THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, August 8, 1994 TAG: 9408080136
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: INDIANAPOLIS LENGTH: Medium: 87 lines
Who made that tire go flat on Ernie Irvan's Ford?
Was there a NASCAR sharpshooter lurking in the shadows of Indianapolis Motor Speedway? Was it a yellow-shirted speedway guard with a pocketful of razor blades? Or was it a fan in the stands with telepathic powers, determined that the local boy would win?
It had to be a plot, because NASCAR and the people of Indiana could not have hoped for a more popular winner of the inaugural Brickyard 400.
Actually, it was probably just the same guiding force that graced Indy's first stock-car race with rare, perfect summer weather.
Basking in sunshine and pleasant breezes, more than 300,000 delirious fans shook the rafters of the old speedway as Gordon completed the 160th and final lap, beating Brett Bodine to the start-finish line by about a half-second.
And as he went to Victory Lane, thousands chanted: ``Gordon! Gordon! Gordon!''
The finish would have been even more exciting but for Irvan's demise. With five laps to go, Irvan cut a tire while leading Gordon in a two-car, see-saw battle.
Ah, but the true champions always come to the front in the big races, just like A.J. Foyt and Danny Sullivan did in making the 43-car field on Friday.
Gordon has that magic. Anyone who saw him make that pass on two wheels in a open-wheel car on ESPN's Saturday Night Thunder a few years ago knows that.
And that bit of artistic driving was done right here in Indiana. Gordon, who grew up in Pittsboro, about 20 miles west of Indianapolis, cut his racing teeth in the Hoosier state, driving the USAC sprint and midget cars so dear to the fans of the Indy 500.
He is one of their own.
The folks in Pittsboro, a town of fewer than 1,000, proved that Saturday with an impromptu bumper-to-bumper parade immediately after the race.
At 23, Gordon is the youngest driver in the Winston Cup series - perfect for this tradition-steeped speedway. The folks who run Indy brought 1911 Indy 500 winner Ray Harroun back for the May festivities up into the 1960s, and they should be able to have Gordon back year after year, as a driver and eventually as a legend, far into the 21st century.
While a cynic might think there was a plot here, Gordon himself was thankful that for once, his relative inexperience in Winston Cup racing wasn't a factor.
``I'm just so glad we were on equal ground,'' he said. ``By saying that, I mean a track that has no history of NASCAR races. It's so tough to go each week to some of these tracks that some of these guys have been racing on for so many years and hit that combination that they've taken so many years to find.''
Gordon and his team certainly felt confident for this race. They were the only team that didn't practice in the final ``happy hour'' session after second-round qualifying Friday.
``I didn't think there was going to be a lot to be learned at that last practice because it wasn't at the same time the race was going to be and I really didn't want to put any more miles on our race motor,'' said crew chief Ray Evernham. ``During the practice between 1 and 2 (p.m.), we worked very hard at it.''
The first Brickyard 400 was not a perfect race. Around the halfway point, it was getting a bit dull. Gordon seemed to be running away with it. But the inevitable yellow flags, and the ability of drivers like Irvan, Rusty Wallace and Dale Earnhardt to find their way to the front, made for great racing in the final quarter of the race.
The doom-and-gloom predictions did not come to pass.
If the ticket-scalping business was indeed a buyer's market, as was predicted early last week, then the buyers showed up. There were few empty seats in any of the grandstands.
It was not a crashfest, as car owner Jack Roush feared. There were only four crashes, and none involved more than two cars. Even when Geoff Bodine was sent spinning in front of the pack by his brother Brett, everyone managed to avoid him but Dale Jarrett.
In fact, 36 of the 43 cars were running at the finish, tying the NASCAR record.
The NASCAR boys, moreover, had no trouble racing on the narrow track.
There were 21 lead changes among 13 drivers. And there was typical NASCAR side-by-side racing through the turns.
The folks who said it was going to be a great show were right. And now we know this grand old speedway will, indeed, have two great events each year. ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS photo
Jeff Gordon, right, took the lead for good when he passed Ernie
Irvan with five laps to go.
by CNB