Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 22, 1995 TAG: 9510230138
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ROCKINGHAM, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
Bodine won by the nose of his Chevrolet in a three-way photo finish Saturday in the crash-filled AC-Delco 200 Busch Grand National stock car race at North Carolina Motor Speedway.
Bodine was third halfway through the final lap around the 1.017-mile oval, trailing leader Mike Wallace and Benson. But, as the leaders neared the third turn, Benson pulled alongside Wallace on the outside of the banking and Bodine dove to the inside lane.
As the cars sped off the fourth turn three-wide, Benson and Wallace bumped twice, giving Bodine a slight advantage which he turned into his eighth Grand National victory by less than a foot. He is the 15th winner in 25 Busch Series races this season.
Wallace's Ford barely beat Benson's Chevy for second. But Benson's finish, combined with Chad Little's 35th-place finish after a mid-race crash, gave Benson the series championship. Unofficially, he leads Little by 351 points with only the season-finale Nov.5 at Homestead, Fla., remaining.
Benson, a former American Speed Association champion who will move up to the Winston Cup circuit next season, said, ``I'm going to enjoy this for a long time. It's awesome.''
Mark Martin, who had won three straight Grand National races at Rockingham, led three different times for a race-high 68 laps and was battling Wallace for the top spot when the two bumped nine laps from the end of the 197-lap event. The collision pushed a fender up against one of Martin's tires and he slipped back to eighth.
Rain washed out practice and qualifying on Friday and the race was started after only a brief practice Saturday morning.
The event was punctuated by a series of crashes, including a two-car incident on lap 78 in which Winston Cup regular Jimmy Spencer fractured his right shoulder blade. No other injuries were reported.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB