ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, July 29, 1996 TAG: 9607290102
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: TALLADEGA, ALA.
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DALE EARNHARDT gets the worst of it and Jeff Gordon the best of it at the DieHard 500.
The controlled mayhem that is Winston Cup stock car racing flies out of control most often at Talladega Superspeedway.
And after rain delayed the start of the DieHard 500 by almost four hours Sunday and two huge crashes eliminated more than half the 42-car field from contention, Jeff Gordon brought things back under control to claim his sixth victory of the year.
One of the multi-car accidents involved Dale Earnhardt, who suffered a fractured left collarbone and a fractured sternum after his car slammed the outside wall nearly head-on, flipped on its side and was T-boned in the roof.
It was one of the worst accidents of Earnhardt's career, and NASCAR officials were forced to fly the red flag and stop the race for more than 15 minutes to clean up the mess.
Earnhardt was taken to Carraway Methodist Medical Center and was to be held overnight for observation, since there was potential for a bruised heart from his upper-body injuries.
Earnhardt's crash also involved 10 other cars. And while it was happening, John Andretti was explaining to reporters in the garage that he was to blame for the other big crash.
That melee occurred on lap 104 and involved 15 or 16 cars, depending on who was counting. At least 25 drivers were involved in accidents, but only Earnhardt received any significant injuries.
It was an all-too-typical race day at NASCAR's fastest, biggest and most dangerous track.
And when it was over, at least some of the drivers were saying that NASCAR should reconsider the racing at Talladega.
Since Bobby Allison nearly flew into the grandstands here in 1987, NASCAR has kept speeds below 200 mph by using restrictor plates on the carburetors.
But that has bunched up the fields and made it difficult to pass. The result has been huge, multi-car crashes again and again. It's almost the norm now at Talladega.
``I guess that's what we come to expect here,'' Geoff Bodine said. ``We had a great finish and survived all the whatever-you-want-to-call-it, but I don't agree with it. I think it's the most awful, dirtiest, nastiest, most dangerous racing in the whole wide world.
``NASCAR and the guys who are driving these cars need to sit down and talk about it.''
When the race resumed after the second big crash, it was so late that NASCAR ordered a five-lap shootout to end the race after 129 of the scheduled 188 laps.
Gordon led the restart, but lost the lead to Dale Jarrett on the first lap. Less than two laps later, Gordon got back past Jarrett. Gordon was unchallenged on the last lap and won by a couple of car lengths over Jarrett.
Mark Martin was third, followed by Ernie Irvan and Jimmy Spencer.
``We got it! We got it!'' Gordon shouted into his radio as he approached the checkered flag. ``You know it! Yes! That feels so good. That feels so good.''
Later, in the winner's interview, Gordon said, ``This track has been real up and down for us. We've run well and led laps, but we never could finish it out. We knew we had a good car. It was just a matter of being in the right place at the right time.''
On the final restart, ``I saw about six or eight Fords behind me,'' Gordon said. ``I thought this was payback time. I knew our car really wouldn't get up to speed quite the way I'd like it to on restarts. And I knew if they had a run on me they could get by me.''
When that happened, Gordon was sure it was over for him.
``My first thought was, `We're not going to win this one,''' Gordon said. ``I thought we were done. But I didn't give up.
``I was just one lonesome Chevrolet out there. But some other guys behind me made some moves to better themselves. Jeff Burton moved down, and when he did, I moved down to block him. And he gave me one heck of a boost down the front straight.''
That gave Gordon the momentum to pass Jarrett on the outside in turns 1 and 2.
And that was it.
``We just couldn't get bunched up to get a run on him,'' said Jarrett.
When it was over, the Winston Cup points championship was as tightly bunched as the cars on the track.
With his victory, Gordon took a nine-point lead over Terry Labonte, who was knocked out in the second wreck. Earnhardt fell to third, 23 points behind Gordon. Jarrett is fourth, 82 points back.
LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Earnhardtby CNB