pontiac Grand Prix and Earnhardt was 22nd on the grid in a Chevrolet Lumina.
But Earnhardt was stronger early in the race, passing Wallace and clawing through the field to take the lead for the first time on lap 93.
Wallace's car was not handling well during the first half of the race. He did not lead until lap 312. But once he got the lead, he was in front for all but two of the remaining laps, giving way only during a green-flag pit stop.
"The early part of the race, the front end was pushing," Wallace said. "It wasn't handling right. It was kind of all over the race track. But we made adjustments and all of a sudden it got a lot better. We finally got it consistent from run to run, and after that we were home free."
Earnhardt closed the gap from more than five seconds to less than two in the last 15 laps, but Wallace was backing off to save his tires. "It wasn't real nerve-wracking because I knew I had about a half-inch of gas pedal left," Wallace said.
"We always seem to be racing each other. And we're finding ourselves way out front right now because we're racing each other extra hard."
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB