Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 22, 1994 TAG: 9405220137
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CONCORD, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
It also was the first Winston Cup victory this year for Hoosier tires.
Bodine crossed the finish line about three car-lengths ahead of Sterling Marlin, who got past Schrader on the last lap. Schrader was third, followed by Darrell Waltrip.
After the race, Bodine did a backward victory lap - known as the Polish victory lap - in honor of Kulwicki, who was killed in a plane crash April 1, 1993, while flying to a race at Bristol.
"You guys, this is for Alan right here," Bodine said as he turned around his car to start the tribute lap. "We miss him."
After emerging from his pink-and-black Ford Thunderbird in his first visit to victory lane as a car owner, Bodine said, "It was a struggle. It was a tough race - the toughest Winston we've ever seen.
"That [backward] lap was in honor of Alan, but that's going to be the last time," Bodine said. "We're going to put him and that [backward lap] to rest, God rest his soul. But he was with me, believe me.
"We got beat off the start [on the final 10-lap segment]. Kenny was strong. Sterling was strong. But those tires got better. I can't believe it! This is better than Daytona [he won the 500 in 1986]. This is better than the first win. They were great. But this is special."
Schrader, for one, was skeptical about the tires.
"We beat the Hoosiers all night," he said. "It's just kind of funny they were that much better at the end. But who knows?"
Perhaps the biggest winners of the night were the car makers, who will be busy this week fixing damaged Winston Cup cars and building new ones for all those destroyed Saturday night.
Twenty cars were involved in seven incidents in the Winston Select and Winston Select Open, including the big four: Dale Earnhardt, Ernie Irvan, Rusty Wallace and Mark Martin.
It started with an 11-car accident in the Open that injured Loy Allen and Michael Waltrip and ended with a three-car crash in the second segment of the feature race that took out Martin and Greg Sacks. Earnhardt and Wallace also tangled in turn 4 during the second segment, taking themselves out.
The format for the race remained the same as it has been the past few years - a final 10-lap shootout preceded by two 30-lap segments.
Irvan won the first segment by about two seconds over Marlin. And he was trying to pass Bodine to win the second segment when he got into the grass on the frontstretch, lost control and slammed into the outside wall.
"I just made a mistake," Irvan said. "I shouldn't have tried to pass him like that. I made a bad mistake."
Bodine won the second segment.
In the preliminary race, the Open, Jeff Gordon's victory was overshadowed by the 11-car crash in turn 1 that sent Waltrip and Allen to a hospital.
Waltrip's car owner, Chuck Rider, said his driver apparently suffered a fracture to the tip of his right shoulder. He was reported to be alert but sore. Allen was said to be sore from rib pain, but joking and doubting any ribs were broken, the track reported.
In the 50-lap race, Gordon beat Sacks by 3.5 seconds. Schrader was third, followed by Jeff Burton, Ward Burton and Joe Nemechek. All six drivers qualified for the The Winston Select.
The melee on lap 30, which caused a red flag for more than 16 minutes, was set up when Dave Marcis, on old tires, was surrounded by faster cars after the pack took the green flag on a restart on lap 29. The next lap, Ward Burton got into the back of Marcis, whose car swerved back and forth several times before spinning in front of pack, starting the chain reaction of crashing in the first turn.
Ward Burton took the blame for the crash.
"I got into the [Marcis] car a little bit," he said. "I guess I'm the culprit for all the problems out there."
But Todd Bodine, who was in the middle of it, blamed Marcis.
"Guys with old tires didn't use their heads," he said.
Marcis, of course, was mad at Burton.
"For [Burton] to hit me while I was on the straightaway . . . We weren't even in the corner, and he ran right into the back of me right in front of the flag stand and turned me around," Marcis said.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB