Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, October 30, 1995 TAG: 9510300048
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PHOENIX LENGTH: Medium
He had been coming on strong in the past few NASCAR Winston Cup races, but halfway through Sunday's Dura-Lube 500 at Phoenix International Raceway, Ricky Rudd had no clue he was driving the winning car.
A couple of pit stops, a few adjustments and 150 laps later, Rudd's car was unstoppable as he beat Derrike Cope to the finish line by fifty-three-hundredths of a second.
And while Jeff Gordon all but locked up the 1995 Winston Cup championship with a fifth-place finish, Rudd preserves a streak of winning at least one race a year since 1983.
``I wouldn't have picked us to be the winner halfway through the race because we weren't doing anything,'' said the 39-year-old native of Chesapeake, Va. ``We just had a car that was absolutely unbelievable there for the last 30, 40 or 50 laps.''
Dale Earnhardt finished third, followed by Rusty Wallace. But Earnhardt gained only 15 points on Gordon, reducing the margin from 162 points to 147. That means all Gordon has to do is finish 41st in the season finale Nov.12 at Atlanta.
``I think we can do that,'' Gordon said as he walked from his car to the team transporter. ``Man, I'm excited. But it's not over yet. I really wanted to wrap this thing up leaving Phoenix. We came close.
``It was a long day. I thought we were in trouble there for a little while. But I feel real good. I was a little worried these last couple of races [finishing 30th and 20th], so we're really happy about today. We just kept working on the car and kept that [No.]3 [car of Earnhardt] in sight.''
Gordon's quest for the title, which has made him and his team more conservative, has helped open the door for other drivers to win races.
Rudd's first victory of the season - the 16th of his career - comes on the heels of fellow Virginian Ward Burton's first victory, Oct.22 at Rockingham.
Rudd, who started 29th, didn't take the lead until lap 194, when he passed Earnhardt. Rudd led twice for a total of 63 laps. Ernie Irvan led the most laps - 111 in a single mid-race stretch - before his engine failed.
``The key, I think, is going back to the last four or five races,'' Rudd said. ``We led the most laps at Charlotte [on Oct.8]. The team has been gaining momentum the past couple of weekends. And, generally, when you see a team start to gain momentum, then they have a shot at winning.''
Although Rudd pulled well ahead of Cope and the rest of the field in the 14-lap sprint following the last yellow flag, he did some dandy battling with Cope and Mark Martin.
There was a lot of great racing Sunday on the mile oval.
At one point with about 100 laps to go, Rudd and Mark Martin, who finished eighth, were battling side-by-side with no pressure from behind. That's because Cope and Earnhardt also were battling side-by-side behind them.
The duel between Rudd and Martin lasted for about 20 laps, with Rudd holding the outside groove and Martin the low track.
``He had a faster car, but I was doing exactly what I wanted to do,'' Rudd said. ``I wanted to give Mark the bottom of the race track. You have to be careful when you run that outside line. I was just using every bit of race track trying to get the motor wound up.
``But I knew if I could keep him down there for 10 or 15 laps, he wouldn't have any rear tires at the end of it.''
Later, Rudd had a less-lengthy but similar duel with Cope. The race-winning pass came on the 290th of 312 laps. Cope was stuck at Rudd's side for a couple of more laps, but Rudd shot out ahead for good on lap 292 when Cope bobbled as they came out of turn 4 side by side.
``I think we were probably both scared of each other,'' Rudd said. ``When two people are hungry for a win, you don't know what's going to happen.
``He got everything out of that [No.]12 car; I know that.''
Cope, who had his best finish of the season, said, ``I couldn't hang on.
``Ricky just had a better car than us at the end. We went with two tires the last two [pit stops] and those left-side tires were just hurt.''
But the two-tire pit stop was in full favor here Sunday, as it was at Charlotte on Oct.8.
``My car liked two tires a lot,'' Rudd said. ``It seems like this year is the year for two tires [on pit stops]. A lot of the guys at Charlotte took two and went faster than we did with four'' new tires.
As for the winning streak, now extended to 13 years (Earnhardt is tops at 14 years), Rudd said, ``The streak will be nice this winter, when you're sitting around with idle time and you think about it.
``I really didn't think much about the streak until a lot of press people reminded me. And then all of a sudden I realized that it was a pretty nice accomplishment and I didn't want to see it go away.''
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB