Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, June 12, 1995 TAG: 9506120109
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LONG POND, PA. LENGTH: Medium
This time, Sterling Marlin got him in the third turn on lap 4, and Jarrett crashed backward into the outside wall.
Even before his car stopped, a furious, frustrated Jarrett cued his radio mike and said, ``Damn, I got spun out again! What can you do?''
He pulled into the garage and marched to Marlin's pit, where he loudly complained to Marlin's crew chief, Tony Glover, who implied it was Jarrett's fault. Glover told him teammate Ernie Irvan had said on the TNN telecast that Jarrett had gotten loose and let off the gas.
Jarrett was so upset he wouldn't talk to reporters while his car was being repaired. But he told his father, Ned, ``I was just slowing up and taking it easy getting by the [No.]40 car.''
Said Marlin told Chevy's Ray Cooper: ``Jarrett was loose. He was crossed up when I hit him. I hate it for him, but he slowed way down. They've had a rough year, but there wasn't anything I could do.''
Jarrett returned to the race and completed 126 laps, but so few cars dropped out, he still finished 38th in the 42-car field.
ENGINE WOES: Pocono is one of the few Winston Cup tracks where drivers really can let loose with their 700-plus-horsepower engines, which means the power plants fail more frequently than at other tracks.
Darrell Waltrip didn't get to the starting line before his engine broke a piston, ending his day. Last week's winner, Kyle Petty, also was the victim of a broken engine.
Randy LaJoie's Pontiac engine failed before the halfway point, prompting him to tell a radio reporter: ``Looks like we broke the end of the crankshaft off. We'll charge it on the credit card and come on back next week.'' LaJoie's car is sponsored by MBNA bank.
Jimmy Spencer, Robert Pressley and Jeff Burton also dropped out with engine failure, and several other drivers had sour engines by the end of the race, including Mike Wallace, Dave Marcis and Rick Mast.
WHERE WAS DALE?: Dale Earnhardt had an unusually quiet day at the track.
But he managed to finish seventh in a car with a setup that was from the Dark Ages.
``We were junk all day,'' he told Chevy's Ray Coopersaid. ```Missed' ain't the word for that setup. We were totally out of shape, totally out to lunch. We were lucky we didn't lose any more points than we did today.''
Earnhardt's 100-point championship lead was reduced to 77 points over second-place Marlin, who finished fourth.
READY FOR MORE: After his second-place finish, Ted Musgrave was ready for more.
``I know I feel real good right now,'' he said. ``I feel like I could go another 500 miles.''
Musgrave's teammate, Mark Martin, was not as exuberant. Martin's team saw two of its air wrenches fail during pit stops. His alternator quit. And his radio partially failed, preventing him from talking to his crew, although he could hear its messages.
Martin finished 11th, giving up fourth place in the points race to Musgrave.
ANOTHER ENGINE VICTIM: Rick Mast had a workmanlike run going Sunday until he was slowed by engine troubles in the final laps. The Rockbridge Baths driver finished 21st, one lap down.
``We should have been about 11th or 12th, but we broke there at the end and just slipped around the last 25 laps or so,'' Mast said. ``We weren't the greatest all day. We were a little loose all day.''
by CNB