THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, September 5, 1994 TAG: 9409050171
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DARLINGTON, S.C. LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
Mark Martin is fond of saying that he will win only when it is his time to win.
But even Martin may be wondering why fate made his overheating engine blow up while it allowed Bill Elliott's to carry him on to victory Sunday in the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.
Martin had led 105 of the 367 laps and was in front with only 26 laps to go when his engine belched smoke and gave up the ghost.
``We were sure looking awful good there, but too much water temperature finally burned it up,'' he told reporters. ``It was overheating. It finally burned up.''
There was a touch of irony to all of this. During Martin's final yellow-flag pit stop on lap 298, he dropped from second to third, allowing Elliott to move up a spot, while his team took extra seconds to try to cool the engine.
Martin wondered whether that was a good move. But crew chief Steve Hmiel told him not to worry because Elliott was in even worse shape from overheating.
``He's been hot longer than we have,'' Hmiel said.
Martin finished 25th and dropped from second to third in the Winston Cup points race, falling behind Rusty Wallace, who also survived overheating problems to finish one lap down in seventh.
Dale Earnhardt, meanwhile, had no overheating problems. But while he led 87 laps, his car wasn't handling well at the end of the race.
``Bill was just too strong right there at the end,'' he said. ``Our car was just a little bit too loose. It just wasn't what it had been.''
Earnhardt now has a 227-point lead over Wallace, with Martin 283 points behind.
But the most impressive move was by Ricky Rudd, the master of consistency, who had another strong run to finish fourth. Rudd jumped from sixth to fourth in the points, 395 behind Earnhardt.
SCHRADER STRONG EARLY: Ken Schrader, looking for his first victory since 1991, dominated the early part of the race and led the most laps - 127. But he was gone by lap 272 with a broken engine.
``We had an oil leak,'' he said. ``Overheating has been a common problem here recently, but we didn't see any sign of it. I'd say it was a major oil leak.''
WALL BANGERS: Of the six yellow flags, two were for single-car crashes into the outside wall at the finish line.
Brett Bodine went in first, smacking the wall on lap 12.
It started when Bodine ran into the back of Jeff Gordon out of turn four, causing Gordon to brush the wall. On the rebound, Gordon clipped Bodine's right rear, sending Bodine into the cement head-first.
Gordon regained control and went on to a sixth-place finish, but Bodine's day was ruined. He ran 290 laps but finished 29th.
``I hate it that I messed up Jeff,'' Bodine said. ``He got a little loose and I got into him. I didn't want to get up into him. I was overanxious, I guess. It was just a bad move on my part.''
On lap 184, Jimmy Spencer went into the wall at about the same spot after getting tapped from behind by Steve Grissom.
``I just got hit from behind by the 29-car,'' Spencer said. ``They say somebody hit him, I don't know. I just got put in the wall. I've had a tough year, and a situation like that don't make it any better.''
Spencer finished 37th.
KENNY'S RUN: If one driver in the race was hurt more by the lack of practice, it was Kenny Wallace, subbing for the injured Ernie Irvan in the No. 28 Ford Thunderbird.
Wallace drove the car to a 11th-place finish, but near the halfway point of the race, he radioed his crew and said, ``I know if Ernie was in here, he would have been going better. But if I'd had a little practice, I would have been better. But I'm still OK.''
Rain on Friday and Saturday washed out nearly all of the Winston Cup practice sessions. ILLUSTRATION: THE RICKY RUDD REPORT
[For a copy of the report, see microfilm for this date.]
by CNB