Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, September 8, 1995 TAG: 9509080114
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
Bodine and Labonte were next to each other all the way around the final three-quarters of a mile, but Labonte got a slightly better run off the fourth turn and edged his bumper in front of Bodine's as they flew under the checkered flag.
``I thought I went into turn 3 [on the last lap] a little too high, but I was able to get back in the throttle and beat him back to the line,'' Labonte said.
It was Labonte's 12th victory in the past two years in the three major NASCAR series. The official margin of victory was six-thousandths of a second.
``I'm really disappointed,'' Bodine said. ``I thought I was going to get him.''
Much of the second half of the race was punctuated by side-by-side racing for the lead, and it was a little too close on lap 142 of the 150-lap race, as Bodine and Ron Hornaday Jr. touched going into the first turn. Hornaday spun and hit the second-turn wall, eventually finishing 15th after running with the leaders throughout.
As you might expect, Hornaday, who is chasing Mike Skinner for the truck championship, was not happy. He tapped Bodine's truck after the race, then argued with him about who was at fault.
``Just looked like Geoff missed his brake pedal or something,'' Hornaday said. ``It's a shame. I've been thinking about this one. I don't know if I want to go Winston Cup racing or not.''
``We have a difference of opinion of what happened down there,'' Bodine said.
Skinner finished third, followed by Joe Ruttman and Ken Schrader.
The biggest crash of the night occurred on lap 84, when Scott Lagasse got loose coming out of turn 2, fishtailed down the backstretch and stopped in the midst of onrushing trucks.
Gary St.Amant slammed into the front of Lagasse's truck a split-second before Walker Evans slammed into the back. None of the drivers was injured, but three trucks were turned into junk.
MORE BAD LUCK: Don't be surprised if David Green starts growing a new mustache, which he shaved last week to improve his luck.
The immediate result of Green's razor work was more bad luck.
Green was on the pole throughout a long pole-qualifying session Thursday - until the last driver's last lap.
On the second of his two qualifying laps, Randy LaJoie stole the pole from Green for tonight's Autolite 250 with a speed of 119.846 mph in his Chevrolet Monte Carlo. LaJoie was the last of 59 drivers to attempt to qualify.
``Our luck has been so lousy this year that I'm willing to try anything to get it turned back around,'' Green said before the qualifying session started. ``I've had that thing for as long as I've been old enough to have one.''
Said LaJoie: ``We had a good tail wind going down the backstretch and it was nice and cool.''
The race starts at 7:40 p.m.
NASCAR'S JAPAN CONNECTION: Kenji Momota was introduced to the racing world Thursday as NASCAR's first Japanese driver.
``I love NASCAR racing,'' Momota said in broken English during a news conference. ``Japan knows very little about NASCAR, but I believe it's the most competitive racing in the world. They say NASCAR is a small world, and it's pretty hard to get into, but I don't think so, especially if you work hard enough to do it.''
Momota, 33, who has moved to Charlotte, N.C., plans to drive in two truck races this year - North Wilkesboro and Phoenix - in a truck owned and prepared by driver Randy McDonald. He wants to run a full truck schedule in 1996, add some Grand National races in 1997 and run for GN rookie of the year in 1998.
by CNB