ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, March 24, 1997 TAG: 9703250031
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: DARLINGTON, S.C.
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER THE ROANOKE TIMES
Ted Musgrave makes a run at the end, but Dale Jarrett reaches the finish line first to continue his great start to the Winston Cup season.
Ted Musgrave became the latest non-winner to come oh-so-close Sunday, but his valiant challenge failed to keep Dale Jarrett out of Victory Lane at Darlington International Raceway.
Jarrett won the TranSouth 400 - his second consecutive Winston Cup victory - after withstanding relentless pressure from Musgrave for the final 50 laps.
But Musgrave could not quite stick the nose of his Ford Thunderbird far enough under Jarrett's Ford to set up a pass. And he was too nice a guy to take out Jarrett. The closest Musgrave came to a pass was on the last lap, and their cars touched coming out of turn 2.
``Protect the inside! Protect the inside! Protect the inside!'' Jarrett's spotter shouted on the radio as the two cars sped down the backstretch for the final time.
Jarrett did, and Musgrave opted not to get ugly about it. So Jarrett scored his 10th career victory, and Musgrave, who finished a couple of car-lengths behind (0.169 seconds), remains winless after 189 starts.
Jeff Gordon finished third, followed by Jeff Burton and Bobby Labonte.
Rusty Wallace was sixth, ahead of Michael Waltrip, Ken Schrader, Geoff Bodine, Johnny Benson, Darrell Waltrip and Morgan Shepherd, the last driver on the lead lap.
``I really didn't think I could hold Ted off,'' Jarrett said. ``I cut him off and didn't give him a lot of racing room a lot of times, especially in those last 10 laps. He would have been justified if he had hit me a little harder than we actually did hit coming off turn 2 on that last lap.''
But Musgrave had decided that what goes around, comes around. He hit Jarrett, but not hard enough to win.
``I [tapped] him a little bit and turned him sideways a little bit and I tried him again off'' turn 4, Musgrave said. ``But you rough him up as much as you can, but still be clean, because I know it's going to turn around one of these days.
``I could have won by taking him out, but that's not our style of racing. Dale has always been nice to me and given me a break, and I gave him a break today, too.''
One might have forgiven Musgrave for being more aggressive with Jarrett because during the final laps, he was the meat in a Robert Yates Racing team sandwich.
Musgrave's mirror was filled with the car of Jarrett's teammate, Ernie Irvan, who had fallen two laps down. And that incensed car owner Jack Roush.
``I feel extraordinarily hostile right now,'' Roush said immediately after the race ended. ``Ted was better on the long runs than [Jarrett]. He was on him. But with [Irvan] stuck there behind him, he was breaking the downforce. It was just a shame that the [No.]28 was back there taking the air off Ted.''
But Musgrave registered no complaint.
``Thank goodness Ernie used his head,'' Musgrave said. ``Even though he is a teammate [with Jarrett], he let us run for the win. It disturbed the car just a little. I waved him off with about five to go and Ernie did back off for a while, which I appreciated.''
Irvan pleaded innocent. ``I could have passed Teddy and maybe passed Dale at the very end, but I needed to let them race it out,'' he said. ``I was just trying to stay away from 'em.''
With two victories, a second and a third in five races, and a good run in the Daytona 500 spoiled only by a late-race crash, Jarrett is having the finest run of his career.
Before Musgrave ignited the late-race fireworks, Jarrett was running away with yet another race. He led 171 of the 293 laps, including the final 129 circuits.
Jarrett's closest call Sunday came early in the race, and it was reminiscent of his fate in last fall's Southern 500, when his chance to win the Winston Million was scuttled on lap 46 after his car slipped in oil while he was leading and he hit the outside wall in turn 3.
It happened again Sunday, this time on lap 49. ``I never saw this'' oil, Jarrett said. ``Last year, I at least saw the streak, but it was too late. This time, I couldn't even see it, but the car just took off. It didn't really do anything to the car other than a little sheet-metal damage.''
Jarrett has led 919 of the 1,614 laps run this year, and extended his Winston Cup championship lead to 87 points over Gordon. Terry Labonte, who finished 13th, the first car one lap down, is three points behind Gordon.
``I've always thought I could win back-to-back races,'' Jarrett said. ``When you have confidence in the car, it's amazing how much better you all of a sudden become. It's not like I've gone to driving school or anything. I just have equipment that allows me to drive hard and be aggressive. It's a lot of fun right now.''
The Winston Cup series takes the Easter holiday weekend off, then it's on to Texas Motor Speedway and the inaugural Interstate 500 on April 6.
LENGTH: Medium: 94 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS. Dale Jarrett has two victories, aby CNBsecond and a third in five races this season. color. KEYWORDS: AUTO RACING