THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 11, 1994 TAG: 9409110221
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
All through the long night at the Miller 400 at Richmond International Raceway, Terry Labonte had the strongest car.
But Labonte had to scratch and claw for the victory in his No. 5 Chevrolet on Saturday even as he outclassed the field, leading the final 28 laps before beating teammate Jeff Gordon to the checkered flag by 1.79 seconds.
Dale Earnhardt was third, followed by Rusty Wallace, Ricky Rudd, Mark Martin and Steve Grissom.
``I really felt like in practice we had one of the best cars out there,'' Labonte said. ``But it wasn't easy, by no means.''
Labonte's hefty winning margin gave no indication of how entertaining and competitive this race was. And that was largely because on three occasions, he had to come back from rather slow pit stops to retake the lead.
During the final round of pit stops under the green flag between laps 340 and 345, Wallace's crew completed its duties in 16.63 seconds, while Labonte's team took almost 22.
Wallace came out a with lead of almost five seconds, but Labonte almost immediately began closing in. He chipped away at Wallace's lead and by lap 360 was only two second back.
By lap 367, it was less than a second.
And on lap 373, Labonte fired below Wallace in turn two, moved beside him on the backstretch and
made the race-winning pass into turn three.
``See if you can't work him over a little bit,'' said Roger Penske, who was spotting for Wallace.
But Labonte was gone before Wallace could do anything. And Wallace eventually fell back to fourth after burning a piston.
``We had good pit stops but they just had a great one,'' Labonte said. ``We were able to make up a lot of time on him in traffic.''
Labonte also lost the lead during pit stops after yellow flags on lap 163 and 252. Both times, Labonte entered the pits first, but gave up the lead to Wallace or Earnhardt.
All that did was provide the crowd of some 78,000 with some great side-by-side racing.
Between lap 280 and 300, Wallace and Earnhardt fought like Ali and Frazier - a couple of heavyweights in classic combat. This is what NASCAR racing is supposed to be, and this night's race at Richmond has been a reliable provider in the past few years.
Earnhardt was in front during those laps, but the race was often door handle to door handle, while Labonte and Gordon watched from front-row seats just behind.
It was quite a sight from there, as Gordon affirmed. ``Those two guys want to lead the most laps,'' he said. ``They're battling it out!''
The start of the race was delayed 90 minutes by an isolated shower that happened to find the track.
Once the race got going, pole winner Ted Musgrave didn't stay in front for long. Hut Stricklin took the lead on the second lap.
But by lap seven, Stricklin had been passed by Labonte. And in the early going, Labonte's dominance was challenged only by Wallace and surprising Bobby Hamilton, who led laps 47 through 65.
Hamilton, however, knew he was doomed. On his first pit stop around lap 35, the Hoosier tires that came off Hamilton's Pontiac were badly blistered. He wasn't the only Hoosier driver with problems. Rick Mast's tires were reported to be badly blistered after 50 circuits.
The first half was slowed four times by yellow flags - two for debris or oil on the track and two for mishaps. Kenny Wallace spun himself out in turn two on the first lap, and Jeremy Mayfield crashed on lap 31. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Jeremy Mayfield, top, loses a tire as he slams the Richmond wall.
Harry Gant tries to get past Mayfield on the bottom.
by CNB