THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, April 10, 1995 TAG: 9504100110
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines
A Chevrolet Monte Carlo won the First Union 400 at North Wilkesboro Speedway, but it was not rainbow-colored and the fellow driving it was not a 23-year-old phenom.
The winning Chevy was black, and the driver behind the wheel had taken the route to victory lane 63 times before Sunday.
So it was Dale Earnhardt, and not Jeff Gordon, claiming Sunday's race. But Earnhardt took a cue from Gordon's recent performances and simply ran away with it.
Earnhardt led 226 of the 400 laps and won by a whopping 14.48 seconds. Gordon was second and happy about it. Mark Martin finished third, followed by Rusty Wallace and Steve Grissom, the only other drivers on the lead lap.
Earnhardt had a double victory this weekend. His NASCAR truck, driven by Ron Hornaday, won the SuperTruck race at Tucson, Ariz., on Saturday evening.
``If you punished your tires at the wrong time today . . . that would put you behind,'' Earnhardt said. ``And that was the key to where we ran good - not punishing our tires and being consistent on our tires.
``I raced Rusty pretty hard on one run and it punished the tires and he got back by me,'' he said. ``When we got tires for the next run, I was more careful with 'em. Taking care of tires and making them work for you was one of the big keys today.''
Just getting tires was the big problem for some after NASCAR officials saw a potential tire shortage early in the race and began rationing tires for those cars more than a lap down.
The expected shortage never actually happened because the race was almost trouble-free. There were only three yellow flags for minor spins and crashes on a warm April Sunday.
But it was still busy at the infield care center.
Drivers Kyle Petty, Greg Sacks and Jeff Burton all were taken to the center and given oxygen and fluids after being overcome by fumes or sickness during the event. Two crewmen also received treatment at the center, one for illness and another for a sprained ankle.
Of the casualties, Petty appeared to be the worst off. ``He came in sick this morning,'' said crew chief Barry Dodson. ``He convinced me he'd be fine, but he should have gotten out before he did. He about passed out when he brought the car in.''
Petty was as high as third shortly before the halfway point, but he faded to 31st, completing 374 laps.
Bobby Labonte, still recovering from the broken shoulder he suffered at Darlington, finished 15th after completing 398 laps without relief. ``My foot got a little hot, but the shoulder was OK,'' he said. ``We were here. We finished. That was better than the last two weeks.''
Gordon, who started on the pole and led 95 laps, acknowledged Earnhardt's superiority in this race.
``We had nothing for Earnhardt,'' he said. ``Not bad, though. First at Bristol and second here. We'll take it.''
Wallace, who led 57 laps, also left feeling that he had a good day at the office. ``The track was really slick,'' he said. ``As the race went on, the track got slicker and slicker. I just lost the handle, and that's what got me.''
A slick track, of course, suits Earnhardt just fine. That's where he excels.
``It looked pretty neat to me with everybody slipping and sliding around,'' he said. ``It was a day you ran against tires and against the racetrack.
``If it came down to the last couple of laps, and there was a caution, then it would have been a race.
``But I was racing the track and the tires and my pit periods. (Gordon and Wallace) were in the equation a lot during the day, but they weren't really a factor in my winning the race.
``This is early in the year, and one race doesn't win the championship. We've done a pretty good job all year, but we've been second, second, third and fourth. It's just a matter of being competitive. Nobody blows up engines any more. Nobody has stuff fall off race cars. It goes down to competition and luck. Your luck is going to take you to the championship as much as being competitive.''
One strategy that Earnhardt used Sunday was fast driving on pit road. He pitted in his usual spot, the first stall on pit road, and as he came to his pits, he would actually speed up, apparently faster than the 35 mph limit, when he got about four or five stalls away from his spot.
Earnhardt admitted he ``fudged that much'' after passing the last painted line on pit road that NASCAR officials use as a timing line to check for speeding. ``You use every advantage you can,'' he said. ILLUSTRATION: Dale Earnhardt won by 14.48 seconds over Jeff Gordon.
by CNB