ROANOKE TIMES

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, May 2, 1994                   TAG: 9405020099
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: TALLADEGA, ALA.                                LENGTH: Medium


EARNHARDT TAKES THE LOW ROAD

There have been a lot of questions lately in the Winston Cup series about why only a handful of drivers are winning races.

Dale Earnhardt proved again Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway that after you consider the car, the engine, the team, the pit crew, the owner and the sponsor, all it really takes is one superior driver.

In another wild superspeedway finish, Earnhardt won the Winston Select 500 - his seventh victory at Talladega - by about two car-lengths over Ernie Irvan. Michael Waltrip was third, followed by Jimmy Spencer and Ken Schrader.

"I would have to rank that right in there as one of the most exciting Talladega races I've ever been in," Earnhardt said.

It was Earnhardt's third victory of the year and the 62nd of his Winston Cup career.

There were four yellow flags during the 188-lap event, including one for a seven-car wreck on lap 103 and another for a 12-car crash 10 laps later. Both occurred in the trioval. No one was hurt.

And after the final yellow flag on lap 162 for Kirk Shelmerdine's accident in turn 3, Earnhardt was 11th for the restart. While others had not pitted, or taken gas only, Earnhardt's crew changed all four tires.

"Our car didn't feel just right, to be honest with you," Earnhardt said. "We decided to be safe and did a four-tire stop. That put us way back. That was a call I more or less asked to do. And the crew had faith in me and the job I can do to go back to the front."

Irvan, meanwhile, had to have his spoiler repaired and restarted in 17th place with 22 laps to go.

That kind of handicap simply became a good challenge for these two top drivers. And even before they crossed the finish line first and second, it was clear they had passed the test with flying colors, all the more so because neither driver had a superior car.

Crew chief Andy Petree was astounded with his driver's performance.

"Great job, Dale!" he said on the radio as Earnhardt did his victory lap. "I don't know how you keep doing it, but you keep doing it."

Earnhardt had trouble explaining it, too.

"I don't know," he said. "It's hard to explain the last lap at Talladega. I can't remember where I was with five to go. I can't remember where I was with three to go. I wanted to be in position to draft by the leader, but with two or three to go, I passed the leader [Spencer].

"Fortunately, they got to racing each other. And it goes back to history and experience. They go to racing each other and forget about the guy leading the race."

Actually, the race-winning pass came with five laps to go. Spencer drifted slightly high in turns 1 and 2, and Earnhardt stayed low on the track and got by.

With three laps to go, Earnhardt and Spencer were racing side by side when Michael Waltrip made it three wide for the lead going down the backstretch. Waltrip and Earnhardt then raced side by side as Spencer fell back.

Starting the last lap, Earnhardt was followed by Waltrip and Ken Schrader. On the backstretch, Waltrip went inside and Schrader went outside.

"I really thought I had a shot at it, and Ernie and somebody else came chugging up behind me and I about spun out in [turns] 3 and 4," Waltrip said.

That allowed Irvan to take second, but he had nothing for Earnhardt in the final sprint to the checkered flag.

"I was too far back to win," Irvan said. "I needed to be third, not fourth. I never got to Earnhardt."

"I was just trying to keep my eyes on what was going on behind me," Earnhardt said. "You're just there and you're watching the moves and you just use your experience and make the best of the opportunities."

In the crashes, Mark Martin had the wildest ride. He was involved in the first wreck, which was triggered when Greg Sacks got into Todd Bodine while trying to move out of the way of another car.

Martin's Ford got caught in the melee and shot off the track toward the infield near turn 1. His car was parallel with the inside wall for some distance. Then he crashed through the guardrail at the entrance of the speedway's road course, which hardly slowed the car.

Finally, Martin crashed through a couple of chain-link fences and slammed head-on into another guardrail not far from where some fans were standing.

"I sure worried about things there for a minute," Martin said. "The first impact there, I lost the brakes. It sure is a helpless feeling coming toward that guardrail with no brakes.

"I know it wouldn't have slowed me down much, but I'd have sure felt a lot more normal if I'd been able to push on the brake pedal. I'm OK. It hurt bad. It hit harder than it showed on TV."

Keywords:
AUTO RACING



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