THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, November 14, 1994 TAG: 9411140170
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C8 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HAMPTON, GA. LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
Harry Gant ended his Winston Cup career Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway with an uncharacteristic move. He parked his Chevy after 257 of the 328 laps in the Hooters 500 because the fumes from an oil leak were getting to him.
Gant's day, to be sure, was all but over anyway. His car was smoking and his engine already was well-done. He finished 33rd.
``I couldn't breathe any longer,'' said Gant, whose endurance as a driver was legendary. ``I told `em to get somebody else if they wanted to continue.
``Our motor had been getting weak all day and it kept stinking. It got so bad I couldn't hardly go, and then it started smoking up inside the car. I guess the bearings or pistons started coming out.''
``I'm just glad I don't have to smell any more gas fumes. I'm out of here. I'm done.xStick a fork in me.''
TOP ROOKIE: There was no change in the rookie-of-the-year points standings after Sunday's race. Jeff Burton of South Boston, Va., still leads Joe Nemechek by 10 points. But Burton's rookie title won't be official until today, after a vote by a NASCAR panel.
GORDON THE RICHEST: Although Dale Earnhardt won the Winston Cup championship and Rusty Wallace won a series-high eight races, the driver who won the most money in 1994 was Jeff Gordon.
On the strength of his rich victories in the Brickyard 400 and Coca-Cola 600, Gordon won $1,607,010. Earnhardt won $1,528,895, not including the $1.25 million champion's bonus.
HARD-CHARGING IRVAN: Although his season ended at Michigan in August in a near-fatal crash with 11 races left to go, Ernie Irvan was still the leader at the end of the season in several statistical categories.
In only 20 races, Irvan led 2,419.51 miles - more than any other driver did all year. He also led 79 different times, was tops for the season. And he won the True Value Hard Charger award, a competition in which drivers win points for every lap of every race in which they are running fifth or better.
``This is really good,'' Irvan said. ``There wasn't a lot for us to look forward to for the remainder of our year.''
BRIEFLY AWESOME: Rick Mast's season, highlighted by his Brickyard 400 pole, ended in another disappointment Sunday. He broke a rear-end gear while leading on lap 135 and spent 33 laps in the pits before coming back out to ride around to a 27th-place finish.
``It was typical of the year, man,'' he said. ``I took it real easy at the start of the race. We had a pit stop and I finally unleashed it to see what I had. And that baby was awesome. I mean awesome.''
ALLEN, BODINE WRECK: Loy Allen Jr. received a mild head injury and bruises when he blew a tire and slammed the fourth-turn wall on lap 145.
He appeared to be unconscious as he was taken from his car, but apparently only had his bell rung. Allen was taken by ambulance to Georgia Baptist Medical Center after complaining of pain in his right shoulder and side. He was examined and released.
About 100 laps later, Geoff Bodine had the same problem in the same place. Bodine's wreck looked worse. He also hit the inside wall, and his car burst into flames. But his crew rushed across pit road and rescued him as other crewman put out the fire.
Holding an ice pack to his neck after the race, Bodine said his tire blew after he ran over a part that fell off Greg Sacks's car. He said he was sore all over: ``Everything hit something.''
HONOR GUARD: The honor guard who raised the flag before the Hooters 500 were sailors from the Norfolk-based nuclear-powered attack sumbarine Atlanta. ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS photo
Geoff Bodine comes off the Atlanta Motor Speedway surface in flames
after he blew a tire and hit the wall on Sunday.
Graphic
The Ricky Rudd Report
For copy of report, see microfilm.<
by CNB