THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, April 24, 1995 TAG: 9504240162
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MARTINSVILLE, VA. LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines
The Hanes 500 at Martinsville Speedway became NASCAR's version of a twi-night doubleheader Sunday, but no one bargained for a boxing match at the end of the race.
As Rusty Wallace celebrated in victory lane after winning Ford's first race of the 1995 Winston Cup season, Ted Musgrave's most striking reward for his career-best second-place finish was a punch in the face.
Musgrave was sitting in his car at the gas pumps at this .526-mile track when an irate Bill Ingle, Ricky Rudd's crew chief, let a haymaker fly through the window and hit Musgrave on his left cheek, according to witnesses.
Ingle was mad because Musgrave spun Rudd out in turn four on lap 314.
Musgrave, his face bloodied, went to the infield care center, where he was treated and released. He headed back to his team's hauler with an ice pack over a welt on his face.
A short time later, NASCAR officials Gary Nelson and Mike Helton met in the NASCAR hauler with Ingle and Rudd as well as Musgrave and his car owner Jack Roush and crew chief Howard Comstock.
Ingle was fined $250 ``for scuffling with the driver of the No. 16 car,'' NASCAR spokesman Kevin Triplett said. Triplett said the on-track encounter between Musgrave and Rudd was deemed ``a short-track racing incident.''
Wallace, meanwhile, was cheerfully oblivious to the tense scene in the infield after leading 175 laps of the race, which was shortened to 356 laps by two rain delays.
``I tell you what, the car was a real hot rod today,'' Wallace said. ``I was just running, taking it easy with the brakes, like I normally do here at Martinsville. It really worked out today.''
Wallace beat Musgrave to the finish line by several car lengths (.81 seconds). It was his third consecutive victory at Martinsville.
Jeff Gordon was third, followed by Darrell Waltrip, who led 146 laps, Mark Martin, Ken Schrader and Dale Jarrett. Bobby Hamilton and Kyle Petty finished eighth and ninth, the only other drivers on the lead lap.
The start of the race was delayed two hours and 25 minutes by rain. And after 183 laps that included a spectacular eight-car crash early in the race that knocked Dale Earnhardt out of contention, the rain began falling again. The second delay lasted two hours and eight minutes, taking the event into the gloom of late evening.
With darkness descending after 300 laps, NASCAR put the word out on lap 346 that the checkered flag would fall in 10 laps. There was one more yellow before the end, but Wallace jumped out ahead on the restart with three laps to go and was not seriously challenged by Musgrave.
``I put a hole shot on him and it worked out okay,'' Wallace said.
The dispute between Musgrave and Rudd began brewing when Musgrave became stuck behind Rudd, who had already lost a lap.
Roush, who was in Mark Martin's pit, which was next to Rudd's, used hand signals to communicate the message: ``Let Musgrave by,'' according to members of Rudd's team.
Rudd's team didn't believe their driver was holding Musgrave up at the time, so they didn't honor the request.
Roush then indicated with his hands that if Rudd didn't let Musgrave by, Musgrave would bump him out of the way, according to Rudd's team. Ingle responded by making a fist.
After the race, Roush would not comment, saying only, ``You check around and you'll find I wasn't off my pit box all day.''
In any event, a lap or so later, Musgrave bumped Rudd and spun him out in turn four. Rudd's car then became stuck in gear. He managed to get his car to the pits, but his day was done.
Musgrave told Ford's Wayne Estes that the encounter with Rudd was ``just a racing accident. It was nothing intentional on my part.''
As for Ingle's punch at the gas pumps, Musgrave said: ``Well, you know, it was a `heat of the moment' thing, I'm sure. At Martinsville, or any of the short tracks, people always get kind of antsy.''
Said Rudd, ``Whether what Ted did was intentional or by accident, it really doesn't have any bearing right now. It cost us a chance at a good finish because we were running well. I'm glad we were able to settle it here at the race track with everybody involved.''
Rudd finished 30th after completing 313 laps.
Earnhardt, meanwhile, finished 29th after becoming involved in a huge crash off turn two on the fifth lap that saw Terry Labonte's car hurtle into the air and the outside wall almost simultaneously. The crash started when Labonte collided with Morgan Shepherd in the turn and knocked Shepherd out of control. Earnhardt ran into Labonte, launching him. by CNB