Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 29, 1994 TAG: 9405290098
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CONCORD, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
But it wasn't Skinner.
Phil Parsons, whose budget has limited him to no more than nine Grand National races each of the past few years, drove away from Mark Martin and Michael Waltrip in the final laps of the 300-mile race to win by 10.84 seconds. Roy Payne, the only other driver on the lead lap, finished fourth.
Skinner finished 28th, dropping out after 93 laps when his ignition failed.
"This is the biggest moment of my career," Parsons said. "I don't know if anyone thought I could win again."
Parsons' victory was a big boost to his sagging career. In 1988, he finished ninth in Winston Cup points and won the May race at Talladega, which was his first and only victory in the big leagues.
But it's been downhill since then, with only sporadic opportunities in Winston Cup racing. Parsons has had to drive his own car in the Grand National series since 1991, with only enough financial backing for seven to nine races a year.
"I have only one full-time employee," he said. "The rest of [the crew] do it for nothing. Faith in the Lord is how I survived. I feel I can do it. You wonder why you don't get the opportunities.
"But the car ran so flawlessly. It never skipped a beat.
"And I can't say enough for the Hoosier tires. They had an awesome tire today. The longer we ran, the better it got."
Parsons, the younger brother of retired Winston Cup champion Benny Parsons, was leading when the last of six caution flags flew for Mike McLaughlin's spin in turn 4 on lap 157 of the 200-lap race. But a lug nut became jammed in an air wrench during his pit stop and he had to restart the race fifth.
"But it really didn't concern me because I knew we had the car," Parsons said.
With 18 laps to go, Parsons passed Martin in the tri-oval and pulled away. He led a total of 37 laps.
"We just got beat, that's all," Martin said. "We just got outrun."
The race was marred by a 15-car crash in turn 1 that left veteran driver Chad Little hospitalized at Cabarrus Memorial Hospital with a fractured right shoulder and leg and a concussion.
Three drivers and two crewmen also were taken to area hospitals after a couple of crashes during the Duron 100 Sportsman race.
The big wreck occurred just after a restart, when an inexperienced driver, Stanton Barrett, tried to get around Little's car, which was slowly getting up to speed. Barrett clipped Bobby Labonte's car, starting a chain reaction. Other drivers involved included Dale Jarrett, Derrike Cope, Morgan Shepherd and Sterling Marlin.
The Sportsman race, which was won by Marty Ward, was a relatively trouble-free affair for 52 laps. Unfortunately for several drivers, including pole-winner Shari Minter, the race lasted 67 laps.
Things got ugly on lap 53, when Gary "Red" Everette spun coming off turn 4. His car nearly came to a stop out of the groove, but with its final movement, it edged back into oncoming traffic and was T-boned with terrific force by the car of Ronnie Sewell, who was running second.
Both cars were demolished and Everette's car burst into flames.
And as with the past two fiery Sportsman crashes that occurred in the same area of the track - Philip Ross' wreck in 1991 and the crash that burned Gary Batson to death in 1992 - it took the Charlotte Motor Speedway's fire trucks more than 30 seconds to get to the scene.
As flames rose around the driver's side of the car, several crewmen ran across the track and were at Everette's door, watching helplessly until the fire truck arrived.
Fortunately, Everette suffered only minor burns around his face. He was to be kept overnight at Carolinas Medical Center for observation, but had no significant injuries, track officials reported.
Sewell was examined at Cabarrus Medical Center and released. Pole-winner Minter, who had the wind knocked out of her, was examined at the infield care center and released.
The race was red-flagged to clean up the mess. And on the restart on lap 61, two cars crashed in turn 4. An axle flew off one of the cars and struck two crewmen in the pits. Jack Kochiss was taken to Cabarrus with a separated shoulder. Jerry Hawks was treated at the same hospital for a leg injury. Rounder Saverance, a driver who was in the accident, was released from the hospital after an examination.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB