Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, June 12, 1995 TAG: 9506120108
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LONG POND, PA. LENGTH: Medium
As Terry Labonte crossed the finish line to win the UAW-GM Teamwork 500 on Sunday at Pocono International Raceway, he sounded like a man who had just been handed a $20 bill after requesting change for a quarter.
``How about that?'' he said with a touch of wonder in his voice.
``It ain't over till it's over,'' a crewman replied.
This was Jeff Gordon's race but Labonte's victory when Gordon blew a shift - and blew his engine - on a restart with seven laps to go.
Labonte scooted by on the inside and drove on to a 1.64-second victory over Ted Musgrave in the NASCAR Winston Cup race. Pole-winner Ken Schrader was third, followed by Sterling Marlin and Hut Stricklin. Gordon finished 16th, the last car on the lead lap.
Gordon's anticipated sixth career victory became Labonte's 15th victory, and a long, rather dull race took a sudden turn.
``I thought, `Wow, he just blew up,''' Labonte said during his winner's interview. ``I saw smoke coming out of his exhaust pipes. I knew something had happened. But I saw it and just pulled out and passed him. I knew by the stuff coming out of his tailpipe that he wasn't coming back.''
There were six yellow flags Sunday and three of them came during the final 25 laps. Gordon's miscue happened on the final restart. Until then, he had been flawless. But in his zeal to leave everyone else behind, Gordon slipped while shifting from second to third gear, overrevved his engine, ran the rpms into the red zone and ruined something inside the Chevrolet power plant, probably a valve.
In anguish, Gordon cried into his radio: ``I missed a gear! Damn it, guys, I'm sorry.''
And for the next minute or so, the only talk on the Gordon radio was the steady drone of his spotter's warnings - ``Inside, inside, inside, inside, inside'' - as car after car passed him on the inside.
But Gordon was a trooper in defeat. After leading 123 of 200 laps and blowing it, he did not stomp or pout. He didn't look happy, but he faced the cameras.
``Yeah, I made a mistake,'' he said. ``We had such a great car and I lost it for us. I guess everybody is going to make mistakes. As long as I learn from this one.
``I'd come close one other time to almost missing [a gear]. I wasn't concentrating on the shift. I was more worried about getting a good jump and getting away from those guys behind me. And it cost me.''
Then his crew chief, Ray Evernham, came up and put a hand on Gordon's shoulders. And as they went into the team's car hauler, Evernham told his driver: ``Great job all day. As many great things as you've done for me ... ''
Later, Evernham told Chevy's Ray Coopersaid: ``He shouldn't be too hard on himself. I don't believe he'll get fired for it.''
Labonte found himself with a victory even though he led only the final seven laps. Four other drivers led more laps than Labonte.
``I was running the same speed all day,'' he said. ``I couldn't really run as fast as some of those guys on new tires, but I didn't slow down as much'' as the tires wore.
``We weren't that good in qualifying [27th]. But after qualifying, we got some help from Ken Schrader's team and Jeff Gordon's team both. Yesterday afternoon we changed all four shocks on the car and made some adjustments. Of course, we didn't get to try it. [Saturday's activities were rained out], but it was awful good. Since our car was so good, I was glad we couldn't practice.''
In the final laps, as Labonte led, Schrader and Musgrave battled for second. Musgrave won the battle, but it gave Labonte the cushion he needed.
``When they started racing, it just worked to our advantage and I pulled away,'' Labonte said.
Could Labonte have caught Gordon if the leader hadn't missed his shift?
``I hadn't the previous 195 laps, so I doubt very seriously I could have,'' he said. ``You've got to be consistent like we were today. If you are, you're going to win some races.''
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB