ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, September 9, 1996 TAG: 9609090154
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
For all of the struggles that Ernie Irvan went through to get back to victory lane in the Winston Cup series, he'd just as soon not make a big deal over it.
He took his second victory of the 1996 season in stride Saturday night in the Miller 400 at Richmond International Raceway. He was obviously pleased and thankful to win, but not particularly demonstrative or excited.
He's getting back to the old Ernie Irvan, to the point where he was before the crash in practice at Michigan 25 months ago that nearly took his life. And now that things have returned to normal, he'd prefer no one make a big deal about it.
``It's still good that people remember what we went through and what we came back from, but we're [moving] on,'' he said.
Irvan's victory in the Miller 400 was one of his best. He held off a charge by Jeff Gordon to win by less than a car length after a superb battle over the final 100 laps.
And for a few moments at least, it felt like the old days for him. He remembered what it was like at Richmond before his accident.
``I was running the groove the way I remember running it before,'' he said. ``It brought back a lot of memories.''
At the post-race news conference, one question made him bristle. He was asked about his eyesight.
``I don't have any problem with my vision,'' he said. ``I don't know where any people get off by even thinking I have any problem with my vision.
``This is [the] same car we had [in his July victory] at Loudon,'' he said. ``This is the same car that led the most laps at Phoenix last year. There's no doubt I think I'm capable of running and we just proved it again tonight. I think every time we do this, we answer more and more questions and people can't second-guess us.''
While Irvan was thriving, Dale Earnhardt and Rusty Wallace were struggling.
Earnhardt had a broken tie rod on his Chevy and finished 20th, two laps down.
``The car wouldn't steer,'' he said. ``It was loose all day because I couldn't get it in [to the pits] and adjust it. We've got to turn this bad luck around and try to work our way back to the front.''
Indeed. For the first time since 1983, Earnhardt has failed to post a top-five finish in nine straight races.
Wallace, who so often dominates at Richmond, found that the new car he debuted Saturday night wasn't up to his standards.
``I don't think we had the body location just right on the new car,'' he said. ``I think we missed a couple of things on the chassis It was a brand new car and I thought it would really fly here and it didn't. All night long, I was either pushing or loose.''
Wallace finished sixth.
Pole winner Mark Martin also had handling problems and finished ninth.
``I told you guys it wasn't running good,'' he said. ``We just weren't fast enough. I got a lucky lap qualifying, and that was all it was, just a good lap. It wouldn't get going better than that.''
LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines KEYWORDS: AUTO RACINGby CNB