THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, July 18, 1994 TAG: 9407180150
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LONG POND, PA. LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines
Yes, the Hoosier tires blistered and bubbled in Sunday's Miller 500 at Pocono International Raceway.
But they blistered the Goodyear crowd even more, running away with the top four positions and giving Geoff Bodine his first points victory of 1994.
``I'm not going to lie to you; if we'd been on the other guys' tires, we would have been back with the other guys,'' Bodine said after taking the checkered flag 1.26 seconds ahead of rookie Ward Burton.
Two more rookies - Joe Nemechek in third place and Jeff Burton in fourth - completed the Hoosier sweep and made the Indiana racing tire company's first Winston Cup points-race victory of 1994 a resounding one.
Morgan Shepherd was fifth in the highest-finishing Goodyear car, followed by Ricky Rudd and Dale Earnhardt, the only other drivers on the lead lap.
The race came close to being a gas-mileage victory for Ward Burton. As it turned out, Bodine, who started from the pole and led 156 of the 200 laps, had too much horsepower at the end for the South Boston, Va., driver.
Either way, though, it would have been Hoosier on top. And the traditional powerhouses in the Winston Cup series were not happy about it.
``These (Hoosier) tires are ------- me off!'' Rusty Wallace told his crew as Bodine ran away from him yet again after a late-race restart.
``They're kicking our butt,'' said Ernie Irvan, who failed to finish his second race in a row when his engine broke.
``I've got no comment on the tires,'' said Earnhardt. ``We were just beat on tires today.''
Bodine to the ``Big Three'': Nah-nah-nah-nah-nah.
What he actually said was: ``Really, I haven't worried about it. I don't care what people say. To win a weekly show - a points race - we're really proud of that.
``Hopefully, this will silence a lot of critics about (Hoosier president) Bob Newton, about Hoosier being back in Winston Cup racing, critics criticizing me and my decision to run Hoosiers. That makes me feel good.''
Younger brother Brett Bodine, meanwhile, sniped at the Hoosier superiority: ``If you can't win a race with that kind of advantage, you might as well stay home.''
``That's my brother,'' said Geoff.
Still, Sunday's victory was no fluke. Geoff Bodine has spent much of his spare time this year testing Hoosier tires. And he tested this particular style of tire four times at three tracks.
That dedication paid off Sunday. And it gave Bodine confidence that the tires would hold up even after they started blistering on some cars during practice Saturday.
``I tried to tell you fellas we didn't have a problem,'' Bodine said.
Actually, Bodine did put two dime-sized blisters on one of his right rear tires. But that was the only blistering he had all afternoon.
The Burton brothers and Greg Sacks had huge, multiple blisters on their right rear tires after a long green-flag run before the halfway point.
But none of the blistered tires blew. More importantly, the blisters didn't seem to affect the handling or performance of those cars.
``I didn't have it half as bad as (Saturday),'' Ward Burton said.
Still, the only way anyone was going to beat Geoff Bodine was to snooker him. And Ward Burton tried.
During the final yellow flag, Ward Burton, Nemechek and Shepherd dove into the pits on lap 159 to top off their gas tanks so they could go the final 40 laps with no more stops.
Bodine knew he couldn't go 40 laps on a tank of gas, so he didn't bother to stop. Instead, he tried to stretch his lead as much as possible before making his final stop. He was about 16 seconds ahead when he motored into the pits on lap 189.
``I said, `How far ahead are we?' '' Bodine recalled. ``They told me and I said, `Is that far enough? Where am I going to be when I come out?'
``Silence. Silence is deadly. Nobody wanted to answer the tough questions. They said, `We don't really know. We can't figure it.' Well, right then I knew I was going to be behind somebody.''
Bodine's gas-only stop lasted about four seconds. But by the time he got back up to speed, he was 2.78 seconds behind Ward Burton.
``There were one or two laps when I didn't know if I could catch Ward,'' Bodine said. ``He looked awful strong. But then I saw him slip over the tunnel, and I made up a lot of ground there. And he slipped a little up here in (turn) three and I said, `That's all I need right there.' ''
On lap 195, six laps after his stop, Bodine passed Burton for the lead.
``We knew there was going to be a development period with Hoosier,'' Bodine said. ``But we're investing in the future and it's paying off now. There's going to be more. This is the start of a lot of good things.'' MEMO: Complete results/C4
ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Terry Labonte, foreground, gets by Ted Musgrave, who had spun and
hit the wall in turn 3.
by CNB