ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, March 3, 1997 TAG: 9703040023
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
Rusty Wallace dug deep into his racing memory with three laps to go in the Pontiac Excitement 400 on Sunday at Richmond International Raceway. He came up with an old-fashioned, lay-back-and-strike restart to beat Dale Jarrett.
But at about 8 p.m., almost exactly four hours after the race ended, NASCAR officials announced they had taken Wallace's engine because it may have had too much power. Specifically, Wallace's engine failed to meet the required 14-to-1 compression ratio limit for each of the eight cylinders, said NASCAR spokesman Kevin Triplett.
No decision was made Sunday night as to whether Wallace's victory would be upheld, Triplett said.
``We'll know more tomorrow,'' he said. ``We have not finished the process of looking into this.''
Triplett declined to answer questions about the matter Sunday night and would not say what the compression ratio on Wallace's engine was found to be. He did say the engine was tested more than once.
Wallace and his team were long gone when the announcement came from the garage and, thus, were unavailable for comment.
NASCAR this year mandated the lower 14-to-1 compression ratio for all races to reduce power and, hopefully, slow the cars somewhat. Busch Grand National cars are limited to a compression ratio of 9.5-to-1.
Before the limits were mandated, Winston Cup engine builders, in their never-ending efforts to squeeze more horsepower out of their power plants, were reaching compression ratios of 18 to 1 and higher on each of the eight cylinders.
Although his victory remained unofficial Sunday night and may be disallowed, Wallace was the first driver under the checkered flag, beating Jarrett by 0.441 seconds after snookering him when the green flag fell on lap 397 of the 400-lap race. Geoff Bodine, strong all afternoon, also passed Jarrett at the end to finish second, at least unofficially.
Jarrett came across the line third, the only other driver on the lead lap. Jeff Gordon was fourth, one lap down, followed by Bobby Hamilton, Ricky Rudd, Terry Labonte, Bobby Labonte and Johnny Benson. Kyle Petty was 10th, two laps down.
``I just had to reach down and remember what I used to do in my short-track days,'' Wallace said of the final restart. ``I said, `Well, I'll put the old patented Rusty Wallace trick on them and see if it works.'
``I laid back about a car-length-and-a-half. Just about the time I thought [Jarrett] was going to pick it up, I nailed it. It worked out perfect. It doesn't always work out that way. I was lucky today.''
For Jarrett, it was the second consecutive race in which he led the most laps, only to see victory slip from his hands near the end. The previous weekend at Rockingham, he dominated the entire event until Jeff Gordon made the race-winning pass with 43 laps remaining.
``This is even worse than last week, because I had the lead with three to go,'' Jarrett said. ``With three laps to go and me in the lead on a restart, I ought to be able to hold 'em off with a car this good. I just didn't get that good a restart and let him get a run on me, and that was all she wrote.
``I just messed up,'' he said. ``It's my fault we didn't win the race.''
The first 300 laps mirrored the dull affair Feb. 23 at Rockingham, although there were five passes for the lead on the track during this stretch.
Things began to get interesting during a round of green flag pit stops around lap 300. Wallace came in on lap 299 and his crew had him back out in 17.6 seconds. Jarrett came in on the next lap. But two lug nuts fell off the right front tire as it was being mounted and the stop took 26 seconds.
When Jarrett came back out of the pits, he was in third instead of leading the race, about eight seconds back. During the next 80 laps, Jarrett chopped Wallace's lead down to about 2.5 seconds.
But Wallace had lapped cars to pass before he reached Jarrett, and his lead appeared safe until his brother, Kenny, blew an engine in turn 1. NASCAR starter Doyle Ford immediately threw the yellow flag, which set up the final showdown.
``I didn't see any oil on the race track, so I don't know,'' Rusty Wallace said. ``Makes for a pretty good show, though, don't it?''
After a round of pit stops, Wallace was in the lead. But in Wallace's pit, crew chief Robin Pemberton was furious. The crew had given Wallace a fast stop, but gas man Earl Barban had left his post to begin loading the transporter. A substitute gas man did not get the tank full. Pemberton leaped off the top of the team's tool cart to holler at the crewmen.
The race resumed with 15 laps to go. Jarrett was trying to pass Wallace on the outside when Ernie Irvan crashed in turn 4 on lap 393. As Jarrett and Wallace battled to get back to the line first as the yellow flag flew, they found their way blocked by Gordon, who slowed to avoid Irvan's car.
Jarrett went high, Wallace went low and Jarrett beat Wallace to the line.
``To tell you the truth, when that caution flag flew and he beat me by a couple of feet at the start/finish line, I said, `Man, this is going to be a tough one,''' Wallace said. ``We had to race back to the flag. I saw 'em all coming toward the line. That was real short track racing right there.''
But if Wallace lost that battle, he won the war (and his sixth Richmond race) with his opportunistic restart.
``I had to have my momentum going at him as I passed the start/finish line, so I could slingshot out to the left real quick,'' Wallace said. ``The whole time I had my momentum going, I had my eye on the white line. When I got to that line, I just jerked it to the left and we had a drag race down into the corner and that was it.''
LENGTH: Long : 102 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Rusty Wallace's celebration Sunday in Richmond mayby CNBprove to be premature. color. KEYWORDS: AUTO RACING