THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, August 29, 1994 TAG: 9408290127
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BRISTOL, TENN. LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
Rusty Wallace's pit crew is considered the fastest in the Winston Cup series.
But in the Goodwrench 400 at Michigan International Speedway eight days ago, Wallace and his team couldn't do anything right. Wallace ran out of gas before one stop, and his car fell off the jack on another.
``It was just stupid,'' Wallace wailed.
So it was back to the basics, and the crew's midweek practice sessions helped Wallace take his sixth victory of the year Saturday night in the Goody's 500 at Bristol International Raceway.
``We had a lot of problems at Michigan last week,'' Wallace said after beating Mark Martin by a car length in the 500-lap race. ``We lost our rhythm. But we got all the rhythm back and did everything right.''
Three times, Wallace's crew gave him the lead during yellow-flag pit stops. Wallace took the lead for the first time on lap 225, beating Dale Earnhardt out of the pits. He also beat everyone out after a round of stops on lap 304. And he did it again on lap 356.
``It was a whole team effort,'' he said. ``They felt pretty bad about what happened last weekend. I think they finally learned they can get beat if they let their guard down. They got killed at Michigan.''
But one thing was the same as it had been at Michigan - Geoff Bodine's dominance in his No. 7 Ford Thunderbird on Hoosier tires.
For instance, when Wallace took the lead for the first time, it was only 12 laps before Bodine took over. The second time Wallace won the pit war, he was in front for 37 laps before Bodine reassumed the lead. The third time, Wallace was passed by Bodine in 11 laps.
But Bodine, who has won twice this year, failed to finish for the 11th time. Broken engines have been the culprit six times, including Saturday night, when his Ford powerplant expired while he was leading with only 46 laps to go.
``It finally went up, but I tell you, he was strong,'' Wallace said.
``We were really cruising tonight,'' said Bodine, who led the most laps, with 168. ``Looks like the water pump broke. I was trying to let off early and trying to save it, but it didn't happen.''
Bodine's demise left it up to Mark Martin, who whipped Wallace a year ago in the final laps after Wallace dominated the race.
``The only problem I had in the last 25 laps was Mark was back there,'' Wallace said. ``I was having to pass all those cars (in traffic), . . . allowing him to come back up on me. That made for a heck of a race.''
At one point late in the race, Martin's pursuit was slowed for about a lap by Wallace's brother Mike. After the race, Martin berated Mike Wallace.
``I just got my (expletive) chewed out by Mark and I in no way meant for anything to happen to Mark,'' Mike Wallace told Ford's Wayne Estes. ``Man, I tried to stay out of the way and he says I screwed up the race for him. I'm sorry. I can't win for losing. It doesn't make any difference to me if Rusty wins.''
But if Martin was angry, he did not make those feelings public. He was asked if he was blocked. ``Not really,'' Martin said. ``Mike's new at this thing.''
``Someone told me about that later,'' Rusty Wallace said, calling it a ``bull---- argument.'' He said Martin didn't have a chance anyway: ``Mark was catching me because I was doing all of the passing. If it wouldn't have been for lapped cars, there wouldn't have been a race.''
Wallace said he had no real problems on his way to his 37th career victory. ``I've been through some real hell-raisers at this joint, but this one tonight was pretty cool,'' he said.
Earlier Saturday, in the most notable news from the second round of time trials, two-time winner Jimmy Spencer failed to qualify for the first time this year. He missed Watkins Glen, too, but that was because of the broken shoulder he had suffered in the Brickyard 400. by CNB