THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, October 31, 1994 TAG: 9410310154
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PHOENIX LENGTH: Medium: 92 lines
With his seventh Winston Cup championship in the bag, Dale Earnhardt and his team used the Slick 50 500 at Phoenix International Raceway as a test session.
But when water started blowing out of his overheated engine after only about 50 of the 312 laps Sunday, it became obvious that the research and development had gone awry.
Earnhardt dropped out after 91 laps and finished 40th.
``It was a little bit of an experimental engine,'' Earnhardt said. ``We went out on a limb a little too far, and the limb broke. You don't want to experiment like that when you're running for a championship. This is the only time we can afford to do that.
``We wanted to try it and see what it would do,'' he said. ``The engine had a lot of power, but we cracked a cylinder head and started blowing some water out. We were out there throwing water out everywhere, and that was just going to mess somebody up.''
Actually, it did mess somebody up.
When Harry Gant spun with Brett Bodine in turn four on lap 95, he blamed it in part on the water spilling out of Earnhardt's overheated engine.
``It's that water!'' Gant bellowed into his radio immediately after the spin. ``I can't believe they're (NASCAR officials) not going to do something about it!''
A crewman replied: ``There's nothing we can do about it, Harry. He's the champ.''
TEMPER, TEMPER: When Jimmy Spencer was involved in a three-car crash on the frontstretch on lap 117, he emerged from his car and was challenged to a fight.
The challenge didn't come from Todd Bodine or Michael Waltrip, who were involved in the crash. It came from car owner D.K. Ulrich, whose driver, Greg Sacks, had spun and hit the wall in turn two on lap 50.
Was Spencer involved in that?
``I don't know, probably,'' Spencer said.
After Ulrich grabbed Spencer and got into his face, Spencer blew up and had to be restrained. He was led away by his team's public relations representative, Ricky Humphrey. But by the time he got back to his hauler, Spencer was laughing about it.
``I guess the 77 team said I dumped him,'' Spencer said. ``I didn't. It was part of racing. (Ulrich) just challenged me to fight.
``D.K. came up and said, `C'mon, punch me in the nose.' I'm too smart for that and I walked away. Wrestling is for TV. Racing is for on the racetrack.''
FENCE-BUSTING: During the first caution period, which started on lap 33, the infield care center became a busy place.
First to arrive was John Andretti, who literally knocked down the third-turn wall when he got into oil dumped from Rick Mast's blown engine. Jimmy Spencer also spun but didn't hit anything.
Although Andretti walked away from the crash, his head was ringing.
``For a minute he didn't know who he was, but now he does,'' said car owner Richard Petty. ``But they want to check him at the hospital. He knocked the wall down and it rung his bell pretty good. He hurt his knee a little bit, too.''
Andretti's wreck at least could be considered a sponsor-friendly crash. The spot where he knocked a hole in the wall was painted with the logos of his sponsor, STP.
CREWMAN HURT: Just before the race was stopped for 27 minutes so workers could patch the wall, Barry Swift, the right-side tire changer for Hut Stricklin, sprained his right ankle when he tripped while coming back across the wall on a pit stop.
Swift and Andretti were taken to Good Samaritan Hospital in the same ambulance and were released after treatment.
Meanwhile, during the red flag, Bobby Hamilton sprinted to the care center because something had gotten into his eye after the first accident. Doctors flushed the eye but were unable to remove whatever was in it. Hamilton returned to his car and eventually finished 11th, but he said he could hardly see out of the eye.
STANDARD LENGTH: NASCAR officials were telling teams Sunday that all three
As of now, the Fords are about 2 inches longer than the GM cars. And earlier this year, after much complaining from the Pontiac teams, the Pontiacs were given about 5 inches, making them about as long as the Chevys.
The new rule appears to be designed to help the GM cars in general, and the Pontiacs in particular.
As Pontiac driver Kyle Petty told Speedway Scene's Jack Flowers: ``It'll take all the whining out of us.''
NO WORD FROM GIBBS: Joe Gibbs, car owner of the No. 18 Chevrolet Lumina, said Sunday that he had no news on driver Dale Jarrett's request to be released from his contract to drive the No. 28 Ford Thunderbird owned by Robert Yates.
``I'd say I'll know something within a week,'' Gibbs said. by CNB