ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, June 3, 1996 TAG: 9606030148
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: AUTO RACING NOTES
DATELINE: DOVER, DEL.
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
As Dale Jarrett sat by his transporter after the Miller 500 on Sunday and described his worst finish of the season, his team stole the moment with a display of pure sportsmanship.
Most of the Robert Yates team was standing on the lift about 10 feet above the ground in the garage at Dover Downs International Speedway when the crew of Yates' other team pushed Ernie Irvan's car past the Jarrett transporter.
Irvan had finished fourth. And despite its own poor finish, Jarrett's crew began clapping and cheering its fellow Yates employees.
``Good job, boys,'' a crewman said. ``Good work.''
Irvan crewman Norman Koshimizu fired back a thumbs up, and it was clear that despite the fact they're competitors, these two teams have good rapport.
Still, it was a crushing disappointment for Jarrett and his crew. He led 83 laps and was running third on lap 361 when his car suddenly spun sideways coming off turn 2. No one was near him. He did it by himself.
``As I came off the corner, it swapped ends in a hurry,'' Jarrett said. ``Somebody dropped oil or water and it was right where I ran - a lane lower than the 3 and 5 cars were running. We had a good car. And this was going to be a good one. You hate to give that up.''
Irvan, meanwhile, had his third top-five finish of the season. He led 16 laps. ``Definitely at one point we were one of the better cars,'' he said.
``We had a great race car today. Just a little off. It just started pushing too much. I was a little nervous about running this 500-lap race. But this is about the best I've felt, considering how long the race is.''
Irvan's crew made so many changes to his car that his spotter took a moment before the race to warn Johnny Benson's team that the crew didn't know how Irvan's car would handle. Benson was starting next to Irvan.
FEW WRECKS: Although Dover can be a wreck-strewn affair, Sunday's event was a remarkably clean race.
There were only three incidents other than Jarrett's and each involved just one car. Steve Grissom hit the outside wall in turn 2 on lap 67.
``I bruised my shoulder a little bit,'' Grissom said. ``I was just getting started and we had a right front tire go flat. These cars don't turn too good with the right front flat.''
Geoff Bodine got tapped and spun into the front stretch wall on lap 107. ``It looked like the 90 car got sideways,'' Bodine said. ``I backed off a little bit and I ended up getting run into.''
And Rick Mast lost control off turn 4 on lap 195 and hit the inside wall on the frontstretch.
``I just looped it,'' Mast said. ``I pinched the car a little too tight trying to get by Rusty [Wallace] and the back end just got away. If I had just waited a few laps, it would have been fine.''
It was particularly disappointing for Mast because he was running in fifth place at the time and was enjoying one of his best outings in a rough season.
ENGINE WOES: Engine failure hit two drivers Sunday - Sterling Marlin and Mark Martin. Marlin dropped out on lap 87.
``Something happened going down the backstretch,'' Marlin said. ``The engine seized up. She blew up.''
Martin's engine died on lap 219. ``It just shut off,'' Martin said. ``That's about the third time this year we've had that. Broken timing chain. Can't fix it.''
PARROTT HAS CHEST PAINS: Veteran crew chief Buddy Parrott, who's in charge of Jeff Burton's Jack Roush-owned Ford Thunderbirds, was taken to Kent General Hospital here after suffering chest pains late in the Miller 500.
He was reported in stable condition at the hospital Sunday evening and there was a possibility he would be held overnight.
LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP Rick Mast's car comes to a stop after hitting theby CNBfrontstretch wall on lap 195 of the Miller 500.