ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, June 24, 1996 TAG: 9606240167
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: MILLER 400 NOTES
DATELINE: BROOKLYN, MICH.
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
A missing lug nut on a pit stop cost Jeff Gordon dearly in the Miller 400 Sunday at Michigan International Speedway.
He finished sixth ``on a day we could have won or at least finished second or third,'' Gordon said.
The miscue happened on lap 96, when Gordon was leading. It forced him to make an extra stop, which dropped him to 30th place. It was a place he hadn't raced for some time.
``Those guys are tough back there,'' he said. ``It was kind of good for me to be running back there. I haven't been running back there much in awhile, and it's good for a guy to go back there and run with those guys.
``They'll battle you every single lap for every inch. It makes you really appreciate what you've got.''
Gordon still managed to gain ground on Winston Cup points leader Dale Earnhardt, who finished ninth but struggled with handling problems all day.
Gordon is still third in points, 47 behind Earnhardt.
LOWE'S TO LEAVE BODINE: Brett Bodine said that his primary sponsor, Lowe's, has told him it won't sponsor him after this year.
``Where they are going, I'm not sure,'' Bodine said. ``But we've got a couple of things pretty close for next year. It's really been a pleasant surprise. As soon as the word got out about Lowe's, we had a lot of people interested in our race team.''
Interestingly, the three Bodine brothers in Sunday's race finished together, one lap down. Todd Bodine was 20th in Bill Elliott's car, Geoff Bodine was 21st and Brett Bodine 22nd.
GOOD RUN FOR IRVAN: Another day at the office for Ernie Irvan produced another top-five finish. He took it in stride. And he didn't think about his near-fatal crash here in 1994, or that this was his first race here since then.
``Everybody else wondered about it more than I did,'' he said. ``Probably my worst problem is I drive in the corners too deep. And if I remembered the accident I had, I wouldn't be doing that.
``We had a good run starting as far back [32nd] as we did. We just need to qualify a little better.''
Teammate Dale Jarrett, meanwhile, led five laps (Irvan led none), but ran out of fuel in the middle of the race. Jarrett, however, didn't lose a lap and eventually finished 10th.
``We were running second and tried to cut it a little too close and ran out of fuel,'' Jarrett said.
As for his broken rib and leg, Jarrett said, ``Nothing's worse than it was. Nothing bothered me so much that I couldn't stand it in the car. It didn't handicap my performance.''
SEVEN FAIL TO FINISH: All but seven of the 40 drivers who started the race were around at the finish.
And those who failed to finish - Derrike Cope, Dick Trickle, Kyle Petty, Johnny Benson, Joe Nemechek, Ward Burton and Steve Grissom - all dropped out because of engine failure.
GAS GUZZLER: Sterling Marlin was able to drive his Chevrolet Monte Carlo away from the field in the middle stages of Sunday's race.
Unfortunately, in a race that turned into a gas mileage duel, Marlin was driving a gas guzzler.
Although he led 78 laps and pulled away to big leads, Marlin got the bad news from crew chief Tony Glover around lap 135.
``We can't make it on fuel,'' Glover told Marlin on the radio. ``We're going to have to make two more pit stops and some of the others will only have to make one.''
After the race, Marlin said, ``I guess that's the best car I've ever had not to win a race.''
Marlin's performance was notable because he broke the motor he used Sunday on his first lap of practice Friday.
``Jack Roush flew it home for us,'' Marlin said. ``They rebuilt the motor Friday. We got it back Saturday evening and put it in and it would fly.''
44TH CAREER VICTORY: Rusty Wallace's victory was his third of the year and his 44th career win in 376 starts. It was also his fourth win at Michigan and his third in the race named for his sponsor, Miller beer.
MAST'S HANDLING: Rockbridge Baths resident Rick Mast finished 18th, one lap down, and said his trouble was handling.
``We just missed on the set-up real bad,'' he said. ``The last two runs, we had the car half-decent. But we were buried in such a hole by then we couldn't overcome it.''
LENGTH: Medium: 89 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Ernie Irvan, pulling out after a stop on pit row,by CNBfinished fifth Sunday in the Miller 400, his first race at Michigan
International Speedway since his near-fatal crash almost two years
ago. KEYWORDS: AUTO RACING