Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, April 10, 1995 TAG: 9504110070
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
The winning Chevy was black, and the driver behind the wheel had taken the route to Victory Lane 63 times before Sunday. It was Dale Earnhardt, not Jeff Gordon, claiming Sunday's race. But Earnhardt took a cue from Gordon's recent performances and simply ran away with it.
Earnhardt led 226 of the 400 laps and won by 14.48 seconds. Gordon was second and happy about it. Mark Martin finished third, followed by Rusty Wallace and Steve Grissom, the only other drivers on the lead lap. Earnhardt had a double victory this weekend. His NASCAR truck, driven by Ron Hornaday, won in Tucson, Ariz., on Saturday evening.
`'If you punished your tires at the wrong time today ... that would put you behind,'' Earnhardt said. ``And that was the key to where we ran good - not punishing our tires and being consistent on our tires.
``I raced Rusty pretty hard on one run and it punished the tires and he got back by me,'' he said. ``When we got tires for the next run, I was more careful with them. Taking care of tires and making them work for you was one of the big keys today.''
For those cars more than a lap down, getting tires was the big problem after NASCAR officials saw a potential tire shortage early in the race and began rationing rubber. But that wasn't a problem for Earnhardt and the other lead cars, since they were first on NASCAR's rationing list.
The shortage never actually happened because the race was almost trouble-free. There were only three yellow flags for minor spins and crashes on a warm Sunday in April. But it still was busy at the infield care center. Drivers Kyle Petty, Greg Sacks and Jeff Burton were taken to the center and given oxygen and fluids after they were overcome by fumes or illness during the event. Two crewmen also were treated at the center, one for illness and the other for a sprained ankle.
Of those treated, Petty appeared to be in the worst shape.
`'He came in sick this morning,'' said Barry Dodson, Petty's crew chief. ``He convinced me he'd be fine, but he should have gotten out before he did. He about passed out when he brought the car in.'' Petty was third shortly before the halfway point, but he faded to 31st, completing 374 laps.
One might have expected Bobby Labonte to be among the lame after the race. But Labonte, who still is recovering from the broken shoulder he suffered March 26 at Darlington, finished 15th after completing 398 laps without relief.
``My foot got a little hot, but the shoulder was OK,'' he said. ``We were here. We finished. That was better than the last two weeks.''
Gordon, who started on the pole and led 95 laps, acknowledged Earnhardt's superiority in this race. ``We had nothing for Earnhardt,'' he said. ``Not bad, though. First at Bristol and second here. We'll take it.''
Wallace, who led 57 laps, also left feeling he had a good day at the office.
``The track was really slick,'' Wallace said. ``As the race went on, the track got slicker and slicker. I just lost the handle and that's what got me.''
A slick track, of course, suits Earnhardt just fine.
``It looked pretty neat to me with everybody slipping and sliding around,'' he said. `'It was a day you ran against tires and against the race track. If it came down to the last couple of laps and there was a caution, then it would have been a race. But I was racing the track and the tires and my pit periods. [Gordon and Wallace] were in the equation a lot during the day, but they weren't really a factor in my winning the race.
``This is early in the year, and one race doesn't win the championship. We've done a pretty good job all year, but we've been second, second, third and fourth. It's just a matter of being competitive.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB