Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, October 3, 1994 TAG: 9410050020
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
Last weekend at Martinsville, he spun twice, never lost a lap and finished second.
Sunday in the Holly Farms 400 at North Wilkesboro Speedway, he fishtailed down the frontstretch on a restart on lap 350, hit the wall, bounced off Bobby Hamilton's car, never completely lost control, somehow recovered and finished seventh.
It was his sixth top-10 finish in a row and his 13th in the past 15 races. And even though he hasn't won since May, Earnhardt has a 208-point lead in the Winston Cup championship with only four races left. He lost nine points to Rusty Wallace on Sunday.
``We've got a decent lead for these last four races,'' he said. ``I wish we had a bigger lead, but that's what we've got to work with, so we'll have to make it work.''
As for the restart incident, ``I broke it loose and got into the wall and the 40 car. That didn't work. Heck of a mess. I was locked up trying to stop it.''
WALTRIP-ANDRETTI TIFF: Another late-race incident involved Michael Waltrip and John Andretti. It led to the final caution on lap 391, when Waltrip hit the fourth-turn wall.
Andretti said Waltrip came down on him in the turn and he couldn't avoid the collision. Waltrip said he was going for a hole and Andretti wouldn't give him a break.
Waltrip said Andretti's car owner, Richard Petty ``was upset because I ran into his car, and I was upset too, and I told him I was sorry I did that. I shouldn't have run into his car. But I tore mine up a couple of laps before that, so I thought I would spread the good cheer.''
SUBPAR GOODYEARS: A number of mechanics and crewmen on pit road said the Goodyear tires just didn't have it Sunday.
``They just gave up,'' said Pete Wright, a Rocky Mount (Va.) native who is mechanic for Darrell Waltrip. ``You got to a point where they would just wear out,'' said Rusty Wallace crewman Todd Parrott. ``They were just as bad here in April as they were today.''
by CNB