ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, February 19, 1996 TAG: 9602200009
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: DAYTONA BEACH, FLA.
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
It was Dale Earnhardt's guile vs. Dale Jarrett's motor Sunday in the Daytona 500.
The motor won.
With no help from behind and no way to get past on his own, Earnhardt saw nothing but Jarrett's rear bumper all the way around the last lap at Daytona International Speedway.
And as Jarrett rode to his second 500 victory in four years, Earnhardt came up short in the biggest race of the year for the 18th time.
Ken Schrader was third, followed by Mark Martin and Jeff Burton. Also in the top 10 were Wally Dallenbach, Ted Musgrave, Bill Elliott, Ricky Rudd and Michael Waltrip.
For the first time in four years, a Ford driver went to Victory Lane. Fords took nine of the top 11 positions.
``I think I'd rather look in the mirror and see anybody but the [No.]3 car,'' Jarrett said of the man known as ``The Intimidator.''
Jarrett, who led the last 24 laps, said, ``I knew he had help; that was my biggest concern. But what he didn't have was a [car owner] Robert Yates engine. I had a better race car than Dale Earnhardt today and that's what allowed me to stay out front.''
But what Jarrett didn't know was that Earnhardt, in fact, had no help.
During the past week, Earnhardt had voiced concern about racing alone against two-car and three-car teams. And when it came time to face the music Sunday, Earnhardt was indeed alone, and couldn't even get any drafting help from the fellow Chevy driver - Schrader - behind him.
That, however, wasn't what upset Earnhardt the most about his failure to win the race that frustrates him year after year after year.
After making the obligatory ``good race, good car'' comments to television and radio, Earnhardt expressed his true feelings.
``The Fords were too strong, man,'' he said. ``They [NASCAR officials] give 'em the candy store. We couldn't do nothin'. The two Fords were too strong. Couldn't you see that?
``They [NASCAR officials] need to wake up. They need to open their eyes. They give 'em that quarter-inch on top and give 'em the candy store. It wouldn't have made no difference what we had. This is Daytona and we run second.''
Earnhardt had started looking for help from Schrader about 20 laps from the end of the race.
``Go to Schrader's spotter and tell him he's going to need some help to get by the [No.]88'' of Jarrett, Earnhardt said. ``Tell him to go with us.''
A lap or so later, Earnhardt's spotter replied that Schrader would help.
But Schrader arranged to work with Mark Martin instead, even though Martin was a rival Ford driver.
``Mark was willing to work with us,'' said Schrader, who drives the No. 25 Chevy. ``I couldn't have got [Earnhardt] past [Jarrett]. I could have maybe helped him, but it was going to cost me more than a couple of positions and I was really more worried about where the 25 finished instead of the 3.''
``I was going to go with Kenny Schrader,'' Martin said. ``I wanted to see Kenny win. He was not going to go with Dale Earnhardt. He was not.''
In the end, nothing happened. Earnhardt made a couple of inside-outside moves on the backstretch of the last lap, but Jarrett blocked him, and said he actually got a boost from Earnhardt because of it.
And behind Earnhardt, ``we were going for our own goal there,'' Martin said. ``What really cost Dale the win was Kenny trying to win. We had a run on him and Kenny had to make a decision on whether to wreck or run third. But Kenny wasn't going to get by [Earnhardt] without wrecking.''
Jarrett, of course, assumed it was going to be a lot tougher than it was.
``I was able to stay out front,`` he said. ``I don't know how many laps that was, but it seemed like an eternity. I'm telling you, those last 15 laps were the longest - it felt like it took a minute-and-a-half or two minutes to run every single lap, because you were doing so much just trying to watch and keep him behind.
``Not knowing exactly what Dale was going to do, and knowing he had help, and with all the Ford-Chevy talk, it was difficult trying to play cat-and-mouse with him.''
Jarrett passed Earnhardt for the lead on lap 177 when Dallenbach drafted with him down the backstretch.
``I have to give a big pat on the back to Wally Dallenbach,'' Jarrett said. ``I went to the outside and Wally came up behind me and actually gave me a bump down the backstretch that knocked me past Earnhardt. That's what got me by or we may have raced side by side forever.''
So what about all that Ford-Chevy talk? How are those Fords now?
``Certainly, we were better than we were last year,'' Jarrett said. ``But as we go to the other places, we really don't know until we get to Rockingham and Atlanta to know exactly what's going to be there. We do know there is still a discrepancy in downforce between the two cars in the wind tunnel.
``They didn't have a Robert Yates engine. Obviously, my car went through the corners good, but you've got to have power to keep it going down the straight. That's what I had.''
LENGTH: Long : 101 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. 1. Dale Jarrett cuts loose as he celebrates afterby CNBwinning the Daytona 500, his second victory at the Florida track in
as many Sundays. Jarrett also won the Busch Clash on Feb. 11. 2.
Dale Jarrett (88) holds off Dale Earnhardt at the finish Sunday to
win his second Daytona 500 3. Dale Earnhardt prepares to face the
media after another frustrating second-place finish in the Daytona
500. KEYWORDS: AUTO RACING