Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, June 19, 1995 TAG: 9506190040
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BROOKLYN, MICH. LENGTH: Medium
Brotherly love, V-8 style, was the story at Michigan International Speedway on Sunday as Bobby Labonte used brother Terry Labonte's spare engine to beat Terry's teammate, Jeff Gordon, in the Miller Genuine Draft 400.
Labonte, taking advantage of superior power on the straightaways, held off Gordon during the final 10-lap sprint and crossed the finish line with Gordon on his bumper. The official margin of victory was .27 seconds.
Gordon was not happy about the turn of events.
``We gave it everything we had. Bobby beat us today,'' he said.
When asked if Labonte had a little bit more engine than he did, Gordon responded with an edge to his voice: ``Heh? A little bit? Yeah, I'd say so.''
Rusty Wallace finished third, followed by John Andretti, Morgan Shepherd and Dale Jarrett. Six other cars finished on the lead lap, including Terry Labonte, who was ninth.
The race was marred by one crash that sent Ricky Rudd to a local hospital and another that left Dale Earnhardt sore, limping and in second place in the Winston Cup championship, six points behind Sterling Marlin.
And there was a post-race, two-punch assault by Michael Waltrip on Lake Speed's helmet.
But for Labonte, it was his second victory in four races. It was only his 14th race in the Joe Gibbs Chevy. It also comes on the heels of Terry Labonte's victory, also his second of the year, last Sunday at Pocono in Long Pond, Pa.
``This one here was really difficult,'' Bobby Labonte said. ``I felt good today, but I didn't know if we were as good as we were at Charlotte [where he won the Coca-Cola 600 last month].''
``I knew if we made the right adjustments on our car and had some luck on our side, we'd be OK.''
A tiny smattering of Labonte's confidence came from the toy soldiers he and his team have glued to the front dashboard and back window well.
``We used to put them in the tool box to protect the spark plugs,'' he said. ``They did a good job, so we put 'em in the car at the beginning of the year. They protect us. The guy in the back keeps somebody from running into us. And the guy in the front, if somebody gets too far in front of us, he shoots them.''
But more of Labonte's confidence stemmed from the power in the unadulterated, genuine, no-holds-barred Hendrick Motorsports V-8 Chevy engine.
Gibbs leases engines from Hendrick for his cars, but this particular power plant was pure Hendrick stuff, not a rent-a-motor. And it was reserved for the Hendrick Chevy that Terry Labonte drives.
As Terry Labonte explained it, bad luck was the reason for the brotherly loan.
``We had a new oil pan in our primary engine, and it blew oil out of the oil tank'' on Saturday, Bobby Labonte said.
That prompted an engine change, except that Bobby Labonte had used up his spare, and another power plant as well, during a test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway last week. He also wrecked a new car there on the second lap of his session.
So Bobby Labonte turned to big brother Terry, who said, sure, borrow my spare.
That must have unnerved Gordon, because in the closing laps of this 200-lap affair, as Bobby Labonte pulled away from him on the long back straight and the big, curved front straight of this two-mile speedway, Gordon was howling.
He told his crew chief, Ray Evernham, that Labonte was killing him on the straights. The corners weren't the problem, he said.
He was beating Labonte in the corners. He wanted to know why his engine wasn't running like Labonte's.
Evernham advised him to keep digging. But it was a lost cause in those final 10 laps, even though Gordon at one point managed to pull even with Bobby Labonte in the fourth turn.
``I could never pull away,'' Labonte said. ``He was always right there.''
Following the race, when he had time to cool down, Gordon said: ``Bobby had us covered today. I knew he was going to be tough yesterday. He's got one of those Hendrick engines in there, and it's tough to beat your own stuff. He out-motored us.''
Terry Labonte told Chevy's Ray Coopersaid: ``I don't know if we're going to give him any more motors or not.''
On the last lap, Bobby Labonte said, ``I just wanted to run my own line. I didn't worry about where [Gordon] was on the race track. I didn't let him dictate where I was going to go. I knew I needed to get off turn 2 real good [on the last lap]. I knew if I had him off that corner real good, I'd be OK.''
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB