Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, May 1, 1995 TAG: 9505020069
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: TALLADEGA, ALA. LENGTH: Medium
But Sunday's Winston Select 500 was a surprisingly clean race. Only three cars were damaged - those of Derrike Cope, John Andretti and Dale Earnhardt - and there was only one yellow flag for a crash.
Nearly the entire 42-car field ran in one giant freight-train draft until lap 46, when the first round of pit stops began.
The crash occurred on lap 66, when Cope tangled with Andretti in the tri-oval.
Cope slammed straight into the outside wall before stopping, but was not hurt.
``Are you OK?'' crew chief Jimmy Fennig asked on the radio.
``Yeah,'' Cope said. ``It was my fault. I got into Andretti.''
Said Andretti: ``There wasn't enough room between Derrike and the wall because I was there.''
JARRETT'S UPS AND DOWNS: Dale Jarrett led his first laps this season in Robert Yates' Ford, but he finished 19th after the car turned on him late in the race.
Jarrett led 35 laps, second only to race-winner Mark Martin, and was in front four times. But things changed.
``All of a sudden, I couldn't get through the bumps down there,'' Jarrett said. ``The car just quit taking a set. It went from a perfect car to a car you couldn't drive at all. I thought I was going to wreck.''
Jarrett took a pit stop out of sequence to change tires because he incorrectly guessed that one might be going flat.
``It was just as bad when we went back out there,'' he said. ``Something in the suspension messed up.''
THE LITTLE ENGINE THAT COULD: The difference between Geoff Bodine's seventh-place finish Sunday and another poor day was a motor loaned by the team of his little brother, Todd.
Bodine failed to qualify for the race and had to take a provisional spot to start 41st.
But on Sunday morning, he arranged to borrow car owner Butch Mock's backup power plant. Mock leases his motors from Pro Motors, an independent supplier that also prepares Ricky Rudd's engines.
``We just threw it in there and away we went,'' said Geoff's crew chief, Paul Andrews.
`'I had fun out there today,'' Bodine said. ``I could race. [The engine] sure worked.''
Said Mock: ``When we agreed to loan Geoff an engine, he wasn't supposed to finish ahead of us.''
Todd Bodine finished eighth, just behind his brother.
RUSTY'S GAMBLE: With everything to gain and little to lose, Rusty Wallace tried to win without making a final pit stop for fuel.
He led nine laps late in the race after the leaders pitted, but as he entered the backstretch with five laps to go, his Ford slowed and he shouted into his radio: ``Out of gas! Out of gas!''
After the race, Wallace said: ``We tried a gamble and it just didn't work out. I thought we might have enough by just half a lap. We just didn't make it. But I'm happy with the finish. At least we're in one piece.''
HAMILTON HANGS ON: He didn't feel well all weekend and he ran out of gas on the last lap, but Bobby Hamilton finished 15th, on the lead lap, and stayed in eighth place in the Winston Cup points race.
``I think we had a good day,'' Hamilton said. ``We ran out of gas on the last lap, but I have nothing to complain about. The pit stops were good and we didn't [mess] nothin' up, so we're pretty fortunate.''
LONG DAY FOR MAST: For Rick Mast of Rockbridge Baths, Sunday was another long, disappointing day at the track. He finished 28th, one lap down.
``We just had a bad day all the way around,'' Mast said. ``We didn't run good, but at least we qualified good [13th]. We just didn't run good and we don't know why.''
LAJOIE PAYS DUES: Randy LaJoie finished 13th, but took his lumps.
``We survived and had a great day, but I still didn't get any respect out there,'' he said. ``I was a punching bag. Every time somebody came by, they were banging on me and I'd just let them go.''
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB