Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, February 13, 1995 TAG: 9502140071
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DENISE MICHAUX LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. LENGTH: Medium
Earnhardt roared to his sixth victory in nine starts in the 20-lap, season-opening Busch Clash, which showcases the '94 Winston Cup pole winners and is made up of two 10-lap sprints.
Sterling Marlin, the 1994 Daytona 500 champion, was second. Marlin was followed by Bill Elliott; Jeff Gordon, last year's Clash winner; and Todd Bodine, a wild-card entry.
Only two other drivers have won this race more than once. Ken Schrader and Neil Bonnett, who did the first test with the new Chevrolet Monte Carlo for Earnhardt a couple of years ago, had a pair of Clash wins apiece.
``This race suits the team, [car owner Richard] Childress and myself,'' Earnhardt said. ``I thought it would be tough drafting back up through there, but Childress said to lead every lap you can, so that's what I tried to do.''
Earnhardt started the new Monte Carlo on the outside of the front row next to Geoff Bodine's Ford and jumped out front, which is where he stayed until the final lap of the first of the two 10-lap segments.
With Gordon and Marlin hanging onto his bumper, Earnhardt got loose coming out of Turn 2. As Earnhardt slowed, Gordon cut to the apron of the track to try to get by and took Marlin with him.
``He got loose, I never touched him or anything,'' Gordon said. ``He just got real loose and got out of the gas and I had to turn underneath him. He was crowding me down and we touched, and I was sideways and he was sideways. It could have been a big mess.
``We dove all the way down to the grass. I wouldn't have made that move on anybody else. [Earnhardt's] going to race you hard, but he's also going to race you clean. There might be some rubbing, but there's not going to be any wrecking.''
Gordon cruised to the finish line to win the first segment, with Marlin and Earnhardt behind him. That put Gordon at the rear of the field for the second-segment restart.
Watching those cars try to weave their way back to the front of the pack in 10 laps is what makes this race so exciting.
It took Earnhardt and Marlin only 1 1/2 laps to return to the front of the field.
``He got a good restart, and then the [No.]4 car [Marlin] kind of left me out to dry, not because he wanted to but because he had to,'' Gordon said. ``He was in the position I wanted to be in for the second half of the race. I really wanted to finish third in the first race and start in front of Dale in the second race and have him push me to the front.''
Elliott tagged along with Marlin, but Gordon reeled him in by the third lap.
``I was just glad to be able to get up there with them,'' Gordon said.
With no one behind him, Gordon had no choice but to stay put, and Marlin couldn't break up the line on the final lap.
``I never could get a good surge,'' Marlin said. ``What we needed was somebody behind me to push the car. We were hoping the [No.]94 [Elliott] and [No.]24 [Gordon] could get along with us in the corner, but it looked like the 94 wasn't handling as well through turns 1 and 2 like we were.''
``I didn't have anybody behind me, so I couldn't get any help,'' Gordon said. ``Heck, I didn't want to see Earnhardt win his sixth Busch Clash. We're all trying to beat him, but he is the guy to beat.''
On the first lap, Mark Martin took a low line to get around Loy Allen in turn 3 and came up too fast coming out of the turn, clipping the front of Greg Sacks' car and sending him into the wall.
``It's a short, little race and you've got to make stuff happen quick,'' Martin said. ``I made an awfully low pass going into [turn] 3, almost down on the apron. I caught somebody in the rear. It was probably my fault.''
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB