ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, March 3, 1997 TAG: 9703040027
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: RICHMOND NOTES
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
You couldn't have asked for a cleaner race in the Pontiac Excitement 400.
So why were so many drivers so upset after the race?
Chad Little and Robby Gordon will be fined, probably today, after an angry post-race bumping and shouting match. Ernie Irvan said Jeff Gordon will be getting some payback after blaming Gordon for his late-race crash - the only wall-banging incident of the event. Other drivers and crewmen were in the NASCAR trailer afterward, complaining about the initial post-race finishing order, which was changed. And, finally, the Chevy drivers were upset that NASCAR granted Ford an aerodynamic concession for next weekend's race in Atlanta, particularly after Fords finished 1-2-3 on Sunday.
The Little-Robby Gordon dispute was perhaps the least significant of them all, because Little finished 34th, five laps down, and Gordon was 28th, four laps down.
Gordon hit Little on the last lap while trying to get by him in an attempt to pass Michael Waltrip for a position.
``I lost my temper after the race, but I'm not just going to sit back and let someone put me in the wall without letting them know about it,'' Little said.
Gordon said Little ``ran into me after the race and tore up the car. I ran back into him, and now we've got two junk cars.'' The two also argued and bumped each other after getting out of their cars in the garage. NASCAR spokesman Kevin Triplett said fines will be levied.
Jeff Gordon, meanwhile, was heavily booed by the crowd both before and after the race. He was criticized by race-winner Rusty Wallace for racing Wallace hard in the final laps despite being a lap down. And some of his fellow Chevy drivers are not pleased with how much better his Chevy is than theirs.
But Gordon's biggest problem may be with Irvan, who said Gordon hit the left front of his Ford while trying to jockey for position for the restart on lap 386. Irvan's left front tire deflated a few laps later and he crashed hard into the turn 4 wall on lap 393, dropping him from fifth to 36th.
``I was sitting right there riding in line and he just ran over me,'' Irvan said. ``We'll pay him back. We could have finished fourth with no problem. He just ran over me. That is pretty bad when somebody takes it away from you. But what goes around comes around.''
Bobby Hamilton and his crewmen were upset after the race because several drivers got past him by violating late-race restart procedures.
After reviewing the complaint, NASCAR agreed with Hamilton and reshuffled the finishing order to move Hamilton from eighth to fifth.
Finally, NASCAR announced in the pre-race driver's meeting that Fords would be allowed to set their front air dams one-eighth of an inch lower than those of Chevys and Pontiacs to improve their aerodynamics for the Atlanta race.
Jeff Gordon said: ``I'm really disappointed to hear what NASCAR has done at Atlanta. Why give [the Fords] anything? They've dominated every race this year. I can't help it if we've won.''
LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Rusty Wallace (2) spins out in front of Ricky Ruddby CNB(10) early in the race, and Ernie Irvan avoids getting caught up in
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