Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, May 8, 1995 TAG: 9505080137
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: SONOMA, CALIF. LENGTH: Medium
Memo from Dale Earnhardt to Richard Childress: Please go hunting again in Africa next February during the Daytona 500. Maybe we can win the thing.
With his car owner in the African wilds, Earnhardt broke a career-long jinx Sunday at Sears Point International Raceway, passing Mark Martin with less than two laps to go to win the Save Mart 300, his first NASCAR road race victory in 35 attempts.
Jeff Gordon was third, followed by pole-winner Ricky Rudd, Terry Labonte and Ted Musgrave. Twenty-three more cars finished on the lead lap.
Earnhardt has raced well on road courses. He's won poles at three of them, including here. But in 17 years of full-time Winston Cup racing, Earnhardt had not won on a track that demands right turns as well as left turns until Sunday. It was career victory No.65 for Earnhardt.
Only the Daytona 500 has eluded him for so long.
``I'm going to send Richard to Africa next February,'' Earnhardt said. ``We've never won a road race, and then to win a road race while Richard is gone to Africa, well, he's going to go to Africa during the Daytona 500.''
Childress, enjoying his first hunting trip during an African winter, missed a good hunt here.
For much of the race, Earnhardt was on Martin's bumper. Most of that time, Martin was in the lead.
Martin pulled away from time to time, gaining an advantage of several seconds midway through the race. But after the final restart on lap 66 of the 74-lap event, Earnhardt stuck right with him.
Earnhardt closed up to Martin's rear bumper in the slow turns, Martin pulled away as they exited. This went on for six laps.
With three to go, Earnhardt turned up the heat. He started working the outsides of the slow turns. He tapped Martin in the rear.
But there still was nothing to indicate Earnhardt had enough in reserve to actually pull off a pass on one of the toughest passing circuits in the series.
``I was going to be there,'' said Earnhardt, who was more delighted with this victory than most. ``I was going to be all over his back bumper or up beside him. I was going to race him hard, race him clean. I kept working on him, wearing him down, getting closer and closer. We were there when the mistake was made.''
The mistake was rear-end grease, and the fact that Martin got into it. The prime suspect was Hut Stricklin, which made no difference except that it changed the track for the leaders and turned up the challenge a notch. Once again Earnhardt proved he's the best when things get tough.
``I smelled it],'' Earnhardt said of the grease. ``Then I seen a streak of it I think around turn 3, 4 or 5, one of those. When we got to the carousel [the downhill, left-hand turn 6], I saw it right as we came on the crest when we go into the turn.
``I went to the outside and angled across it. And Mark went on the inside and hit it. He slopped out and I got under him.''
A lap-and-a-half later, it was over, and crew chief Steve Hmiel told Martin on the radio: ``The [No.]26 car got an oil line off and you were just the first one to it.''
And Martin, who led all but eight laps, echoed his crew chief's statement when he emerged from his car.
``There was a car out there dumping rear-end grease and I was the first one to it,'' he said. ``I hit the grease and he didn't. I could smell it, I couldn't see it. But I guess I must have run right through it. I turned sideways two corners in a row. If I could have seen it, I would have straddled it.''
Martin was stoic and gentlemanly after another bitter defeat at the hands of Earnhardt.
``I've been doing this for a long time and some days just turn out this way,'' he said. ``I'm just glad we at least finished second instead of spinning off the track. That would have really broke my heart.''
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB