Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, September 11, 1995 TAG: 9509110139
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: SPORTS EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
Wallace drove his Ford to Victory Lane in a year that's so lopsided in favor of the Chevrolet Monte Carlos, that the manufacturer's championship was over with more than a quarter of the races left to run.
``There's no question this car has a handling disadvantage,'' Wallace said after running away with the race and winning by 5.6 seconds over Chevy driver Terry Labonte. ``But me winning the race today didn't help any.''
No kidding.
If you're Jack Roush or Robert Yates or Wallace, how are you going to complain to NASCAR President Bill France now?
Sure, this was only Ford's fifth win of the season. But you can bet he'll point out how Ford stunk up the show Saturday night in front of a packed house at Richmond.
Crew chief Robin Pemberton's view of the situation was this: ``I still think we're a little short. We just beat them on long handling runs today. We hit on some stuff in practice that made our car exceptional.''
BEST LINE: The best line of the night came from the always quotable Pemberton, who has persevered through a long, difficult first year with Wallace.
He was asked if the win takes the pressure off him.
``It's not a lot of pressure,'' he said. ``Makes tomorrow a lot easier. And the dogs will like it. I probably won't kick them as hard when I go through the door.''
INJURY UPDATE: The injury report on NASCAR official Alan Bryson, hurt by a flying air wrench, was changed late Saturday to a broken arm. It was initially reported as a chest injury.
ANYTHING BUT THE TITLE: Jeff Gordon and his team are still trying to think about anything but the championship battle, and car owner Rick Hendrick is leading the way.
``I've been here with 'em for three days and we never even talked about it,'' he said after Gordon finished sixth. ``It's something we decided to let take care of itself.
``Dale [Earnhardt] is going to play some head games. I'm sure of that. He tried that with me this morning. He said, "Hello, champ.'
``And I said, "Yeah, right. Go play with somebody else.'''
EARNHARDT ON LENO: Dale Earnhardt is scheduled to appear with Jay Leno on NBC's The Tonight Show tonight. The show airs at 11:30 p.m. Actress Cybill Shepherd is also scheduled to appear.
Earnhardt's third-place finish allowed him to overtake Sterling Marlin for second place in the points race. Marlin dropped out when his rear end failed and finished 33rd.
But Earnhardt is still 279 points behind Gordon. Marlin trails by 308.
ORDERLY WITHDRAWAL: Even with a record crowd of some 88,000 fans, the normally horrifying post-race traffic was remarkably smooth and efficient Saturday night and early Sunday morning.
It was no piece of cake, mind you, but you didn't sit there motionless for an hour either.
Give most of the credit to the fans, who must have had a collective light bulb go off in their heads after remembering horrors past. Thousands left early, taking some of the pressure off, and many thousands more simply hauled out folding chairs and lounged in the parking lot for a couple of hours before leaving.
The result: A remarkably orderly withdrawal.
WELL DONE: ``I know what steak feels likes now. Right now, we're just debating if it was mesquite or hickory,'' John Andretti said after finishing seventh despite a smoky driver's compartment.
A piece of wood used to hold the lead weights in the frame rails caught fire with about 100 laps to go.
``Brain surgeon that I am, I took off the air hose to my helmet, thinking that would help,'' Andretti said. ``When I realized what a mistake that was, I couldn't find it to put it back on. So I was tearing real bad. I probably passed Ricky [Rudd] out of blindness and gasping for air rather than really racing him.''
by CNB