Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 19, 1994 TAG: 9402190061
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. LENGTH: Medium
Earnhardt won the International Race of Champions event Friday, his second victory in two days and his 22nd overall at Daytona. On Thursday, he won his fifth consecutive Twin 125 qualifying race here.
Today, Earnhardt will go for his fifth consecutive Goody's 300 Grand National victory. He starts seventh, and Michael Waltrip has the pole in the 12:30 p.m. race.
But Earnhardt still hasn't found his way to victory lane in the Daytona 500.
"I've won 22 races at this place, and I don't know that I'm qualified to win the Daytona 500," he said after his second IROC victory at Daytona.
The 40-lap IROC event, which pits NASCAR, Indy-car and sports car drivers against each other in equally prepared Dodge Avengers, was full of its usual drafting and passing. But at the checkered flag, Earnhardt was a half-car length in front of Al Unser Jr. Dale Jarrett was third, followed by Mark Martin, Kyle Petty, Rusty Wallace, Steve Kinser, Geoff Brabham and Danny Sullivan, all on the lead lap.
"It's an all-race deal, guessing who you should draft with or work with," Earnhardt said. "It got so mixy there at the end, I figured I'd go to the front and see what I could do.
"Unser was there on the last lap and I just flat-out blocked him in every corner; going through 1, going through 2, down the back straight about three or four times. In [turn] 3, I went high, he went high. When he went low, I went low. I'm surprised he didn't nudge me, give me some help there. We were dodging around the last lap.
"My car was working real good as long as I could get somebody to help me," Unser said. "I really didn't have enough at the end to get by him."
"That rascal is tough," Earnhardt said of Unser. "He gets in there stirring things up. We hooked up there and went with Kyle and Jarrett and Rusty and Mark. But when it came down to the end, it was Unser to beat."
There were 13 lead changes among five drivers in the 33-minute race. Wallace led 14 laps - the most of any driver. The only accident was Scott Sharp's solo spin and crash in turn 2 on lap 24.
The IROC race was taped by ABC and will be shown at 5 p.m. March 13. The next round in the four-race series will be March 26 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB