ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, June 24, 1996 TAG: 9606240093
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BROOKLYN, MICH.
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
Rusty Wallace led only 12 laps in the Miller 400 Sunday, but the die was cast for his victory before the race was half over.
Crew chief Robin Pemberton put Wallace and his No.2 Ford Thunderbird on a gasoline diet on lap 96 of the 200-lap race at Michigan International Speedway, told Wallace to be patient and then hoped for good luck.
Wallace's luck held because no one messed up. There were no yellow flags in the second half of the race and no accidents at all.
Wallace cruised to a 1.1-second victory over Terry Labonte. Sterling Marlin was third, followed by Jimmy Spencer in his best career finish in almost two years, and Ernie Irvan.
``I don't like running 'em half-throttle and trying to win a race like that,'' Wallace said in the winner's interview. ``But we did it. We'll take 'em as they come.''
Earlier, as he took the checkered flag, Wallace told Pemberton on the radio: ``After that trick at Darlington, I have to look at you pretty strong!''
At Darlington in April, Pemberton had engineered another gas mileage finish for Wallace, squeezing a fourth-place finish out of a car that ran out of gas in turn three on the final lap.
``We learned a big lesson at Darlington this year,'' Wallace said. ``So I knew when he said [to save fuel] to me today, he wasn't joking. So I started respecting what he said.''
How much fuel was left?
``You probably could drink what was left in it and it wouldn't have hurt you,'' Pemberton said. ``It took 22.2 gallons at the fuel pump. And that's about all you can get in a 22-gallon Winston Cup gas tank after you fill it to the neck.''
``It wouldn't have run another hundred yards,'' Wallace said.
After his stop on lap 96, Wallace was able to drive 52 laps before pitting on lap 148. And as Pemberton figured it, his driver could go all the way from there.
``You, the 5 [Terry Labonte] and the 18 [Bobby Labonte] are the only ones who can go the whole way,'' crew chief Robin Pemberton told Wallace on lap 150 after Wallace's final stop. ``Everybody else has got to pit. They're starting to save fuel now.''
So Wallace began stroking, which is not his nature. And he drove so conservatively during the final half of the race, he felt certain he had saved enough to run hard at the end.
``Still, with two to go, that sucker [Pemberton] got on the radio and said, `Keep saving that gas,''' Wallace said. ``I went, `Man, I've already done that.' I felt like I was saving so much gas, I would have sworn the thing had about a gallon and a half left in it.
``If this guy [Pemberton] hadn't been on me, I might have cheated a couple of times and we would have lost it.''
Labonte and Spencer also finished the race without a final splash-and-go gas stop.
``I really started conserving with 25 laps to go,'' Spencer said.
``That's the hardest thing in the world to just bite your tongue and just ride and ride and ride. But we rode, and it paid off for us.''
But starting with 14 laps to go, the other leaders began peeling off the track for more gas.
Marlin, who dominated the race and led the most laps (78), came in on lap 187, and Gordon took over the lead.
``No tires! Just gas!,'' crew chief Tony Glover barked on the radio. ``Sterling, do not slide your tires!''
Dale Earnhardt, who had another off day and finished ninth, came in on lap 188. Irvan and Dale Jarrett, who was 10th, came on lap 190.
Jeff Gordon pitted on lap 191, giving the lead to Wallace. Gordon finished sixth. Mark Martin, who finished seventh, drove onto pit road on lap 192.
Jeff Burton tried to go all the way. The plan backfired. He ran out of gas on lap 192 and plummeted from fifth to finish 17th, one lap down.
``The 5 can't catch you,'' Pemberton told Wallace with two laps to go. ``Just save your gas.''
Before Marlin began to dominate, and before the race turned into a gas mileage contest, the estimated record crowd of 130,000 saw a lot of close racing. There were 19 lead changes among nine drivers.
``There was a handful of us who, at any given time, depending on the way the air pressure worked out or the track position worked out, five of us could have won the race today,'' Wallace said.
Wallace's victory came in his new PC-1, the first Penske Winston Cup Ford built from the ground up at Wallace's shop in Mooresville, N.C.
``We can control our own destiny,'' Wallace said. ``We can fix our own wrecks. And it ran great here today. The car is thundering. It's cookin'. So I think the guys hit a home run.''
LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Rusty Wallace raises his arms in victory afterby CNBwinning the Miller 400 on Sunday by capitalizing on others' fuel
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